''Das Boot'' (, English: (''The Boat'') is the title of a 603-page 1973 German novel by

Lothar-Günther Buchheim Lothar-Günther Buchheim () (February 6, 1918 – February 22, 2007) was a German author, painter, and wartime journalist under the Nazi regime. In World War II he served as a war correspondent aboard ships and U-boats. He is best known for ...

(1918-2007), which deals with the author's personal experiences recorded as a war correspondent on

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

submarines. Buchheim recorded his time on submarine ''U-96'' and submarine ''U-309'' during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The Buchheim historical drama book was published in 1973 by

Piper Verlag Piper Verlag is a German publisher based in Munich, printing both fiction and non-fiction works. It currently prints over 200 new paperback titles per year. Authors published by the company include Andreas von Bülow and Sara Paretsky. It is owne ...

, the book has sold millions of copies and was translated into 18 languages. The novel portrayed the harsh and difficult submarine warfare life on a German submarine. L.-G. Buchheim: Der Film Das Boot Ein Journal. Goldmann Verlag, München 1981.Lothar-Ggünther Buchheim's Das Bboot: Memory and the Nazi Past
by Dean Jon Guarnaschelli, St. John's University Theses and Dissertations, 2020Lothar-Günther Buchheim: Das Boot. 1977

Buchheim

Buchheim was a painter, author, and war correspondent for the

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's Kriegsmarine. Buchheim was employed by the Nazi propaganda company, Propagandakompanie (PK). As part of his work, Buchheim was a "guest" on board Kriegsmarine ships and submarines. The novel is based on Buchheim's six weeks of experiences on several U-boat trips. Buchheim also wrote the books: ''The Fortress'' and ''The Farewell'' in which he used also fictional names. In ''Das Boot'', the main character is the commander, who is modeled after commander

Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock Fregattenkapitän Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (11 December 1911 – 18 April 1986) was a submarine commander in the ''Kriegsmarine'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded four U-boats, including , a Type VIIC U-boat, which gained wi ...

(1911-1986) of ''U-96'', a Type VIIC U-boat. Willenbrock was given the nickname "the Old Man" and ''Herr Kaleun''. In ''Das Boot'' the other officers are unnamed and referred to by their job on the submarine. One

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

is named Ullmann and two noncommissioned officers are named. Buchheim refers to himself as ''Herr Leutnant'' as the narrator, but not given a submarine job. In the book, the submarine is only referred to as the fictional ''UA''. Other submarines are given fictional names also like: UF, UX or UY. Places and dates are also not used in the book also. So while the book is in part a record of Buchheim time, much of the book is fictional. Buchheim died in 2007 at the age of 89. Buchheim wrote a short story about his experiences in the 1960s, before he wrote ''Das Boot'', the short story was called ''Die Eichenlaubfahrt'', (or ''Oak Leaves Patrol''). Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock was awarded the Knight's Cross with oak leaves, thus the title of the short story. In 1976 Buchheim released the book ''U-Boot-Krieg (U-Boat War),'' a story of his trip on ''U-96'' and ''U-309''. ''U-Boot-Krieg'' including 200 photographs Buchheim took on the trips.

Book

A submarine_''U-96''_.html" ;"title="Type VII submarine on display like submarine ''U-96'' ">Type VII submarine on display like submarine ''U-96'' ''Das Boot'' starts with the celebrations of the U-boat officers on land. The officers are enjoying life before leaving port. The crew are in a bar, Bar Royal, in northern France, near a base of the Kriegsmarine Organization. The officers talk about the dangers,

Führer der Unterseeboote The post of ''Führer der Unterseeboote (FdU)'' ("Leader of the U-boats") was the senior commanding officer of U-boat forces in a theatre of war. The submarine service in the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the Kriegsmarine of World War II, u ...

(leader of the U-boats),

Befehlshaber der U-Boote The ''Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote'' or BdU (Eng: "Commander of the U-boats") was the supreme commander of the German Navy's U-boat Arm (''Ubootwaffe'') during the First and Second World Wars. The term also referred to the Command HQ of the U- ...

(Commander-in-Chief of the U-boats), and Admiral Karl Dönitz. The officers talk about a U-boat hang out, a real place, the Hotel Majestic near the Saint-Nazaire submarine base. Live on the U-Boat is discussed: rules, dress code, drinking, and tight confines the submarine with 50 men. The base was under air raid attack as they depart. ''Das Boot'' described life on aboard in storms, idleness, attacks on ships, moral dilemmas to rescue or not and hours of destroyer depth charge. The submarine is damaged and needs to return to port, but at ordered to pass the dangerous Strait of Gibraltar and operate in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. The submarine is attacked and damaged in the Strait. The submarine drives to the bottom and works to repair the submarine. The repairs get the submarine off the bottom and she makes it to

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

, France a German-occupied port. But at La Rochelle the submarine is sunk in air raid with some of the crew lost.

