Overview
- Description
- An assortment of handmade title cards in German prepared by Walter Hausner.
- Film Title
-
Untitled -- Walter Hausner -- amateur
- Duration
- 00:01:14
- Date
-
Event:
approximately 1930-1934
- Locale
-
Prague,
Czechoslovakia
Paris, France
Vienna, Austria
- Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Elizabeth Hausner
- Contributor
-
Camera Operator:
Walter Hausner
- Biography
-
Walter Hausner (April 24, 1914-February 5, 2003) was a member of the Austrian amateur film society in Vienna. His father, Ferdinand (1883-1957) owned a firm for fabrics and fashion articles with factories in Vienna and Jihlava, Czechoslovakia with business partner Siegfried Furst. Walter’s mother, Wilhelmina Bloch, died from cancer in 1937. Walter and Ferdinand managed to leave Vienna together just before the plebiscite in March 1938 on a plane which was brought down in Berlin. The Nazis required Ferdinand to supply an inventory of his assets. His friend and fashion designer, Claire Rennai, had a visa to go to the United States and married Ferdinand to help him get out of Austria. Walter made it to England where he had planned to establish another factory for the family textile firm. He was interned as an enemy alien. Walter later served in the British Army, where he met a singer, Irene Jones (1921-2014) performing for the troops. They married and emigrated to the New York region in 1948.
Physical Details
- Language
- Silent
- Genre/Form
- Amateur.
- B&W / Color
- Black & White
- Image Quality
- Excellent
- Film Format
- Master
Master 4424 Film: positive - 9.5 mm - b&w - original reversal
Master 4424 Film: positive - 9.5 mm - b&w - original reversal
Master 4424 Film: positive - 9.5 mm - b&w - original reversal
Master 4424 Film: positive - 9.5 mm - b&w - original reversal
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
- Copyright
- Elizabeth Hausner
- Conditions on Use
- The Museum does not own the copyright for this material and does not have authority to authorize third party use. For permission, please contact the rights holder, Ms. Elizabeth Hausner.
- Copyright Holder
- Elizabeth Hausner
Keywords & Subjects
- Keyword
- ART AUSTRIA JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR) MOVIE CAMERAS
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Film Provenance
- The amateur films made by Walter Hausner and other family belongings were smuggled out of Austria in textile crates as the Hausner family fled Nazism. In March 2019, Walter Hausner’s daughter, Elizabeth, contacted Colorlab to digitize the films and she donated the collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in December 2019.
- Film Source
- Elizabeth Hausner
- File Number
- Source Archive Number: Reel 9
- Special Collection
-
Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 07:56:06
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn714693
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Also in Walter Hausner Film Collection
A collection of 9.5mm amateur films by Walter Hausner depicting family life and business before the Holocaust in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and England. The Hausners owned textile factories in Vienna, Austria and Jihlava, Czechoslovakia. These films and other family belongings were smuggled out of Austria in textile crates as the Hausner family fled Nazism.
Vienna
Film
Title: “Neue Nachrichten No. 3” with WH logo. “Salzburg zur Festspielzeit” “Die Wasserspiele in Hellbrunn” “Mitglied des Klubs der Kino-Amateure Österreichs” CU of a young woman leaning over a railing (this shot was also used in Jonnys Gang film). “Pilger aus dem Burgenland” People standing by the doorway “Glaspalast” (possibly the Franz-Josef-Bahnhof terminus railway station in Vienna). Camera follows a man walking out of the door, passing chairs lining the building exterior. Film ends. Note: This is a roll of trims by Walter Hausner; the handmade titles do not seem to be related to the images or spliced in a particular sequence.
