Christmas in the Third Reich

Der Kaiser von Kalifornien (1936)

(The Emperor of California)

Directed by: Luis Trenker

Produced by: Luis Trenker

Written by: Luis Trenker

Music by: Giuseppe Becce

Cinematography: Albert Benitz

Heinz von Jaworsky

Edited by: Willy Zeyn

Rudolf Schaad

Release dates: 1936

Running time: 97 minutes

Country: Germany

Language: German

Starring:

Luis Trenker: Johann August Sutter

Viktoria von Ballasko: Anna, his wife

Werner Kunig: Rudolf - their son

Karli Zwingmann: Emil - their son

Elise Aulinger: Frau Dübol - Anna's mother

Bernhard Minetti: The stranger

Hans Zesch-Ballot: Governor Alvaredo

Marcella Albani: His wife

Walter Franck: Castro - his aide

Reinhold Pasch: Marshall (as Reginald Pasch)

August Eichhorn: Harper

Luis Gerold: Ermatinger

Paul Verhoeven: Bartender Billy

Melanie Horeschowsky: Amalie - Sutter's Sister (as Melanie Horeschovsky)

Berta Drews: Chansonette

Plot:

The Kaiser of California, better known as "The Emperor of California" (German Der Kaiser von Kalifornien), is a 1936 film that has the distinction of being the first western film made in Nazi Germany. Some exterior scenes were even shot on location in the United States at Sedona and the Grand Canyon in Arizona and at Death Valley in California.

The film follows the life story of Johann Augustus Suter, the owner of Sutter's Mill, famous as the birthplace of the great California Gold Rush of 1849.

While the basic story of Sutter's life is retained, the producers inserted some notable changes reflecting the political environment of the film's creation: though Sutter was a Swiss-German, the film emphasizes his German ethnicity and though he changed his name to John Sutter when he came to the United States, throughout the film he retains the name Johann Suter.

The film opposes the "easy" money of gold-digging with the wealth and values created by hard work, as the Gold Rush eventually destroys Suter's fortunes and creates social disintegration and the loss of solidarity and companionship.

In the final scene the aged and impoverished Sutter is shown in Washington, where he has a vision of America's future industrial might, seeing a land full of skyscrapers and factories.

Unlike most American Westerns of the 1930s, The Kaiser of California offers a sympathetic portrait of the Indians, whom Sutter respectfully befriends. In this it follows the Karl May tradition of German Western stories, which often featured noble Indians and German immigrants turned pioneers and gunmen.

The film won the 1936 Mussolini Cup for best foreign film at the Venice Film Festival. It was screened as part of the "Venice Days" series at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in September 2011.

The film was written and directed by Luis Trenker, who also starred as Johann Sutter. Trenker had previously directed Der verlorene Sohn (The Prodigal Son, 1934), the story of an Alpine immigrant in New York, which is the only other film produced in Nazi Germany with scenes photographed on location in the United States.

Artworks by Oskar Just

Source: Nordisches Blutserbe im süddeutschen Bauerntum (1938)

(Nordic Blood Lines in the Southern German Farmland)

Part I

Postcards Collection – Third Reich Military Flags

The Reich in Photos – Police Parades in Vienna and Munich, 1938

Die Deutsche Wochenschau – Newsreel No. 545 – 12 February 1941

Funeral of Hungary's Foreign Minister Csâky;

Reich Youth Leader Axmann Visits Oslo;

Grandiose Nazi Party Ceremonies in Silesia;

Submariners on a Skiing Holiday;

Minesweepers Patrol the English Channel;

Bombing Raids of British Positions in North Africa;

The Responsibility of the Political Leader and Standard-bearer

by Reichsorganisationsleiter Dr. Robert Ley

Source: Ich Kämpfe (IFight)! - the handbook of the National-Socialist

It is the goal and task of our National Socialist will to establish an eternal German nation. Any German has to be clear about the fact that he was sent by God to help the German people and to secure the existence of the German nation.

Before all human ideals it is our primary concern to make Germany as strong as possible so that it can forever defend its place in this world. If other nations and races think the same - it does not bother us. We are convinced that the quality of our race and the value of our nation will forever secure our existence as long as Germans think the way I mentioned above. There were ups and downs in German history and many a time it seemed that the development of the German nation had come to an end. There were moments in German history - and our generation lived through one - when the German nation was down so far that the thought of it still makes us shudder. We no longer live on the edge of an abyss, but the disgraceful treason of the 9th of November 1918 proves my point. We were already buried down at the bottom. Today, it seems like a miracle to us that this nation made its way up again. This is why all Germans now and forever, have to thank destiny that in the moment of urgent need and deep depression we were sent a leader who pulled the German nation up again and showed the way for a new ascent.

