Ludwig van Beethoven - Overture Op. 72c “Fidelio”

Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

Performance: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Year of recording: 1985

 

Feldzug in Polen (1939)

The Campaign in Poland

 

Feldzug in Polen (The Campaign in Poland) is a 69-minute National Socialist propaganda film released in 1940 depicting the 1939 invasion of Poland and directed by Fritz Hippler. Exposing the Poles as aggressors and ethnic Germans living in Poland as an oppressed minority, the film alleges that the Poles employed unheroic tactics in the war and characterizes as senseless the defence of a besieged Warsaw. The film was often screened by German minorities overseas to clarify the German point of view.

 

French involvement was de-emphasized, in order to present Great Britain, in its attempt to encircle Germany, as the villain, to justify the German-Soviet pact. Polish provocations finally resulted in the blitzkrieg, led by Hitler; Poles were sometimes depicted as brave, to emphasize the German triumph.

 

Production

 

The film was directed by Fritz Hippler and the music was composed by Herbert Windt. Footage shot by Gustav Lantschner and Sepp Allgeier, who were working for Leni Riefenstahl’s Special Film Troop, was used in the film. In addition, Hippler made use of footage from the newsreels Ufa Ton-Woche 471/38/1939 and Ufa Ton-Woche 472/1939.

 

It was first shown to a select audience on 8 October 1939, but the military’s leadership was concerned that it did not completely reflect the army’s role in the invasion. A second version of the film was made and Joseph Goebbels made changes to the script. Adolf Hitler watched this version on 11 December, and asked for more edits. One of Hitler’s demands, as reported by Alwin-Broder Albrecht, was to have the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia coloured the same as the rest of Germany rather than having its own colour. The first version of the film only covered up to 20 September, and the second version covered up to 5 October.

 

Release

 

Its premiere was held in the Berlin Ufa-Palast um Zoo, usually used by Goebbels to present important films. It received massive media support and was officially described as „valuable from a political viewpoint,“ „artistically valuable,“ „educational for the nation,“ and „a film of instruction. It was theatrically released in February 1940.

 

Model of the New Königsplatz in Munich, designed by the Architect Paul Ludwig Troost

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Wagner – Overture to the Opera “Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen” (Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes)

Conductor: Karl Böhm

Performance: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Live recording: 1962

 

Wunder des Fliegens: Der Film eines deutschen Fliegers (1935)

(The Miracle of Flight: A Film About a German Pilot)

 

DOWNLOAD THE FILM

 

Directed by: Heinz Paul

Written by: Peter Francke, Heinz Paul

Produced by: Terra

Music: Giuseppe Becce

Cinematography: Hans Schneeberger, Heinz von Jaworsky

Release date: 1935

Running time: 100 minutes

Country: National-Socialist German Reich

Language: German

 

Starring:

 

Ernst Udet: Aviator Udet

Jürgen Ohlsen: Heinz Muthesius

Käthe Haack: Mother Muthesius

 

A youngster, whose father died in the First World War as a fighter pilot, is determined to become an aviator. By chance he got to know the ace-pilot Ernst Udet (the later air force general plays himself here), with whom he is even allowed to fly over the Matterhorn. When he later, now a student of gliding in the Zugspitze region, had to jump off with a parachute, Udet, who heard the radio announcement, rescued him from difficulties in the mountain. The excellent aerial photographs served their purpose at the time, to inspire the air squadrons of the new Germany. The film, which was declared „valuable in terms of state policy“ and „popular education“, was banned by the Allied military government after 1945 with a screening ban.

 

Artwork Collection – Nude Paintings – Part II

Hans Happ – (1889 - 1992) – Ein Abendlied (1938)

An Evening Song (1938)

 

Gisbert Palmié (1897-1986) – Im Winde (1943)

In the Breeze (1943)

 

Oskar Martin-Amorbach (1897-1987) – Bauerngrazie (1940)

Peasant Grace (1940)

 

Adolf Reich (1887-1963) – Kunst- und Naturfreund (1940)

Art and Nature Lover (1940)

 

Robert Schwarz (1899-1962) –  Badende Mädchen (1943)

Bathing Girls (1943)

 

Robert Schwarz (1899-1962) – Schwimmerin (1939)

Swimmer (1939)

 

Sepp Hilz (1906-1956) – Eitelkeit (1940)

Vanity (1940)

 

Sepp Hilz (1906-1956) – Bäuerliche Venus (1939)

Peasant Venus (1939)

 

Kurl Truppe (1887-1959) –  Sein und Vergehen (1940)

Being and Passing Away (1940)

 

Kurl Truppe (1887-1959) – Jugend (1942)

Youth (1942)

 

Ivo Saliger (1894-1987) – Die Sinne (1941)