Textile factory, family, daily life in Jihlava; horse race in Austria
Film
Title: “Iglau August 1931 und 1932” WH logo. Swimming. Citrus trees, kitten. 01:01:13 Elderly man in doorway of family factory in Jihlava [Iglau], Czechoslovakia. “August 1933” Weekly market in Jihlava. Large group of Hausner family members pose for camera, including Ferdinand, his wife Wilhelmina, sister Julie, son Franz, and father Salomon with cane. 01:04:43 LS, factory. 01:05:07 “Prag” Statue on the Charles Bridge, CUs of Wilhelmina. Street scenes with traffic and shops, cobbled streets. Tower with clock in the distance. Street sign for “Karlovy Vary” and shop “Stoklasa” with pedestrians. Young woman with hat poses by a budding tree. LS, Prague castle. A couple canoes on Vltava river in Prague, scenic shots. 01:07:46 Wilhelmina walks towards the camera. More scenic views of the riverbank and boats. Dogs. Man and woman posing for camera. 01:09:04 “Iglau”Daily life in Jihlava, Czechoslovakia. CUs, young women at leisure. Small dog. Women sit on benches, smoking, women play table tennis in BG. 01:09:36 Women parading (brief shot), crowds gather in square, tennis, CUs of friends. 01:10:01 Cross-dressed couple, possibly shot for Jonnys Gang film. Men playing tennis. Smiling friends, with small dog. 01:11:16 Athletes march in streets, [quick cut of tennis match] women in traditional costume [CUs dogs], men on horses, military. 01:12:09 Title: “Aufzug der Berghaeuer” MS, another parade with men and children in costumes, spectators line the cobbled streets, religious clergy. Pan up, down, LS of clock-tower in Czechoslovakia. “Sladek...” painted on side of building, archway, pedestrians. Street sign: “U brány Beim Frauentor” followed by sign with history of Frauentor, and another LS of the EXT of the tower. CUs, friends, spirited young people. Young woman wears a blouse with “HP” embroidered at neck. Playing tennis. WH logo. 01:15:52 Ornate balcony, Austrian flag, statues and fountains at Schonbrunn Palace and other sights in Vienna. “Karl Wessely” “Moebel” “Radio” shop signs on a cobbled street. Fountains. Outdoor theatre displaying a miniature toy program. Veteran in decorated uniform. Horse show at outdoor stadium, horses jumping. WH logo. Film ends. 01:20:31
Visiting London and Oxford
Film
“Aufnahmen. Walter Hausner.” “Mitglied des Klubs der Kino-Amateure Österreichs” Title: “Mit dem österreichisch-englischem Austauch-Komité nach London.” Women in hats, CUs. Ride on a ferry boat. Water, people on board, CUs. Title: “Stadtbilder” Buckingham Palace and other London buildings, street traffic. People congregate in a garden. Double-decker buses pass the Bank of England. Aerial views of the city. Shots from the top of an open-air bus. Parliament. Palace guards. Big Ben with scaffolding. A plane takes off. Planes in the hanger. City scenes. 01:04:36 Animals at the zoo: wolf, kangaroo, birds, polar bear, tiger, lion, llamas, ostriches, flamingos, monkeys, and deer. 01:05:53 “Oxford” Sightseeing in Oxford, bus tour, gardens, castle. “Stradford on Avon die Shakespeare-stadt” Visit to Shakespeare’s birthplace. Boat ride. Sunset. 01:09:35 “Ein Ausflug ans Meer” The group gathers on stairs. A woman gets out of a car, man with dog. Scenic views of a waterfront. CUs, women in a moving car. The tour group prepares for a picture to be taken. Man waves from a church doorway. The group relaxes in a park. Horses on the beach. CU dog. Crowded beach. Swans in a pond. People play cards on a blanket. Sightseeing - the tower of London. CUs of trip-mates. INTs, Tower of London. Palace guard and raven. Tower Bridge. The group converses in the city streets, more London buildings. Deer graze in a park. Sunset. 01:13:03 “Und wieder heimwärts!” The return trip - two people goof around on a train. A few play cards. Nice CUs of others on the ferry boat. Life preserver ring: "M.S. Prince … Oosten". Water. Film ends.