What really is the Führer’s great accomplishment? Beyond his genius and gigantic achievements as a politician, general and people’s leader, it has been his greatest deed that for the first time in history he provided real guidance for the German nation. Certainly, the nation always had a public administration -it was not always equally good and clean- and sometimes it happened that the one or the other organization presumed to provide guidance for the German nation. All these attempts either failed right at the beginning or they were used by foreign elements to secure dominion over the nation for their foreign ideals and alien elements. It was the National Socialist Movement that for the first time provided proper German guidance, bound to blood and race. The outward expression of this guidance is the NSDAP. In this party all those racial values that are seen as the nation’s finest, are united in selection and quality.

This elite moreover, was brought together by the best suited methods ever to be used by a leading party. It was the National Socialist struggle that prevented lazy, idle and indolent elements from joining the party. Only men of courage, valor, toughness and devotion were attracted to National Socialist ideals and kept believing in them. It was as if a magnet had gone through the nation picking the racially most valuable out of all layers, professions, social positions and classes, and out of all tribes, clans and families. 

To the individual the party ottered no advantage whatsoever. The party only demanded sacritices trom everybody, sacrifices of property and blood. The many dead and wounded members of the Movement are a good example of what ideas demand from man. For the fight and the success of the National Socialist idea, the following sentence is of unconditional truth. An idea gains its worth from the people who are willing to sacrifice, and they will be paid back by destiny. According to this view it can be said that the National Socialist Movement has produced an invoice for destiny so immense and unique, that more than a millennium of National Socialist history and development will be required to pay it.

It is not enough to simply accumulate hundreds and thousands of members and to anchor a million people to the Movement. To achieve better performance from these people and to work towards greater success it is vital to arrange them meaningfully and to organize them with respect to their talents and abilities. A reasonable organization that allows for the unfolding of individual resources is the preliminary condition for true effectiveness. This is true for the National Socialist party of course.

The NSDAP is a field of force that from a political core reaches out to the entire German nation by virtue of its sub-divisions and associations. In the center of this field we find the Hoheitstrager [standard-bearer] as represented by the Führer, surrounded by a circle of political experts who enable him to take up any urgent problem and to answer any question that stirs the nation.

Everything connected with the leading of the nation matters to the standard bearer of the NSDAP and there must not be a problem he would not deal with because it seems too easy, difficult or huge. The people must be given complete assurance so that they feel comfortable with the NSDAP and the Führer. They must be certain that this Movement acts, feels and thinks for the people, that it takes part in everything that matters for the people, in all their joys and worries. The nation is a child, especially if it is as young as the German nation, and therefore it needs to be treated like a child. This means that the party worries, cares and works for the people just like a kind-hearted father or dedicated parents would. The unconditional trust which is thus generated is a requirement for the party and its political leaders, especially the Hoheitstrager, if they want to successfully carry through their guiding mission. Authority rests on this confidence and thus the majesty captured in the word Hoheitstrager emerges. Authority is a rare treasure and is the only guarantee that a nation can really be guided. For good reasons it is said that a time without a Kaiser is the most dreadful experience. It is disastrous for any nation when their leaders fail or when there is no leadership at all. Authority is the first requirement in a living community of any species or race. It is the precondition of welfare, of property, of wages - in a word: of living conditions in general.

Without authority there is no culture, and joy is transformed to animal instincts: beauty and greatness are impossible when authority is lost. Therefore, the title „Hoheitstrager” of the Party is the highest and most excellent title the nation has to offer. The Führer holds the highest authority ever held by a German in this German nation. This authority is derived from the boundless faith the German people put into their Führer Adolf Hitler. And all Reichsleiter, Gauleiter, Kreisleiter or Ortsgruppenleiter- all are happy and honored that they can work for the party. They all derive their authority from Adolf Hitler’s authority and the German nation intuitively senses how much confidence the Führer puts into all political leaders and standard bearers.

The Führer’s confidence is our authority. It is our duty to win this confidence through incessant labor, circumspection and devotion. Whoever fails because of his laziness or negligence loses the Führer’s confidence and thus the nation’s confidence. In our functions and fields we are only place holders for the Führer and it is a great and wonderful experience to help lead the German nation supported by the Führer’s confidence.

In this way the party’s faith and structure have become the guarantees for a German triumph. For the first time in 2000 years, which is as far back as we can go in German history, the NSDAP offers true guidance for the German nation. A guidance so perfect and powerful that it will tear down and destroy anything that builds up against it.

There is no doubt for me -and let me affirm this here again- that the German nation with the party on the inside and a wonderful armed forces on the outside will surpass all difficulties. Come what may, we will win in the name of our flag. One flag, one National Socialist party, one National Socialist armed forces, one nation and one Führer! This is our triumph.