Kolberg (1945)

During Napoleon's victorious campaign in Germany, the city of Kolberg gets isolated from the retreating Prussian forces. The population of Kolberg refuses to capitulate and organizes the ... See full summary »

Director:

Veit Harlan

Writers:

Alfred Braun (book), Veit Harlan (book),

Stars:

Heinrich George, Kristina Söderbaum, Horst Caspar

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Heinrich George	...	Bürgermeister Joachim Nettelbeck
Kristina Söderbaum	...	Maria Werner
Horst Caspar	...	Gen. Gneisenau
Gustav Diessl	...	Lt. Schill
Paul Wegener	...	Stadtkommandant Loucadou
Otto Wernicke	...	Bauer Werner
Charles Schauten	...	Napoleon
Claus Clausen	...	Frédéric-Guillaume III
Irene von Meyendorff	...	Königin
Heinz Lausch	...	Friedrich Werner
Kurt Meisel	...	Claus Werner
Paul Bildt	...	Rektor
Jakob Tiedtke	...	Reeder
Hans Hermann Schaufuß	...	Zaufke (as H.H. Schaufuss)
Franz Schafheitlin	...	Fanselow (as F. Schafheitlin)

Storyline

During Napoleon's victorious campaign in Germany, the city of Kolberg gets isolated from the retreating Prussian forces. The population of Kolberg refuses to capitulate and organizes the resistance against the French army, which immediately submits the city to massive bombardments.

---

Plot Keywords:

nazi propaganda | uniform | period piece | place name in title | prussian soldier | 

---

Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | War

---

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German French

Release Date:

5 October 1953 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Burning Hearts

Filming Locations:

Kolobrzeg, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 8,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Agfacolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was first shown to German troops in Occupied France (La Rochelle).

---

Goofs

In the scene at the Sylvester evening the camera shows the sky and it's snowing, but there are just a few clouds in the sky so it can't really snow.

---

Quotes

Bürgermeister Nettelbeck: 50 years I lives in there, an now it's burned down. Alas life goes on

---

Connections

Featured in Sworn to Secrecy: Secrets of War: Nazi Propaganda

---

Soundtracks

"Maikäfer flieg"

User Reviews

Was that it?

Kolberg's legendary status owes not a little to its unobtainability and complete absence from television. I have the distinct impression that the best of Veit Harlan's direction ended up on the cutting room floor as a panicking Dr Goebbels insisted on drastic revision before this thundering epic could be shown -should I say, inflicted on- the German public in the last days of WWII. There are some magnificent scenes of battles and the episode in the Kolberg town council chamber is brilliantly scripted and acted, but the something is very wrong about the way the final print was put together. Lead character Maria is a virtual stranger; the details of her trials and tribulations along with her affair with Schill have to be guessed at, as does much else. The sets throughout are splendid - but it's all a stage with nothing happening. Continuity is appalling. I understand that we are watching 1hr 45mins out of over 90 hours of footage taken and that all the negatives are lost. We will never know what we are missing.