Prewar life in an Austrian village and tourist views of Prague
Creator(s)
- Matthew L. Nathan (Camera Operator)
- Imperial War Museums
Scope and Content
Amateur footage shot in Schruns, Austria (identified by the location of the Hotel Taube, which appears in the film). AUSTRIAN VILLAGE title. Low aerial shots of picturesque village, focusing on a church spire. Children and adults, many dressed very formally and/or in local costume (long dresses, hats, dirndls) walk outdoors near the church. A priest or monk speaks with a group of young boys. Townspeople, men and boys wear top hats and lederhosen or breeches, on the occasion of a Catholic holiday(?). Shop signs advertise film equipment/stock - Agfa and Perutz. 01:59 German flag with a swastika, along with flags of France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands(?), hanging outside the Hotel Taube. EXT of the hotel and people outside. 02:40 Musicians, two men and one woman watched by children (the musicians could be Roma, but the woman plays a Schrammel guitar, which is an instrument used to play a certain kind of Austrian folk music). Façade of the Hotel Taube and flags, including swastika. More quaint and picturesque scenes: a woman leads a cow down a street; two girls play with dolls in a field; different types of flowers in bloom; landscape. Women and children perform farm labor in a grain field, farm animals. CU of an elderly woman smoking a large pipe. Farming and daily life in the town. 8:01 THE END 08:05 PRAGUE title. Czech Army(?) troops in a courtyard at the Prague castle. EXT and INT shots of a cathedral with windows designed by Alfons Mucha and a large modern building built in 1932-1934, the first tall building in Prague. Vltava river. Busy street scenes with trams, automobiles, and well-dressed pedestrians in Wenceslas Square and environs. CUs of flowers and fruit for sale. 11:53 A PEASANT FESTIVAL title. WS of a parade of people dressed in local costume walking down the street, holding maypoles. Parade and spectators. Food stands prepare sausages. CUs of people smiling for the camera. 15:30 CU, poster advertising a Philatelists Congress on 4-6 July 1936 (probably not the festival depicted in this footage). Costumed festival goers march across a field. One group carries a large Czech flag. Back in the city streets, a band plays for a crowd. The Charles Bridge. National Museum. Neon signs illuminating hotels/restaurants/clubs/theaters at night: "Aschermann" "Bata" etc. "The End" title.
Note(s)
Other items in the collection indicate that Matthew Nathan had some professional camera experience in the production of sponsored films.
Subjects
- BANDS
- FARMERS/FARMING
- COSTUMES
- CZECHOSLOVAKIA
- SIGNS/POSTERS
- HOTELS
- PARADES
- FOOD
- CHILDREN
- CEREMONIES
- FLAGS
- TOURISM/SIGHTSEEING
- CHURCHES
- MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
- FLOWERS
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY
- SWASTIKAS
- AUSTRIA
Places
- , Austria
- , Czechoslovakia
- Prague, Czechoslovakia
Genre
- Amateur.
- Film