Friends; Sightseeing in Venice
Film
Brief shot of a group, some seated, outdoors, gathered for an event. Lake, sign for boat rental (“vermieten”) slightly in view. Woman swims towards the camera. Brief CU, young woman sits and smiles, with Franz Hausner (?). Men play tennis. Young men row a boat. Scenic overview, rabbits in the grass. 01:01:53 MS, woman with polka-dot dress and a man stand on a city street in Jihlava, shops in BG, "Gustav Roubicek" and "Julius Meinl", women with carriages. Parade, actors on horseback, spectators. The theatrical event - a play on an outdoor stage - in Jihlava. More shots of a tennis match. 01:03:19 Young woman and families sunbathing at a beach, sailboats. Sightseeing in Venice. Canals, man in gondola, St Mark's Place, aerial shots. CU, woman smokes a cigarette, lounges in beach chairs, smiles for the camera. The young friends have fun for the camera, run and fall down together, repeat in reverse. 01:05:13 Gondolas in canals, filming from gondola. St. Mark's Basilica. Sightseeing. The group of friends play in the water, jump through rings, dance. 01:07:28 Back in Austria, the group of friends walk towards the camera along a dirt path. A couple wrestles, posing for the camera. They hike. Clouds. They run down a hill, having a jolly time. MS, Plague Column in Vienna. Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Jihlava. Roadway shots filmed from a car driving. Roadside wooden post with the number 166. Girls play tennis outdoors. Continuing through the country, forest, scenic views, approaching a bridge. Film ends.
Sightseeing; Skiing
Film
INTs, the family sits on a couch, drinking coffee. Lion sculpture, female tour-guide. The mates hold hands around a large tree (dark). They visit historic places, gardens, churches in Kolín. Scenic views of a river. Church. Cute kittens. Downed trees. 01:02:19 An elderly man (Solomon) stands in the road, possibly in Czechoslovakia near the family factory in Jihlava. 01:02:23 Outside a hotel or resort (people lounge on chairs), brief shot of Ferdinand Hausner walking towards the camera accompanied by a young man with glasses (who appears in other films). Walter in a dark sui, walks on a wooded path approaching the camera. Scenic hills. 01:02:36 A woman skis. Scenic shots of the snowy slope. People zoom through an opening in a gate on their skis, some wipe out. Some put on skis and some tredge through deep snow. More sledding and falling. Girl jokes around. They try out the slope again. 01:06:14 Young women converse on a hill. Back at the ski slope, people ski, wipe out, wrestle. INT, couple tussle with a sled. Balcony. Snow-covered ski-town. More skiing. The friends converse beside ski hut, and pose for the camera. They ski down the hill together, some fall and laugh. Slalom practice. INT, dark shot of man with glasses writing at a desk, map on wall in BG. Film ends.
Hausner family in England, postwar
Film
Soldiers digging a ditch (unclear), plane flies over field. 01:05:26 Betty Hausner with baby Tony in Liverpool 1946. Baby in stroller. 01:06:12 Family sitting in grass, posing for the camera. Franz, the man in suit with glasses smoking, switches places with the other man, and the family poses again. Brief shots of an opera/theatrical play, three actors in costume.
Visiting the countryside and Karlovy Vary
Film
Waterway, bridge in unknown location. EXT of church, painting on facade. City sights, mountains in BG. CUs young woman with a kitten. Train station, views of beautiful scenery from the train window, excursion. The rapids, tunnels, a waterfall, mountains, etc. 01:02:00 The young friends take turns on playground equipment, spinning, seesaw. They crowd into one automobile, and smile for the camera. 01:03:03 They visit a church and dine. CUs, water from moving boat. More scenic shots of architecture, railroads, mountains. An archway, pedestrians on the street, “Triumph Garage” sign. HAS, tourist views of a town, statues, cable car. The group hikes a snowy peak and rests. Views from the moving train. 01:06:40 Title: “Karlsbad Juli 1933” Visiting Karlovy Vary. CUs of a spouting fountain in the spa-town, butterflies. Salomon Hausner walks towards camera along city sidewalk, shops with German signs in BG. Church spire. Group gathers outdoors. Dancing at “Richmond-Terassen,” the Richmond Park-Hotel. Many couples on the dancefloor, including Franz Hausner with Maia and another woman. St Peter and Paul Cathedral in Karlovy Vary. View overlooking the town, statues. Salomon Hausner with cane and two family members on the sidewalk, Bata shop in BG. Street scenes, “Cafe Geysirpark.” INTS, Hausner family sitting at table indoors, smoking, including Julie, Ferdinand, and Wilhelmina Hausner, and others.