The Senses (1941)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Symphony No. 1 in E major, K. 16

Conductor: Karl Böhm

Performance: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Year of recording: 09-17 May 1978

 

I. Molto allegro

II. Andante

III. Presto

 

Hab mich lieb (1942)

Love Me

 

Directed by: Harald Braun

Written by: Kurt Bortfeldt, Georg Jacoby, Herbert Witt & Johann von Vásáry

Produced by: Georg Jacoby

Cinematography: Reimar Kuntze

Edited by: Margret Noell

Music by: Franz Grothe

Production company: UFA

Distributed by: Deutsche Filmvertriebs

Release date: 8 December 1942

Running time: 100 minutes

Country: Germany

Language: German

 

 

Starring:

 

Marika Rökk: Monika Koch

Viktor Staal: Andreas Rüdiger

Hans Brausewetter: Dr Georg Nöhring, Egyptologist

Mady Rahl: Helene, Monika’s friend

Aribert Wäscher: Director of the Revue Theatre

Ursula Herking: Miss Müller, secretary

Günther Lüders: Paul, Nöhring’s valet

Paul Henckels: Papa Schmidtke

Herta Mayen: singer

Hans von Kusserow: dancer

Lucie Euler: Miss Knispe, landlady

Sonja Kuska: Christine

Karin Lüsebrink: Barbara

Clemens Hasse: Doorman at the “Schneehof”

Emil Heß: Doorman at the “Schneehof”

Eduard Wenck: Train conductor

Willy Witte: Singer

Herbert Weißbach: Head waiter at the cancelled engagement dinner

 

Love Me or Make Love to Me (German: Hab mich lieb) is a 1942 German musical comedy film directed by Harald Braun and starring Marika Rökk, Viktor Staal and Hans Brausewetter. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. The films sets were designed by the art director Ernst H. Albrecht. The film is a backstage musical and was a major commercial success on its release.

 

Plot summary

 

Monika Koch works as a revue dancer at the theatre. One evening, she is running late for her performance, so she sneaks onto the stage and promptly ends up in the wrong scene. In her desperation, the spirited young woman begins to improvise. In doing so, she reveals unexpected talents as a comic relief: right in the middle of the two leading actors’ aria, she tumbles down a hill as Cupid with a bow and arrow, landing right at the couple’s feet. In her desperation, Monika tap-dances and dances, and accidentally fires the arrow into the leading lady’s back, who then runs off into the wings. Monika finishes the aria with the scene partner who has been left behind. The audience applauds and is delighted, but the theatre director is the exact opposite: he is furious and promptly throws Monika out of the ensemble. To make matters worse, Monika’s landlady also evicts her from her little room, as she can no longer pay the overdue rent. In the stairwell, the hapless Monika bumps into her neighbour, the Egyptologist Georg Nöhring, who feels just as lonely and abandoned as she does. He invites Monika into his flat, and the two quickly hit it off. By the end of the same evening, they are engaged.

 

At the earliest opportunity, Georg tells his best friend, Andreas Rüdiger, about his future wife. Andreas, however, is anything but enthusiastic and believes that Georg is courting disaster if he commits the folly of getting engaged to a woman he doesn’t know at all. To prevent a disaster, Andreas promptly instructs Georg’s valet, Paul, to ring each of the invited guests and cancel the upcoming engagement party. Only Papa Schmidtke turns up at the huge festive table in the upmarket restaurant and is treated to a sumptuous meal for one. Andreas persuades Georg to go on a last-minute winter holiday. But Georg refuses and instead locks himself away at home. So Andreas turns up at the station in his place, where he runs into an angry Monika. She had originally come here to stop Georg from going on the trip.

 

In the train corridor, Monika gives Andreas a proper telling-off just as the express train begins to move slowly and Monika can no longer get off. She is now forced to travel with Andreas – whom she initially can’t stand because of his scheming – to the mountains in Tyrol. To make matters worse, the hotel at their destination is fully booked. Andreas manages to make up for some of the damage he’s caused by offering Monika his room and inviting her to dinner. He even organises an evening dress for her, though it’s far too big. Monika soon realises that Georg’s friend isn’t quite as bad a bloke as she’d assumed. On the contrary: as time goes on, she actually finds him more appealing than her still-fiancé.

 

Meanwhile, Monika’s best friend Helene is worried and wonders where Monika is, given that she was only supposed to pop over to the station for a moment. She goes to see Georg, and the two young people get on exceptionally well from the very start, especially as the Egyptologist thinks Helene bears a certain resemblance to the bust of Nefertiti, a replica of which stands in his flat. Shortly afterwards, Georg decides to travel to Tyrol to see Monika and call off their engagement. Monika, for her part, isn’t angry with him at all and throws her arms round her ex-fiancé’s neck. When Andreas sees this, he misinterprets the scene and leaves his holiday resort in disappointment without telling anyone. Meanwhile, the director of the revue theatre has decided to give her the lead role in the new revue (in light of the excellent reviews of Monika’s impromptu performance in the last show). Andreas is also in the audience at the premiere. In the box next door sit Georg and Helene, who have since got married. Georg makes it clear to him that Monika loves only him, Andreas. He secretly sneaks backstage to confess his love to Monika in the middle of her singing performance.

