Over 2000 Rare and Out-of-Print Classic German Videos  for Sale or Rent in the USA Division of Heidelberg Haus Established 1968 German Language Video Center 7625 Pendleton Pike Indianapolis, Indiana 46226-5298 USA Phone 1 + (317) 547-1257 FAX 1 + (317) 547-1263

Films from the former East German Republic

Please note: Many of the videos listed below will be totally discontinued once our limited supply is sold.

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Die Legende von Paul und Paula (The Legend of Paul and Paula)
English subtitles, 1973, color, ca. 106 min. - Director: Heiner Carow. To this day, the most poplar DEFA film. Based on Ulrich Plenzdorf's controversial screenplay about the love between a single woman and a complacently married bureaucrat. Featuring the up tempo music of the GDR rock group, The Phudys, this is a film about longings, dreams and the pursuit of individual freedom. A cult classic. To this day The Legend of Paul and Paula is the most popular DEFA film. Author Ulrich Plenzdorf and director Heiner Carow tell about the love of a single saleswoman to a married and complacent bureaucrat who comes out of his shell. "Go to her and fly your kite," sings the GDR rock group The Puhdys in this romantic and ironic treatment of reality. The film's fundamental plea for individual freedom caused contradictory reactions among dogmatic politicians. In most East German districts this film was banned for months.

Look At This City (Schaut auf diese Stadt)
English subtitles, 1962; 86 min.; b&w, Director: Karl Gass, The history of West Berlin from the end of the Second World War to the days following the building of the Walló from a communist perspective. A provocative and informative time capsule from the days of the Cold War. Director Karl Gass begins his film before the construction of the Wall. With montages of rate authentic images, Look at this City: was intended to prove how important and necessary the closing of the border was for the preservation of the GDR. The director provided an account of the political, social and ecological development form a communist perspective the Eastern section of Berlin was portrayed as a city of peace, while the West was portrayed as a "front" city and "spearhead against the East." The source of constant disruptions, West Berlin could only be resisted by forcefully isolating it. The film argued that the GDR, with the creation of the Wall, would be able to secure the possibility of peace in Europe and throughout the world.

Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
1950, b&w, ca. 90 min. - Director: Georg Wildhagen. This musical masterpiece was questioned by the SED prior to its release due to the film's portrayal of societal relations. Check out this great comedic performance.
Der dicke Adlige Falstaff, der Fresser, Saeufer und Weiberheld von Windsor, ist dieses Mal an die Falschen geraten. Frau Fluth und Frau Reich schmieden gemeinsam einen Plan um den Kerl fuer immer davonzujagen. Nach Shakespeares gleichnamigen Lustspiel.

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Die Mauer (The Wall)
1990, English subtitles, b&w/color, ca. 99 min. - Director: Juergen Boettcher. From the documentary filmmaker and painter Juergen Boettcher. His topic: the Berlin Wall, its last days and its highly anticipated destruction. Lyrical and haunting. A film masterpiece. Boettcher composed his films like a "Tafelbild". For the settings, he chose historical places in the center of Berlin: Potsdamer Platz, the Reichstag, and the Brandenburg Gate. One the broken-down Wall he projected historic motion pictures: Emperor Wilhelm's ride through the Brandenburg Gate the torch-lit procession of the Nazis, the famous picture of an East German policeman filmed feeing to the West in 1961 and the fall of the Wall.

Minna von Barnhelm oder Das Soldatenglueck (Minna von Barnhelm or The Soldier's Fortune
English subtitles, 1962, color, ca. 103 min. - Director: Martin Hellberg. A sweeping story of love, pride and betrayal. Based on the drama by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. It is important to note that the script left Lessing's text practically unchanged. The pointed and cogent dialogue passages as well as the plot are given a highly effective cinematic interpretation. What makes this film stand out is the brilliant cast led by Marita Boehme, Otto Mellies and Manfred Krug. During the Seven Year's War, the Prussian Major von Tellheim becomes engaged to the Saxon noblewoman Minna von Barnhelm. After the war, the King - in an unwarranted move - deprives the major of his title. Von Tellheim becomes impoverished and, filled with shame, breaks off his relationship to Minna. But she remains devoted to her beloved Tellheim and cunningly manages to elicit a new declaration of love from him. 

