Ohm Krüger
Ohm Krüger (English: Uncle Krüger) is a 1941 German biographical film directed by Hans Steinhoff and starring Emil Jannings, Lucie Höflich, and Werner Hinz. It was one of a series of major propaganda films produced in Nazi Germany attacking the United Kingdom. The film depicts the life of the South African politician Paul Kruger and his eventual defeat by the British during the Boer War.
Ohm Krüger
Harald Bratt
Kurt Heuser
Mann ohne Volk
by Arnold Krieger
Fritz Arno Wagner
Martha Dübber
Hans Heinrich
- 4 April 1941 (Nazi Germany)
- 1 October 1941 (France)
- 15 March 1942 (Finland)
135 minutes
It was the first film to be awarded the 'Film of the Nation' award. It was re-released in 1944.
Plot[edit]
The film opens with a dying Paul Kruger (Emil Jannings) speaking about his life to his nurse in a Geneva hotel. The rest of the film is told in flashback.
Cecil Rhodes (Ferdinand Marian) has a great desire to acquire land in the Transvaal region of the Boers for its gold deposits. He sends Dr Jameson (Karl Haubenreißer) there to provoke border disturbances and secures support from Joseph Chamberlain (Gustaf Gründgens). When Chamberlain seeks the support of Queen Victoria (Hedwig Wangel) and her son Edward, Prince of Wales (Alfred Bernau), she initially refuses but changes her mind when she is informed of the gold in the region. She invites Kruger to London and believes that she is tricking him into signing a treaty.
Kruger, being suspicious of the British, has his own plans. Kruger signs the treaty, which gives the British access to the gold, but he imposes high taxes and establishes a monopoly over the sale of TNT, which forces the British to buy explosives at high prices. Hence, ultimately, Kruger tricks the British by signing the treaty. That impresses some of the British, as they find Krüger is their equal in matters of cunning, which is supposed to be the defining characteristic of the British. Having been outmaneuvered, Rhodes tries to buy Kruger's allegiance. Kruger and his wife Sanna, (Lucie Höflich), however, are incorruptible. After being rejected, Rhodes shows Kruger a long list of members of the Boer council who work for the British. Kruger then becomes convinced that the Boers must fight if they are to keep their land, and he declares war against Britain and starts the Second Boer War.
Initially, the Boers are on the ascendancy, with the Boers defeating the British at the Battle of Ladysmith and Magersfontein. Britain subsequently replaces Redvers Buller and Lord Roberts, appointing Lord Kitchener (Franz Schafheitlin) as Supreme Commander of the armed forces. Kitchener launches an attack on the civilian population by destroying its homes, using human shields and placing the women and children in concentration camps in an attempt to damage the morale of the Boer Army.
Kruger's son Jan (Werner Hinz), who has pro-British sentiments because of his Oxford education, visits a concentration camp to find his wife, Petra (Gisela Uhlen), and is caught and hanged with his wife watching. When the women respond in anger, they are massacred.
The flashback concludes in the Geneva hotel room. Kruger prophesies the destruction of Britain by major powers of the world.
Production[edit]
The first outline for Ohm Krüger was begun in September 1940 by Hans Steinhoff and Harald Bratt.[15]
The film had very high production costs of over 5.5 million Reichsmark.[16] At the time, Joseph Goebbels had been encouraging film-makers to have lower production costs, but he made an exception for Ohm Krüger, declaring it to be reichswichtig (important for the State) due to its propagandistic and artistic value; in his Diaries Goebbels - at the "first showing of the completed Ohm Krüger" at his house - wrote: "Great excitement. The film is unique. A really big hit. Everyone is thrilled by it. Jannings has excelled himself. An anti-England film beyond one's wildest dreams. Gauleiter Eigruber is also present and very enthusiastic".[17][18] The production used 4000 horses, about 200 oxen, 180 ox wagons, 25,000 soldiers and 9000 women.[19]
Reception[edit]
Audience response[edit]
The film had its première on 4 April 1941, two days after being passed by the Censor.[21] It was well-received, attracting a quarter of a million viewers in four days upon its initial release, largely as a result of the high expectations generated by the propaganda press campaign, with word-of-mouth recommendations also being important in the film's popularity.[22]
The Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Nazi intelligence service) reported that the film exceeded expectations, with audiences particularly praising the 'unity of political conviction, artistic expression and acting performances'. The public were also reportedly impressed by the fact that a film of Ohm Krüger's quality could be produced in wartime.[23] The film was particularly popular with young audiences, according to both SD reports and film surveys.[24]
Some, however, did question the authenticity of the film.[25]
Internationally, the film was officially released in only eight independent states (including Italy), all of which were closely linked to Nazi Germany, and in France (first in the occupied zone, later also in Vichy France).[26]
Awards and honours[edit]
Ohm Krüger won the Mussolini Cup for best foreign film at the 1941 Venice Film Festival, at which the Italian Minister for Popular Culture, Alessandro Pavolini, praised particularly the film's propaganda value and the role of Emil Jannings.[27]
Within Germany, the film was the first to be given the honorary distinction 'Film of the Nation' (Film der Nation) by the Reich Propaganda Ministry Censorship Office.[28] Only three other films received this rating, namely Heimkehr (1941), The Great King (1942) and Die Entlassung (1942).[29] Joseph Goebbels also presented Emil Jannings with the 'Ring of Honour of the German Cinema'.[30]
Re-release[edit]
The success of the film led Goebbels to re-release it in October 1944, as inspiration for the Volkssturm.[31] On 31 January 1945, the film was banned, for fear that the morale of German audiences would be harmed by images of Boer refugees whose houses had been destroyed - 'images that by the time replicated the harsh realities of everyday life in Germany'.[32]