Departing US
Aerial views of an American city from a rooftop with skyscrapers and a river partially clouded by smoke rising from rooftops. Young men pose for the camera aboard the ship "New York." Another large ocean cruiser can be seen from behind the deck rail.
- Film Title
-
Germany I -- John Vincent Tillman -- amateur
- Duration
- 00:00:41
- Date
-
Event:
September 12, 1935
- Locale
-
United States
- Language
-
Silent
- Genre/Form
-
Amateur.
- Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Philip Sloan and Katherine Tillman
-
Record last modified: 2022-07-28 22:02:23
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn1004663
Also in John Vincent Tillman Collection
John Vincent Tillman was on a fellowship at the University of Munich studying German opera between October 1935 and summer 1936. Tillman recorded his travels across Germany (some via motorcycle), from small towns in the Alps to Berlin, Dresden, and Munich, on 16mm film. He filmed the 1935 harvest festival in Bückeburg, a propaganda event similar to the Nuremberg rallies but catering to rural communities. He also kept a travel diary which was donated along with the film.
Touring Germany
Film
Scenes of the German countryside filmed from a train. 01:00:52 Busy square in the city of Dresden with a church, market and crowds, including the Katholische Hofkirche with an ornate façade and figurative statues and a nearby tower. Along the Elbe River, a boat named "Leipzig" is docked. 01:02:02 Street scenes and a large building. 01:02:09 The Cologne cathedral with the Rhine River in the BG. Boat tour along the Rhine, Nazi flag waves from the boat, castles and architectural ruins among the cliffs. Quick view of a boat labeled "Bayonne" passing by on its way to or from France. Sights include the Pfalzgrafenstein Castle near the town of Kaub in the Rhineland-Palatinate and the Neiderwaldden Landscape Park and monument celebrating the German empire. Visiting Romerberg Square in Frankfurt, the Heiliggeistkirche in Heidelberg, and more sights in the city. Heidelberg and the Neckar River from a hill. Touring more of Germany, including a building with Nazi banners and flags hanging along the sides at 01:06:34.
Annual harvest festival at Bueckeberg
Film
Large groups of civilians travel along a road to the harvest festival in Bueckeberg on October 6, 1935. Germans heil officials and watch a large procession. Tillman describes in his diary how one million people traveled by special trains and by foot to the rally. "The whole mountain... was alive with people, hardly room for more... People of different parts of G[ermany] with their native costumes marched in procession until 12:00 when the Fuehrer arrived - walked through the crowd to platform on top of mountain to watch the battle - very realistic." In his manuscript "Meine Herrschaften" (in USHMM's collection) Tillman describes the festival as similar to Thanksgiving Day in the United States and notes that..... (pg 5-6)
Sightseeing in Germany
Film
EXT and INT of a church. In Dresden, the Zwinger Palace and Equestrian Statue of King John. River. Large garden and estate. City square with some traffic and pedestrians. German family walks through a park. 01:10:03 Bustling street with traffic in Berlin. Brandenburg gate. Barracks of a building under construction. 01:10:44 Pan of a building guarded by German soldiers and pedestrians walking about. MSs, the city's cathedral domes, docks and boats on the Spree River, the Berlin Zoo, an airplane taking off, the Siemens factory, a busy outdoor street market, and a courtyard with graves.
Touring Germany
Film
In the mountains (Alps?). A man and a woman talk before a tree and look at the camera. Several young men smoke and pose for the camera at the foot of a ski slope. Guesthouse. Visiting the traditional frescoed facades of the Bavarian village Oberammergau and the Ettal Monastery. Pan across the mountain landscape and small towns below. Three men pose near the summit mount with their skis. People ski and ride in cable cars. Large church. 01:02:07 Pan and LS of an ice rink. A villager herds his sheep. Cut back to ice skating, mountains and people hiking. More aerial views, the ski slopes, and a hockey game. Quick shots aboard a train and of Nazi flags flying from a building in town.
Parade in Munich
Film
Parade. Nazi banners hang from the buildings as people in costumes parade through the streets of Munich? (for Carnival?). Float poster reads "Negerdorf Neubiberg." Religious procession follows, and people heil Hitler. Panning shots of a rainy day in Munich. The city's triumphal arch and other buildings are visible.
Visiting Switzerland
Film
People smile and wave for the camera aboard a boat. People smoke and talk aboard a train platform and wave from the train cars. Tour group in Arth-Goldau, Switzerland. Scenic views of the town and a river. Back on the boat, people pose for the camera.
Munich sights
Film
German countryside, motorcycle passes on highway. 01:09:05 Busy street scenes in Munich - Marienplatz square, Old Town Clock Tower, Isartor City Gate, and Isar River. Nazi banners are visible on some of the buildings.