Die Moerder sind unter uns (The Murderers Are Among Us)
English subtitles, 1946, b&w/color, ca. 81 min. - Director: Wolfgang Staudte. The first feature to be produced in postwar Germany was made under the auspices of the new DEFA Studios, featuring the budding star Hildegard Knef. It is ranked by film critics among the top ten of Germany's 100 most important films. Its film noir style is reminiscent of German expressionism. A man and a woman return to Berlin in the aftermath of World War II to face the harsh realities of postwar Germany. Susanne Wallner is a concentration camp survivor who, despite unspeakable experiences, is filled with a new desire to live. Dr. Hans Mertens is a former physician and officer in the German army who finds himself unable to deal with the haunting memories of his role in the war. Through Susanne's caring, the broken man gathers new strength and courage, but discovers the shadow of his past cannot be avoided.

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Our Daily Bread (Unser taeglich Brot)
English subtitles, 1949; 99 min.; b&w, Director: Slatan Dudow, A story about a struggling family after the Second World War, this is considered to be East Germany's first socialist film. Berlin's world of ruins is captured in almost documentary fashion. Karl Weber a petty bourgeois cashier in Berlin, observes from a distance how his son Ernst participates in the building of a new socialist society after the Second World War. Karl does not understand Ernst's visions, instead, he confides in his other son Harry. However, Harry becomes involved in illicit business and Karl quickly realizes that it would be best to join his son Ernst in the people-oriented" factory. With this film, director Slatan Dudow (1903-1963) continues the traditions of proletarian German film from the Weimar Republic. 

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Roman einer jungen Ehe (The Story of a Young Couple)
English subtitles, 1952, b&w, ca. 99 min. - Director: Kurt Maetzig. A DEFA propaganda film of the Cold War depicting with dramatic verve the period between 1946 and 1951 from a decidedly Stalinist perspective. As of 1956, when Stalin and his crimes were officially denounced' 'The Story of a Young Couple' was no longer shown in the GDR. Agnes and Jochen, a husband and wife who are actors, live in the western part of Berlin. They fall in love just as the conflict between East and West is deepening shortly after the end of World War II. Agnes does not want to take part in the "cold and heartless propaganda against the East and be dragged into the "militaristic theater." She leaves Jochen and goes to the GDR to contribute to its development with her talents.

Rotation
English subtitles, 1949; 80 mins.; b&w, Director: Wolfgang Staudte, An anti-fascist film now considered a classic. Upon its release in 1949, director Staudte was forced to change the ending which was deemed too pacifist. Ranked by film critics as among Germany’s 100 most important films.  Wolfgang Staudte's Rotation portrays the petty bourgeois and their support for Hitler during the Nazi period. The main character, the mechanic Behnke, wants to join the Nazi party to secure a good living. However, after his Jewish neighbors are taken away, he changes his views. Trying to remain "a non-political man," he withdraws from reality and becomes a Nazi laborer. In September 1949, Rotation came to theaters in the Soviet occupation zone. But first, upon requests of the DEFA management and its Soviet advisors, the director had to change the indefinite ending of the film. Staudte's intention had been to show how both Behnkes father and son, burn their military uniforms. But at a time when East Germany was setting up people's police (Volkspolizei), such pacifist images were taboo. The new ending which took Staudte six months to revise, shows two young people who optimistically ponder the future.

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Das singende, klingende Baeumchen (The Singing, Ringing Tree)
1957, color, ca. 70 min. - Director: Francesco Stefani. In order to win the love of a beautiful but haughty princess, a prince sets out to find the fabled singing, ringing tree. This Brothers Grimm tale was filmed primarily for children but has since been enjoyed throughout Europe by "children" of all ages. Recommended for children.

Die Soehne der grossen Baerin (The Sons of Great Bear)
English subtitles, 1966, color, ca. 93 min. - Director: Josef Mach. This production began the most successful series of films at the box office in the history of East German cinema. A young and fearless chief, Tokeiitho, tries valiantly to protect his Dakota tribe's ancestral land from greedy white invaders in search of gold. The struggle proves hopeless. Tormented by their inhuman living conditions, the Indians resolve to flee from the reservation and journey to more fertile lands beyond the Missouri into Canada.

