''Rottenknechte'' is a 1971

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

five-part television film directed by

Frank Beyer Frank Paul Beyer (; 26 May 1932 – 1 October 2006) was a German film director. In East Germany he was one of the most important film directors, working for the state film monopoly DEFA and directed films that dealt mostly with the Nazi era ...

. The first part premiered on 8 January 1971 on the East German public channel DFF1, with the other four parts being shown in the same month. The film concentrates on the last days of the German navy 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 opposin ...

. The title derives from the nickname of the junior of two commanding officers in a pair (''Rotte'') of submarines. The leader is the ''

Rottenführer ''Rottenführer'' (, ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in the year 1932. The rank of ''Rottenführer'' was used by several Nazi paramilitary groups, among them the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA), the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) an ...

'' ("pair leader"), and his subordinate is the ''Rottenknecht'' ("pair servant").

References

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* 1971 films 1971 German television series debuts 1971 German television series endings East German films Television in East Germany 1970s German television miniseries Films directed by Frank Beyer Films set in the Baltic Sea 1970s German-language films German-language television shows World War II naval films World War II television drama series German drama television films {{Germany-tv-film-stub