Feedback and reception

Being a fictional novel based on real experiences, the original 1973 book has mixed reception and reviews. The book is a fictionalized autobiographical story. *The portrayal of the submarine crew upset some German U-Boat veterans’ groups. *Buchheim writes about the specs of the U-Boat and then has it drive deeper than it can in the book. *''written differently, thought differently, must not change such a judgement: Lothar-Günther Buchheim has written the best German novel from the front of the Second World War to date, the first that is valid, and objections that the war, Either way, it's no longer an issue, have been wiped off the desk, and off the beer table too. – Peter Dubrow: Die Zeit, October 12, 1973 *''In Buchheim, the submarine crew is no longer the hero. The boat, on the other hand, almost becomes a hero, which, as the whale Melville described in an almost erotic and affectionate way, becomes an almost mythical object – a "dark ferry on oily-black slick, as it glides out of the submarine bunker on enemy voyages.'' German Werth:

Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, ...

October 7, 1973

Translations

*The Novel ''Das Boot'' was translated into

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

for a United Kingdom edition. The United Kingdom edition was translated by

John Brownjohn John Maxwell Brownjohn (11 April 1929 – 6 January 2020) was a British literary translator. Career John Brownjohn translated more than 160 books, and won the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German translation three times and the Helen and Kurt Wolf ...

and was originally published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

in 1974. *In the United States the book was published by

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

with 463 pages. ''Das Boot'' was translated into

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...

by translated by Denver and Helen Lindley in 1975 with editor-translator

Carol Brown Janeway Carol Janet Brown Janeway (1 February 1944 – 3 August 2015) was a Scottish-American editor and literary translator into English. She is best known for her translation of Bernhard Schlink's ''The Reader''. Biography Carol Janet Brown was bor ...

(1944–2015). *''De Boot'' a Dutch translation was published in 1974 by in den Toren with 557 pages. *''Das Boot'' has been translated into 18 languages.

1981 film

The book was turned into a 1981 West German

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

written and directed by

Wolfgang Petersen Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for the World War II submarine warfare film '' Das Boot'' (1981). His other films include '' The ...

and produced by Günter Rohrbach. The 1981 film starred

Jürgen Prochnow Jürgen Prochnow ( ; born 10 June 1941) is a German-American actor. His international breakthrough was his portrayal of the good-hearted and sympathetic U-boat Captain "Der Alte" ("Old Man") in the 1981 war film ''Das Boot''. He is also known f ...

, Herbert Grönemeyer, and

Klaus Wennemann Klaus Wennemann (18 December 1940 – 7 January 2000) was a German television and film actor. Wenneman was born in Oer-Erkenschwick, North Rhine-Westphalia. He is perhaps best known for his leading roles as the Chief Engineer, (the LI), in ''D ...

. The film had been shown as in

theatrical release An art release is the premiere of an artistic production and its presentation and marketing to the public. Film A film release is the authorization by the owner of a completed film to a public exhibition of the film. The exhibition may be in theat ...

and a TV miniseries in 1985. The film as been released in

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

and a director's cut by Petersen in 1997. As with many books turning into movies, the film makes some changes from the novel.

Die Festung

Die Festung (''The Fortress'') is a 1469 page novel by Lothar-Günther Buchheim the sequel to his book ''Das Boot''. ''Die Festung'' was published in 1995 by Verlag Hoffmann und Campe, a fictional novel based on real experiences. The book is about Buchheim 's experiences as a naval war correspondent shortly before and after the

Allied invasion of France Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

on D-day that started on June 6, 1944. The story starts with Buchheim U-96 arriving at Saint-Nazaire at the end of Buchheim's second patrol U-96. Arriving he was told to report to Berlin's Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. He hear that Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock had been appointed commander of the 9th U-boat Flotilla in

Brest, France Brest (; ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French m ...

. After arriving in Berlin he learns, his publisher

Peter Suhrkamp Peter Suhrkamp (full name ''Johann Heinrich Suhrkamp''; 28 March 1891, Hatten – 31 March 1959, Frankfurt) was a German publisher and founder of the Suhrkamp Verlag. Early years Suhrkamp was a farmer’s son from Kirchhatten, some south-east o ...

had been arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

. Buchheim's U-Boat is approved by Jäger im Weltmeer. Buchheim is also commissioned to paint Admiral Karl Dönitz and his submarine aces. Before completing the painting he is ordered back to France via Berlin. In France Buchheim see the beginning of the invasion in Paris in August 1944. From Paris Buchheim is ordered to the invasion front and sees the heavy losses of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

. He departs Brest and meets up with Lehmann-Willenbroc and heads out on U-Boat patrol in the Atlantic. Lehmann-Willenbrock tells Buchheim former girlfriend Simone Sagot was kidnapped by the

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

, Security Service of the

Reichsführer-SS (, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest rank of the SS. The longest-servi ...