Trims; outtakes from Jonny's Gang comedy film
Film
Reel contains quick, unrelated trims and cuts filmed by Walter Hausner. WH logo (reversed). Side view of man in dark sweater vest, observing the tennis game from above. VAR quick cuts of athletes in the tennis match. Side/close view of woman, with athletes and court in BG. More shots of the spectators, some smoking. Two athletes walk up the stands towards the camera. Soccer team, playing and posing for the camera. The Hausner friends ski outdoors in winter. Czech troops in uniform with weapons parade the streets in Prague, spectators with umbrellas, shop signs, cobbled streets/tram lines. A series of outtakes from Hausner’s “Jonny’s Gang” movie interspersed with unrelated scenes. From Jonny’s Gang: men in undergarments, women walking along the sidewalk, and the brawl. Tennis. More of Jonny’s Gang. The friends of Hausner ski, tall pines. More outtakes from Jonny’s Gang: the beach fight and saving the victim. 01:04:09 Woman poses for camera outdoors on a ping-pong table. Crowd at riverbank, seen from behind. Woman walks her dog on a city street, CUs of another young woman. More skiing, falling like dominos, and snowball fights. 01:05:36 Street views of the Pantheon in Paris. Film ends 01:05:43
Jonny's Gang short comedy
Film
German titles: “Das Ende von Jonnys Gang” “Jonny's Gang: Hans Inderka, Holly Fischer, Friedl Schreier, Holly Adam, Gust Kestranek.” “Jonnys Freundinnen: Thea Herrmann, Tr. Krautschneider, Lari Novotna, Helga Bosraug.” “Das letzte Opfer: Herma Schwammenhofer” “Detektive von Scottland Yard: Fredl Kerpes, Herbert Adam, Walter Schubert, Richard Inderka, Theo Spitzer” “Aufnahmen. Walter Hausner.” “Mitglied des Klubs der Kino-Amateure Österreichs” Comedy film about “Jonnys Gang”. People dancing very closely. A woman hangs her arm over a mustached man. CU, man’s tattoo. Three men around a table, smoking. Cut-in with CU of woman (the victim). Back to men smoking, one wields a knife, another a gun. Man reads a newspaper and scowls at the mustached man (Jonny) and his girlfriend. He throws her off his lap, pushes over the table, and fights the newspaper man. The gang defends the mustached man, and his girlfriend returns to his lap. 01:02:20 Three women walk down the sidewalk. Jonnys Gang (4 men) walk towards them, look them over, and walk close to a building. The newspaper man in a trenchcoat and hat crouches, sneaks behind the gang, and into the door of a house. Jonnys Gang climbs into the window of the house, while the newspaper man, with a fake beard and pistol, exits the door. Jonnys Gang kidnaps a tied-up woman through the window of the house, and take her past a man in a hat (officer?) who attempts to stop them. The man with the beard and pistol follows the Gang, and then reveals his identity to the officer. Jonnys Gang tries to make a run for it. The officer? blows a whistle for the good guys to catch Jonnys Gang who escape into a tunnel and evade being caught. 01:04:32 Friends at the beach. CUs. The men swing a woman back and forth over the sand. They wrestle around on the beach, in water, and on grass. CUs. 01:05:30 Jonnys Gang arrives with the kidnapped woman, followed closely by the “good guys” in trenchcoats. They fight, Jonnys Gang is triumphant. Film ends with Walter Hausner’s logo at 01:06:01 01:06:02 CUs friends in a park. Sightseeing in Paris, street scenes, traffic. Eiffel Tower. Flowering trees in a park, swans in lake, statue in columns, large building (blurry).