Solo Sunny
English subtitles, 1980; 102 min.; Color, Director: Konrad Wolf, A huge box office success, this film addressed the longings and frustrations of East German youth. SOLO SUNNY also artfully captures the GDR version of "70s style" with its gritty-glitzy visuals and catchy soundtrack. Its success promised a youthful renewal in DEFA, yet two "discoveries" among its youth talent - star Renate Kroessner and cinematographer Eberhard Geick - soon felt compelled to pursue their careers in the West. Awarded the Silver Bear at the 1980 Berlin Film Festival.  Sunny is a pop-singer with a mediocre band. She longs to be happy and recognized as someone special. The Taxi driver, Harry, idolizes her but she does not share his limited ambitions. Instead she falls in love with the philosopher Ralph, who betrays her. After resisting a sexual assault from a fellow musician and verbal abuse from the band's emcee, Sunny gets kicked out of the band. Depressed by this and Ralph's indifference, she combines alcohol and sleeping tablets and winds up in the hospital... Finally, she starts over, in the "underground" scene of Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin.

Somewhere in Berlin (Irgendwo in Berlin)
English subtitles, 1946; 79 mins.; b&w, Director: Gerhard Lamprecht builds on his successes of the 1920s and 30s with the 1946 film Somewhere in Berlin. Before the war, he was famous for his socially critical Berlin films which were based on the popular drawing s by Heinrich Zille. Lamprecht brought the world of prostitutes, beggars and day laborers to the screen. The setting is the devastated landscape of postwar Berlin. SOMEWHERE IN BERLIN realistically portrays the inhabitants of this shattered society with psychological precision and grace. A moving story about hope and courage.  Somewhere in Berlin is about the "little people." The film takes place in the ruined landscape of Berlin, in which children perform feats of bravery by playing with un detonated bombs and climbing in the rubble. One boy is disappointed with his father, who comes home powerless and hopeless from a POW camp. Somewhere in Berlin shows how the children convince this weary man to clean and restore his bomb-damaged garage, managing in the end to give him new hope. Lamprecht wanted this story to urge his audience to take similar actions.

Spur der Steine (Trace of Stones)
English subtitles, 1966, b&w, ca. 133 min. - Director: Frank Beyer. This film, which tells the story of a socialist construction worker and his unconventional methods, was banned for 25 years. Arguably the most important DEFA film of the 1960s, 'Trace of Stones' was shelved by East Germany following its 1966 release and was the catalyst that forced director Frank Beyer out of the DEFA Studios.

Sun Seekers (Sonnensucher)
English subtitles, 1958; 116 mins.; b&w, Director: Konrad Wolf. In the fall of 1950 Lutz and Emmi are arrested after the police raid a bar-room brawl. They are not sentenced to prison but instead they are forced to work in a uranium mine in Wismut. Their new "home" is full of characters with unusual destinies: old anarchists working next to former SS members and Russian officers. Emotions collide, as well as fists. Director Konrad Wolf (1925 - 1982) began his work on the film in April, 1957. Despite Wolf's attempt to tell a dramatic story with truth and humanity, his work on the screenplay raised constant objections from both the GDR government and the Russian cultural authorities. The uranium mine Wismut in the southern GDR appeared as chaotic as a wild west gold rush town. Wolf was also accused of undermining the leading role of the communist party with the film. Politicians as high as Party Chairman Walter Ulbrichts got involved in the making of the film. Shortly after the planned premiere in 1958, Sun Seekers was forbidden. The Soviet government vetoed the film to avoid depicting how uranium for atom bombs was being mined in the GDR. Sun Seekers was not released until 1971, but even today it impresses with its political complexity, variety of characters and the realistic portrayal of daily work in a forbidden zone of the industrial landscape.

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That Was the GDR

• That Was the GDR: Part 1 / I was a Citizen of the GDR
  (Das war die DDR: Teil 1 / Ich war Buerger der DDR) English subtitles, 1993; 90 mins.; b&w and Color, Director: Gitta Nickel, Wolfgang Schwarze In this simple phrase, "I Was a citizen of the GDR," lie countless individual life stories. Former GDR citizens tell of their personal feelings, experiences and attitudes toward the GDR as well as both material difficulties and the dominance of the State. They reflect on important, painful and contradictory historical events such as the uprising on the 17th of June 1953, the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall and the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968. They also convey the sense of the hopes pinned on Mikhail Gorbachev’s Perestroika.

  Order # DFA 76 Out of print. Rent Me!.
  Buy Previously Viewed Order # PV-DFA 76

• That Was the GDR: Part 2 / From "Zone" to State
  ( Das war die DDR: Teil 2 / Vom Plan zur Pleite) English subtitles, 1993; 90 mins.; b&w, Director: Donat Schober, Gunther Scholz, "Risen from the Ruins" – Germany was a trophy in the struggle between the new powers after two world wars. This documentary considers the events leading up to the construction of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961 - the fine division between the two German states. Here the focus is not only on major political events but also on the spirit of the times as reflected in images from film, photographs, posters, caricatures, pop-songs and speeches.

