Die Nibelungen, Teil 1 - Siegfried (1966)

Volker von Alzey, the royal bard of the Burgunds (far greater then modern Burgundy), ruled by the Christian, papist king Gunther, who has two brave, loyal brothers and a sister Kriemhild, ... See full summary »

Director:

Harald Reinl

Writers:

Harald G. Petersson, Harald Reinl,

Stars:

Uwe Beyer, Rolf Henniger, Siegfried Wischnewski

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Uwe Beyer	...	Siegfried
Rolf Henniger	...	König Gunther
Siegfried Wischnewski	...	Hagen
Maria Marlow	...	Kriemhild
Hans von Borsody	...	Volker von Alzey
Terence Hill	...	Giselher (as Mario Girotti)
Fred Williams	...	Gernot
Dieter Eppler	...	Rüdiger von Bechlarn
Samson Burke	...	Blo-Edin
Skip Martin	...	Alberich
Hilde Weissner	...	Königin Ute
Barbara Bold	...	Hildegunt
Ingrid Lotarius	...	Gudrun
Maria Hofen	...	Frigga
Djordje Nenadovic	...	Slaodel (as George Heston)

Storyline

Volker von Alzey, the royal bard of the Burgunds (far greater then modern Burgundy), ruled by the Christian, papist king Gunther, who has two brave, loyal brothers and a sister Kriemhild, tells in rhyme the tale of Siegfried of Xanthen, who in the northern kingdom of the Lowlands was a forgery apprentice, till his jealous rival's attack made him drench his blade in blood, which made it all-splitting, the right means to slay the feared-most dragon, Rachnir, whose blood makes him, once bathed in it, invulnerable; Alberich, king of the Alves, whose helmet of invisibility he beats, shows him the dragon-protected ring of the Nibelungen, and he sets out by ship for Iceland, to awake its maiden queen Brunhild, but refuses to stay with her, returning southward to rule from Xanthen on the Rhine and seek himself a queen. Siegfried challenges Gunther at Easter to a duel for both realms, is however proposed instead a preferable marital alliance with Gunther's sister Kriemhild. Just after their ...

---

Plot Keywords:

remake | epic

---

Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy

---

Details

Country:

West Germany Yugoslavia

Language:

German

Release Date:

13 December 1966 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Whom the Gods Wish to Destroy

Filming Locations:

CCC-Atelier, Spandau, Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Avala Film, Central Cinema Company Film (CCC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by Die Nibelungen, Teil 2 - Kriemhilds Rache (1967)

User Reviews

Recalling having seen the film in 1966 in a UK cinema (key plot points discussed).

I remember seeing this when it was on release in the UK. I'm sure the UK version was released as "Those Whom the Gods Wish to Destroy" and might have been a combination of both Teil 1 and Teil 2 edited together.

It must have been dubbed as it had an English soundtrack. I think the film poster had the film title carved out of a rock face a bit like the Ben Hur poster.

It was some long time after seeing the film that I found out it was part of a series of traditional German Folklore tales. I can recall the scene where Siegfried kills a somewhat cardboard looking dragon and bathes in its blood. Unfortunately a leaf gets stuck to his back and the only part of him not bathed in dragon blood is where the leaf was stuck. Everywhere he was covered in blood makes him impervious to any weapon. He subsequently walks through a fire and only gets burned where the leaf was stuck, leaving him with a leaf shaped scar on his back. Later on during some subterfuge, someone (his wife I think) sews a patch onto the back of his tunic where the leaf had been stuck and the villain is then able to aim a spear at the only place where he can be wounded and killed.

That happens about halfway through and its that which makes me think the UK release was edited from both films. I'd certainly like to see this again but so far I've not ever seen it available on video.