Swearing-in Engelbert Dollfuss as chancellor; Heldenplatz
Film
Probably the May 20, 1932 swearing-in of Engelbert Dollfuss as chancellor of Austria. 01:00:29 Title: “Reception of the Cardinal Legation.” Crowded street scenes in Vienna as people watch parade of people carrying Catholic flags. 01:01:41 Archbishop of Vienna (later Cardinal) Theodor Innitzer. Crowded street scenes continue as several groups of men and boys, wearing different types of uniforms, march down the streets of Vienna. Informal shots of men wearing elaborate uniforms and hats. 01:04:41 A photographer prepares his camera on a tripod at the far left of the frame. 01:05:31 Title: “At the march-past.” More uniformed men march by onlookers and group of officials, including Kurt von Schuschnigg at 01:06:53 (second from left). 01:06:57 Onlookers include Catholic clerics. 01:07:53 Title: “Rally of the Fatherland Front at Trabrennplatz.” Men with cameras rush to take photos of Engelbert Dollfuss (visible beginning at 01:08:04). Dollfuss speaks to assembled crowd. 01:09:55 Title: “Rally and march-past of the Schutzkorps.” Uniformed and civilian-dressed men (obviously VIPs) watch the Shutzkorps march by. 01:11:18 Title: “Der Wehrmann in Eisen” 01:11:30 Austrian President Wilhelm Miklas is visible. Miklas speaks to the crowd. Parade scenes appear to end at 01:13:25. Quick shots of Heldenplatz followed by people feeding and viewing zoo animals, including elephants, exotic birds, and seals. Street scenes include a panning shot of 11 Bognergasse. The last shots appear to be taken in a park and show a pond, squirrels, and pigeons.
Hiking; Performance in Vienna; Family holidays - Easter and Christmas
Film
Title: “Buntes Allerlei” “Mitglied des Klubs der Kino-Amateure Österreichs” “Schulwandertag April 1931-May 1933”. Shaky views of a school group hiking trips, dining outdoors. Girls dressed up in gowns embrace. Horse races. The group hikes, older man with a cane, they relax at the Liesing Brewery. 01:01:46 Ferdinand Hausner. Ducks. More shots of the school group at the brewery. 01:02:58 A different group of friends at a brewery, carrying flower bouquets. Cinema [Kino] in Vienna, “Weisse Woche”. “Verbands Kunstlaufen” sign. Crowds at Heldenplatz. Indoor performance. “Ostern 1933” Scenic shots of mountains and waterfalls. Man climbing tree. Ferdinand Hausner and others relax on a bench. 01:05:08 “Pfingsten 1933” Friends walking along a path. Two dogs at play. The family group gathers outdoors and poses for a photo, including Franz Hausner in glasses. Horse. Decorated balcony, Wilhelmina Hausner smoking, she conceals her face with a newspaper. 01:06:51 Ferdinand, Wilhelmina, Franz, and others. Young woman plays with hat and her hair, smiling. She walks along a city street lined with shops. “Weihnachten in Bad Aussee” “Am Loser” WH logo “Mitglied des Klubs der Kino-Amateure Österreichs” Four men wave from a train window, on their way to Altaussee, Austria for the Christmas holiday. Sign: “Loserhuette” Ski hut, mountains, skiing. Relaxing and playing cards at the ski hut. 01:09:28 Film ends.
