Film compiled by German showing Leipzig before and after WW2
Creator(s)
- Walther Lenger (Camera Operator)
- Agentur Karl Hoeffkes
Scope and Content
Intertitle: “W.L Film 70.” “Leipzig in Frieden u. Krieg.” “Von Walther Lenger Leipzig.” “Walter Lenger zeigt seinen GroR-Film: Leipzig in Frieden, Krieg. Und Wiederaufbau.” Walter Lenger loads a film reel. “Streiflichter.” The woman and man who were eating a seaside lunch in Film 37 in front of the tower with the fire burning at the top. Split screen shots of buildings in Leipzig. Words on the train station read, “BAYRISCHER BAHNHOF.” Troops march through the streets. Men in canoes. One hangs from the rafters of a bridge. 10:42:22 Intertitle: “Leipziger Messe.” A building reads, “AUSSTELLUNGSGELANDE,” wiht a banner beneath it reading “Messe-AdreBoucher Messe-Abzechen.” 10:42:36 CU of Walter Lenger? INT, A woman working at a loom. The factory exterior. 10:42:57 Intertitle: “1930: ‘Graf Zeppelin’ in Leipzig.” The GRAF ZEPPELIN in the air. Written on its side is “D-LZ127.” The Graf Zeppelin as it takes off from the ground where a crowd stands. Intertitle “Leipzig bei nacht.” Mannequin woman. Neon Signs. Mannequins in shopfronts. Automated displays. A theatre performance, women dance across stage in traditional dresses. Women dancing in a kickline. A man juggling knives while standing on another man’s head. Acrobats, magicians, and other performers. 10:46:58 Intertitle: “September 1932: Das Leipziger Reichsrvehr-Regiment 11 kehrt aus dem Hanöver zurüch.” The troops of Regiment 11 return to Leipzig. They march in a parade. Horses wheel carriages and wagons through. Intertitle reads, “November 1932: Ein Stein des Anstosses wird beseitigt.” “Die Messhalle auf dem Königsplatz wird nach 10-jährigem Bestehen abgebrochen.” Trolley cars. Letters on the side of a building reads, “TEXTILMESSHALLE” and “KONIGSPLATZ.” Pedestrians on the street. A construction site. Buildings in Leipzig. 10:48:56 “1932 des Fahr der Wahlen 5mal warben die Parteien um die Gunst der Wähler.” Election propaganda. Banners on the side of a building show the symbol of communism and the words, “WER WAHLT DEN GENERALS. S.P.D. Arbeiter HERAUS AUS der HINDENBURG-PARTEI. Arbeither wahlen den Roten Kandidaten THALMANN.” Poster of man’s face with the name “WALT THALMANN” beneath. Intertitle: “We siegt?” A small oval portrait that flips back and forth between two men’s portraits as it is moved. A poster of Hitler. A man carries a poster that says “Schlagt Hitler,” with “Hindenburg” at the bottom. “Hindenburg!” at the top of a newspaper. A drawn portrait of Paul von Hindenburg. Dark footage of torches. Graffiti of a hammer and sickle with the words, “HOH’REN LOHN WAHLT THALMANN!” Ballots thrown into a trach can. A wall of posters. A man on a ladder affixes a new poster to the wall. Side-by-side shots. Nazi posters. Various newspaper headlines and posters. Men walking up the stairs of a building, submitting forms. 10:51:38 Intertitle reads, “Januar 1936: Das Alte sturzt… (Johannisgasse). A ruined apartment building in Leipzig. A trolley car goes down a street. Construction men work on a building. Intertitle: “October 1936: Das Polich-Haus ein Leipziger Wahrzeichen, muss einem Neubau weichen.” View of New Town Hall Tower. The Polish House, with the words, “POLICH” and “AUGUST POLICH” on the facade. Classical sculpture atop the onion dome of the building. Construction workers pull the statue down. Buildings being renovated. Headless angel sculpture on the side of a building. 10:53:37 Intertitle: “And der Stelle des Polich-Hauses entsteht das Merhur-Haus.” The demolished front of a building. Intertitle reads, “Marz 1936: Wahltag in Leipzig.” A banner over the street reads, “Deine Stimme fordert den Scieden Europas.” Various other banners hang from buildings. "Schuest die arbeit! Stimmt vor Adolf Hitler!" Swastika banners. An image of the outline of the country of Germany with a large swastika on it next to the text,“1936.” Another large banner over the street reads, “Dir fchuhen die Welt vor dem Bolschewismer.” The flames of torches in the dark. 10:54:49 Intertitle flashes in different colors: “1943: Leipzig vor dem Terror-Angriff.” (color) A Nazi official walks his daughter through a garden. Obelisk with sculptures and fountain in the Augustusplatz in Leipzig. The officer and the girl walk hand in hand along a canal. Intertitle: “4 Dezember 1943,” “Terror,” “Angriff au Leipzig!” (black and white) Attack on Leipzig. Zooms in on a pocketwatch at 12:00. View from a plane of the land below. Planes fly in formation overhead. Bombs drop from a plane. Intertitle reads, “In 17 Minuten.” An enormous trail of smoke rises from below. Huge dark plumes of smoke shot from a car. Sparks, flames, and smoke by night. 10:56:43 Intertitle: “Wurde zerstört, was in Fahrhunderten auf-gebaut worden war.” A building in flames. Multiple buildings on fire. The ruins that remain by day. Much of Leipzig has been destroyed. On many buildings, only the exterior remains. Others have been burned down to the ground. The roof and middle of a church are missing. Large piles of rubble. A man walks across a plank of wood. Various debris caught in trees in the forest. Ruins 11:02:14 Intertitle: “Terrorfolgen werdenbeseitigt.” A tower. INT a Nazi officer stands over two cardboard pieces in a frame that read “Blendax.” He removes the Blendax cardboard and replaces the glass panel. A young girl cries beside him. (Same officer and girl from before?) An older woman rolls material which she then places on the side of the frame. Using a tin of paint a man stains the wood of the frame while the old woman holds it. It is installed above a door as a transom window. 11:03:23 Intertitle: “1946 Der Wiederaufbau hat begonnen…” The reconstruction of Leipzig in 1946. A large tower looms over the city. A man switches a sign from, “Aufzug nicht in Betrieb” to “Augzug in Betrieb.” Workers pull blocks of building materials in wheelbarrows up on pulleys. They wheel away cinderblocks. Women perch on a wheelbarrow and smile at the camera. Men fill up the wheelbarrows and release them back down. Workers on the construction site, welding, hammering, and building. The tower and side of St. Nicholas Church. 11:05:30 Intertitle: “Leipziger Hauptbahnhof.” The reconstruction of Leipzig Central Station. Intertitle: “12 Jahre später.” 12 years later. The new train station. Flags flying in front of the station. Intertitle reads, “Ende Film 71.”
Subjects
- SIGNS/POSTERS
- GERMANS
- NIGHT
- SWASTIKAS
- RUINS
- ELECTIONS
- TRAIN STATIONS
- FAMILIES
- CHURCHES
- BOMBINGS
- SMOKE
- FIRES
- CITIES
- CONSTRUCTION
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (GERMAN)
- STREETCARS
- MARCHING
- PARADES
- HITLER, ADOLF
- HEADLINES
- AIRSHIPS
- TRAINS
- GERMANY
- GRAFFITI
- WORKERS
Places
- Leipzig, Germany
Genre
- Amateur.
- Film