. The

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

had off Brest as U-Boat still dangerously enters and departed the Brest harbor. All U-Boat at Brest are ordered to used the base at

La Pallice La Pallice (also known as ''grand port maritime de La Rochelle'') is the commercial deep-water port of La Rochelle, France. During the Fall of France, on 19 June 1940, approximately 6,000 Polish soldiers in exile under the command of Stanisła ...

-La_Rochelle. Buchheim departs with Lehmann-Willenbrock in U-730 a snorkel submarine that travels underwater in the daytime. After arriving at La Pallice, by car, he drives across France to look for Simone with a senior boatswain and a taciturn driver. The car narrowly escapes the advancing Allies. Near Paris, Buchheim finds Simone has been deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, he has missed her by a few days. DeArriving in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

France near the border, Buchheim updates the staff of the Naval Group Command West (Marinegruppenkommando West), who had fled there from

Saverne Saverne (french: Saverne, ; Alsatian: ; german: Zabern ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km (2 ...

. The book ends when he turns his Maschinenpistole pistol on the attending command staff and collapses. Parts of the book were used in the ''Das Boot'' (TV series), a German television series sequel to the 1981 film.

U-Boot Krieg

Photo taken by Buchheim on an U-Boat at St. Nazaire, France in October 1941 U-Boot Krieg (''Submarine Warfare'' or ''U-Boat War'') is a novel installment of Buchheim with a photo essay, published in 1978 by Piper Verlag. The German language book has 300 pages and included 200 black and white photos. The photos were taken on U-96 and some on U-309, while Buchheim was a war correspondent. The book also includes U-Boat technical data and records of Buchheim time on the U-Boats. The English edition was translated by Gudie Lawaetz and published by Knopf. The English edition included an essay by Michael Salewski.

Der Abschied

Der Abschied (''Farewell'') is a novel by Buchheim published in 2000. It is the third part of the trilogy that began with ''Das Boot'' in 1973 and continued with ''Die Festung'' in 1995. The historical fictional drama book is about Buchheim traveling from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

on Germany's nuclear research vessel, ''Otto Hahn''. The vessel is commanded by Lehmann-Willenbrock from U-96. The book has long dialogue between Buchheim and Willenbrock, some of the dialogue continues from the book ''Die Festung''. Simone, Buchheim's French girlfriend, is talked about, and other matters of the good old days. As with his other books, Buchheim covers naval technology of German submarines and the ''Otto Hahn''. A 560-page English edition was released in 2005 by Piper.

Buchheim, Simone - Diethild

The Buchheim books, Simone is Buchheim's French girlfriend, he finds her and she becomes his wife. In real life, Buchheim married, Diethild Buchheim, née Diethild Wickboldt, born July 19, 1922, in

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

, Germany. Diethild Buchheim died on March 8, 2014, in

Tutzing Tutzing is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany, on the west bank of the Starnberger See. Just 40 km south-west of Munich and with good views of the Alps, the town was traditionally a favorite vacation spot for thos ...

, Germany. Diethild Buchheim was a German bookseller in Mecklenburg. The two met in 1950 at the

Leipzig Book Fair The Leipzig Book Fair (german: Leipziger Buchmesse) is the second largest book fair in Germany after the Frankfurt Book Fair. The fair takes place annually over four days at the Leipzig Trade Fairground in the northern part of Leipzig, Saxony. ...

and the two were married in 1955. The two founded the

Museum der Phantasie The Museum der Phantasie (aka. Buchheim-Museum) is a museum in Bernried am Starnberger See. Named after Lothar-Günther Buchheim, whose art collection it holds, it was opened to the public on 23 May 2001. Buchheim is also the author of the best-s ...

(Buchheim Museum of Imagination) in

Bernried Bernried is a municipality in the district of Deggendorf in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, a ...

at . Diethild Buchheim was the chairwoman of the Buchheim Foundation. Buchheim Stiftung: Würdigung Diethild Buchheim (Tribute to Diethild Buchheim (1922-2014)
by Burkhard Stich and Kurt Faltlhauser

References

External links

*
Photo of Lothar-Günther Buchheim in 1941 on U-Boat
* Photo of Lothar-Günther Buchheim in 2006
youtube.com Das Boot TV - Traileryoutube.com Das Boot film - Traileryoutube.com History vs the movie 'Das Boot'
{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries U-boat fiction German Type VIIC submarines Novels about submarine warfare Novels adapted into video games