Touring Bremen and Berlin; parades
Film
Group outing (of the amateur film club?) in Germany. Outdoor sculpture (Monument to the March Dead), statue in Weimar, CUs of the group, wreath at base of statue, drinking fountain. 01:01:42 Man in suit delivers speech (microphone on stand), girls in white dresses beside him, boys with flags. Scenic shot. Dining outdoors. Brief sequence of a man with a movie camera (01:02:14). Church. “Restaurant Cafe Kugel” Small group marches in the street with flags. Gathered near Kolonialdenkmal statue of elephant in Bremen. Harbor at Bremerhaven. The tour group gathers to board a small boat. Shots of the massive steamer ship “S.S. Bremen” from the small boat. Men napping on deck. Touring and looking through binoculars. 01:06:17 Friends at the beach, posing for a group picture on sand and in water. They disembark from their tour boat with luggage. CUs, a group of concerned-looking men. Captain with binoculars, steam from boat. 01:09:05 Various animals in enclosures at the zoo (probably in Berlin Tiergarten). Church. 01:11:45 Parade in streets with sailors, band, local officials in suits. Small group of friends at a table, looking at a newspaper or map. Street scenes, automobile traffic. Berlin Tiergarten. 01:13:35 Brandenburg gate. Traffic, streetcars, pedestrians, advertisement with swastika on the side of a building. Another garden, monument with reflecting pool. Men in suits. Brief, dark, interior shots.
Prewar Austria: vacation and leisure time
Film
“Bilder vom staatlichen Skikurs Radstadt Weihnachten 1933” Horse pulls a sled. People walk and ski in the snow. They point and wave at the camera. Others trek up a hill on skis and ski down. Tree with icicles. A person falls. “Allerlei Allotria” The boys do acrobatics. They ski down another hill. Someone waves. More acrobatics. People on a balcony. 01:03:45 Parade of uniformed military men in the snow. “Hotel Pesl Lisl Jasny” CUs of different people, some dark, some smiling for the camera, at the train station. Train departs, kids wave. (01:05:46) Mixed shots of skiing, and a group of people trying to stand on skis, falling. 01:06:03 Shots from a moving train during a different season. Scenic views. Plants, trees and landscapes. CU, butterfly on someone's hand. Three friends laugh and talk, walk on a country road. They picnic in the grass and sail a kite. They dine at a table and dance at Wiener Stadtbrau. 01:10:21 Brief shot of a film projector. Women with children sit on chairs in a park (Volksgarten?), the boy eats nuts. A young girl smiles in a field, talks to the cameraman. City street, CU, nicely dressed man, a woman playfully covers her face with a scarf. The group eats and laughs (Franz and possibly Walter?), and walk along a dirt path. A woman comes out of an ice cream shop with two cones and alternates eating from each. Gardens behind Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. A girl in a hat talks and smiles at the cameraman. They take a trolley train ride. Large community pool. Kids play with beach ball “Sport Marathon” in the water. Two women lounge on a blanket. A man lifts one of the woman’s feet into the air. CU, the woman talking. A woman pushes a man into the pool. End.
1934 Vienna street scenes; perfomer's dressing room
Film
Vienna car repair shop. Franz Hausner with camera. CUs, couple - man in tan hat with monocle and woman with flower hat. Reflection in a shop window of 3 of the friends, CUs. Wiener Staatsoper (opera house in Vienna). "Sirk-Ecke" sign, a popular place for bourgeois people to meet [Karl Kraus wrote about this corner in his "The Last Days of Mankind"] in Vienna. Newspaper stand on busy street corner. Camera follows a man, others tip their hat to him. City street with airlines “Luftverkehr” “Air France” Looking into a shop window: “STEYR. Sonderschau. Verkaufshallen Schwarzenberg Platz 18. 1. Marz 1934.” They greet each other in front of the shop, shake hands, and tip hats. CU of the same man as before, with monocle. The 3 men and woman with the flower hat chat on the city sidewalk. “Grand Hotel” The group tipping hats. 01:03:16 CU, man turning his head. Similar CUs of ladies. Headlights of automobile. STEYR shop window. INTs, the singer/actor in his dressing room without and with makeup.