 

Production notes

 

„Hab’ mich lieb!“ was filmed from 15 June until the end of July 1942 at the UFA studios in Berlin-Tempelhof. It premiered on 8 December 1942 in two Berlin cinemas. The following year, the film was also released in Finnish, Dutch and French cinemas. From the end of May 1944, „Hab mich lieb!“ was also screened in Sweden.

 

Rökk’s husband, Georg Jacoby, took on the role of production manager in addition to heading the production team. Ernst H. Albrecht designed the film sets. The costume designs were by Vera Mügge, and Walter Rühland was the sound engineer. The dances were choreographed by Sabine Ress.

 

The lyrics to Franz Grothe’s music were written by Willy Dehmel. Of the four Grothe/Rökk songs featured in the film – „Es ist nur die Liebe“, „Ich möchte so gerne, ich weiß nur nicht was“, „Komm und gib mir deine Hand“ and „Sing mit mir!“ – the latter in particular became an evergreen.

 

Production costs amounted to approximately 1,441,000 Reichsmark; box-office takings, after a run of just five months, totalled around 3,830,000 RM by April 1943. This made „Hab’ mich lieb!“ an overwhelming box-office success.

 

German War Art - The Campaign Against Bolshevik Russia

Roman Feldmeyer (1895-1950) – Am frühen Morgen des 22. Juni 1941 (1943)

(Early in the Morning of 22 June 1941)

 

Rudolf Lipus (1893-1961) – Abwehr (1943)

(Defence)

 

Rudolf Lipus (1893-1961) – Panzer angriff (1944)

(Tank Attack)

 

Rudolf Lipus (1893-1961) – Panzer im Kampf (1941)

(Tanks in Battle)

 

Eduard Thöny (1866-1950) – Marschieren, marschieren (1942)

(Marching, marching)

 

Roman Feldmeyer (1895-1950) – Kriegsbrücke über die Beresina (1942)

(War Bridge over the Berezina)

 

Roman Feldmeyer (1895-1950) – Panzerbekämpfung im großen Kessel vor  Smolensk (1944)

(Tank Fighting in the Large Cauldron in Front of Smolensk)

 

Hans Böhme (1905-1982) – Nach der Einnahme von Novi-Oskol (1944)

(After Taking Novi-Oskol)

 

Hans Böhme (1905-1982) – Im Stahlgewitter (1944)

(In a Steel Storm)

 

Otto Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser (1884-1965) – Einmarsch in Riga (1942)

(Entry into Riga)

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 1

Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

Performance: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Year of recording: 1984

 

I. Adagio molto. Allegro con brio

II. Andante cantabile con moto

III. Menuetto – Allegro molto e vivace

IV. Finale – Adagio, allegro molto e vivace

 

In Flagranti (1944)

Caught in the Act

 

Director: Hans Schweikart

Screenplay: Ernst Marischka and Hans Schweikart

Producer: Heinrich Haas

Music: Peter Kreuder

Cinematography: Franz Koch

Country of production: Germany

Original language: German

Year of release: 1944

Running time: 87 minutes

Production company: Bavaria Filmkunst GmbH

 

Cast

 

Ferdinand Marian: Alfred Peters, engineer

Margot Hielscher: Inge Christensen, employee at the detective agency

Oskar Sima: Roland Schmidt, owner of a detective agency

Fritz Kampers: Georg, Alfred’s friend

André Mattoni: Erwin, Inge’s fiancé

Lizzi Holzschuh: Dagmar Karlsen, Alfred’s girlfriend

Jane Tilden: Fritzi

Alice Treff: Hella, Inge’s friend

Arthur Wiesner: Police officer

Joseph Offenbach: Head waiter at the restaurant

Viktor Afritsch: Floor waiter at the Hotel Bristol

 

“In flagranti” (Caught in the Act) is a 1944 German feature film in the screwball comedy genre, directed by Hans Schweikart. The leading roles were played by Ferdinand Marian, Margot Hielscher and Oskar Sima.

 

Plot

 

Dagmar Karlsen, a singer and the girlfriend of engineer Alfred Peters, has long had a nagging suspicion that he is cheating on her with another woman. She therefore visits Roland Schmidt’s detective agency so that he can launch an investigation into the matter. Unfortunately, there are no experienced detectives left in the office that evening, so Schmidt has no choice but to call upon Inge Christiansen, a young employee from the correspondence department. She is tasked with shadowing Peters on his business trip, which is due to start that very evening. To carry out this assignment, however, she has to postpone her planned holiday with her fiancé Erwin at short notice.