  Order # DFA 77 Out of print. Rent Me!.
  Buy Previously Viewed Order # PV-DFA 77

• That Was the GDR: Part 3 / For the People's Welfare
  (Das war die DDR: Teil 3 / Geist und Macht) English subtitles, 1993; 90 mins.; b&w and Color, Director: Christian Klemke, Gitta Nickel, Lothar Kompatzki, Uwe Belz, Wolfgang Schwarze, The Honecker era is the centerpiece of this film. The program for the social policy of the SED (Socialist Unit Party) calls for the "unity of economic and social policy." Thus the Party leadership celebrated the achievement of the tight social service network extending from day care to retirement home. But the further individuals are removed from the processes of production, the more useless they become from an economic perspective. How much social security did the State really provide?

  Order # DFA 78 $19.95
  Buy Previously Viewed Order # PV-DFA 78

• That Was the GDR: Part 4 / Shield and Sword
  (Das war die DDR: Teil 4 / Wir sind das Volk) English subtitles, 1993; 90 mins.; b&w and Color, Director: Anne Worst, Arnold Seul, Martina Koerbler, The Ministry for State Security (MfS) was from its founding in 1950 the central instrument of domination, the "shield and sword of the Party" for defense against external and internal enemies. The Stasi, the political secret police, conducted surveillance and investigated punishable activity. A gigantic European surveillance apparatus ultimately appears – spies and informants with German thoroughness, millions of victims and mountains of files in the "Gauck Archive".

  Order # DFA 79 Out of print. Rent Me!.
  Buy Previously Viewed Order # PV-DFA 79

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Unterm Birnbaum (Under the Pear Tree)
1973, color, ca. 86 min. - Director: Ralf Kirsten. A gripping, methodical treatment of a classic crime. Based on the novella of the same title by the great German realist Theodor Fontane. Gastwirt Hradschek steht vor dem Ruin. Als sich ein Schuldeneintreiber ankuendigt, ersinnt er mit seiner Frau einen Plan. Obwohl die Anwohner den Geldeintreiber davongehen sehen, findet man seine Kutsche in der Oder, von ihm selbst jedoch keine Spur. Nun geraet das Ehepaar unter Mordverdacht. Die Nachbarschaft fuehrt die Gendarmen zu einem Birnbaum, wo man Hradschek des Nachts hat graben sehen...

Der Untertan (The Kaiser's Lackey)
English subtitles, 1951, b&w, ca. 103 min. - Director: Wolfgang Staudte. An historical satire of biting sharpness and grand comedy. Staudte's wonderfully successful adaptation of Heinrich Mann's world-famous novel has become a film classic. Diederich Hessling is a wimp. He obeys authority like a scared little kid. Soon he realizes an important lesson of ambition: one has to first serve power if one expects to gain power for oneself. From then on, his motto in life is: bow to superiors and kick underlings. One of his biggest dreams finally comes true when he is able to give the keynote address at the dedication of an Emperor's monument.

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Wozzek
1947, b&w, ca. 94 min. - Director: Georg C. Klaren. A film, based on Georg Buechner's taut drama, with exceptional visual power. Both sharply realistic and uncannily visionary. Der Fuesilier Franz Wozzeck erduldet jede Demueting seiner Vorgesetzten um mit Marie, die er liebt, spaeter ein bescheidenes Leben fuehren zu koennen. Doch als der Tambourmajor ihm Marie nimmt, wird Franz zum Moerder... Dieser Film basierend auf Georg Buechners Dramenfragment, besitzt eine aussergewoehnliche Bildkraft, sowohl im scharf Realistischen als auch im unheimlichen Visionaeren.

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Zar und Zimmermann (Tzar and Carpenter)
Who is the real Tzar? Marie sees before her an impossible task. A comic opera about Tzar Peter I of Russia and Peter the carpenter in the small Dutch town of Saardam. Wer ist denn nun der wirkliche Zar? Marie sieht sich vor eine fast unloesbare Aufgabe gestellt. Ein Verwechslungsspiel um Zar Peter I. von Russland im hollaendischen Staedtchen Saardam. Albert Lortzings populaeres Opernlustspiel als Filmerlebnis.

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