 

 

That same evening, Inge takes the same train as Peters. In her compartment, she happens to bump into her school friend Hella, with whom she sat her A-levels. Inge tells Hella about her first case as a detective. As they eat together in the dining car, she notices that Peters has also taken a seat there. The young detective seizes the opportunity to search Peters’ luggage in his compartment undisturbed. There, in his suitcase and briefcase, she discovers his fondness for various tin toy figures. However, as she leaves the compartment, she is surprised by Peters, who initially harbours no suspicion. It is only later, when he checks his luggage, that he realises his belongings have been searched and a tin figure is damaged. Naturally, he suspects Inge, whom he takes for a travelling thief.

 

During an 80-minute stopover, Peters gets off the train at the station to take a taxi to a restaurant. There he meets up with his friend and business partner Georg. Inge follows him there in another taxi. Peters reports that their joint bridge-building project has been approved by the supervisory board of Brückenbau AG and that nothing now stands in the way of the construction work going ahead. They arrange to meet the next day at the Hotel Bristol. During the meeting, Alfred Peters notices that Inge is also in the restaurant. He tells his friend Georg about his encounter with Inge on the train that evening and is certain that Inge is a thief or a spy. For this reason, after leaving the restaurant, he approaches a police officer and has Inge arrested on suspicion of being a criminal. At the police station, it later transpires that Inge has not committed any theft or similar offence. Instead, Alfred is arrested for making a false accusation. Because of her time at the police station, Inge has missed the train’s onward journey and has to book a hotel room for the night. Peters is also released and sneaks into the hotel where Inge is staying. All sorts of mix-ups and curious circumstances ensue, and the two grow closer. However, Inge had managed to send a telegram to Roland Schmidt, the owner of the detective agency. Her initial assessment is that, given the tin toy found at Peter’s home, it can be assumed that Peter has an ‘illegitimate’ child.

 

The next morning, they continue their journey by train. During the journey, Peters meets a young woman. Peters has no idea that Fritzi is his friend Georg’s fiancée. Inge makes another phone call to Roland Schmidt to give him an update, this time reporting that Peters has a lover (Fritzi) by his side. As a result, Alfred Peters’ girlfriend and detective Roland Schmidt fly to Inge Christiansen’s. Erwin, Inge’s fiancé, joins them.

 

At the Hotel Bristol, all three actually catch Alfred and Inge in the act, sharing a passionate kiss.

 

All the mix-ups and speculation are resolved over a dinner together. Erwin now finds himself drawn to Dagmar, Alfred Peters’ girlfriend, and Inge and Alfred also become a couple in the future. The supposed mistress (Fritzi) also turns out to be Georg’s fiancée.

 

Artwork Collection – Industry

Arthur Kampf (1864-1950) - Im Walzwerk (1901/1939)

 In the Rolling Mill (1901/1939)

  Carl Theodor Protzen (1887-1956) - Straßen des Führers (1940)

The Highways of the Führer (1940)

 Richard Geßner (1894-1989) - Kraftwerk Wasserburg am Inn (1938)

Wasserburg am Inn Power Station (1938)

 Erich Mercker (1891-1973) - Märzfeld, Nürnberg (1941)

Mars Field, Nuremberg (1941)

Erich Mercker (1891-1973) - Aus Deutschlands Schmiede (1940)

From Germany's Smithy (1940)

 Erich Mercker (1891-1973) - Ostmark, Almtalbrücke der Reichsautobahn (1941)

 Ostmark [Austria], Almtal Bridge of the Reich’s Highway (1941)

 Erich Mercker (1891-1973) - Baustelle Reichskanzlei (1939)

Construction site of the Reich Chancellery (1939)

 Erich Mercker (1891-1973) - Marmor für die Reichskanzlei (1940)

Marble for the Reich Chancellery (1940)

 Bodo Meyner (geb. 1918) - Neuaufbau der Siegessäule, Berlin (1941)

Reconstruction of the Victory Column, Berlin (1941)

 Günther Dommnich (geb. 1892) - Hindenburger Landschaft mit Skaleywerken (1939)

Hindenburg landscape with Skaley Factories (1939)

 Günther Dommnich geb. 1892) - Deutscher Verladebahnhof 1939 (1939)

German Loading Station 1939 (1939)

 Ferdinand Staeger (1880-1976) - Bronzehammer (1939)

Bronze Hammer (1939)

 Herbert Schnürpel (1890-1943) - Nachtschicht (1938)

Night Shift (1938)