''The Axe of Wandsbek'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Das Beil von Wandsbek'') is a 1951 East German film, directed by

Falk Harnack Falk Harnack (2 March 1913 – 3 September 1991) was a German director and screenwriter. During Germany's Nazi era, he was also active with the German Resistance and toward the end of World War II, the partisans in Greece. Harnack was from a fam ...

Plot

1934,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

is about to visit the city. Hamburg's executioner falls ill, and is unable to deliver the sentence of four communists who are awaiting capital punishment in jail. Fearing that this would spoil Hitler's visit, SS leader Footh offers a local bankrupt butcher, Albert Teetjen, 2,000 Marks in order to carry out the verdict. The broke Teetjen agrees and follows suit. When his neighbors hear of the execution, they shun him. His wife cannot tolerate her husband's deed and puts an end to her life. Eventually, Teetjen also commits suicide.

Cast

* Erwin Geschonneck: Albert Teetjen * Willy A. Kleinau: Hans Peter Footh * Käthe Braun: Stine Teetjen * Gefion Helmke: Dr. Käthe Neumeier * Arthur Schröder: Dr. Koldewey * Ursula Meißner: Annette Koldewey * Helmuth Hinzelmann: Colonel Lintze *

Erika Dannhoff Erika Dannhoff (2 December 1909 – 18 June 1996) was a German actress. She played the female lead in the 1935 mountain film ''Demon of the Himalayas''. Selected filmography * '' The Model from Montparnasse'' (1929) * ''The Man with the Frog'' ( ...

: Lene Prestow * Fritz Wisten: Siegfried Mengers, convict * Albert Garbe: Otto Merzenich, convict * Hermann Stövesand: Friedrich Timme, convict * Gert Karl Schaefer: Willi Schröter, convict

Production

The film's script was adapted by Wolfgang Staudte from

Arnold Zweig Arnold Zweig (10 November 1887 – 26 November 1968) was a German writer, pacifist and socialist. He is best known for his six-part cycle on World War I. Life and work Zweig was born in Glogau, Prussian Silesia (now Głogów, Poland), the son ...

's novel by the same name, which the author wrote at 1943, while in exile in the

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

. Director Falk Harnack, whose own brother Arvid was executed by the Nazi regime and who in December 1943 escaped from the 999th Penal Battalion to fight with the Greek Resistance, decided to film Staudte's work in 1950.Seán Allan, John Sandford. ''DEFA: East German cinema, 1946-1992'', pp. 68-69.

Reception

''The Axe of Wandsbek'' was viewed by 800,000 people in the first three weeks after its release, and received positive reviews. The East German political establishment and the Soviet representatives in the country disapproved of the film, which they viewed as promoting sympathy to the perpetrators of Nazi atrocities. The SED politburo denounced it, proclaiming that "it did not present the proletariat resistance as heroes, but rather, their executioners." The film was banned after less than a month, although Zweig himself, who wielded considerable influence as the President of the GDR's Academy of Arts, resisted the move. Bertolt Brecht offered to write an alternate version, but was rejected. ''The Axe of Wandsbek'' was DEFA's first film to be banned.Stephen Brockmann. ''A Critical History of German Film''. Camden House (2010), p. 221. This happened soon after the government established the DEFA commission to regulate the studio and provide political control.Dagmar Schittly. ''Zwischen Regie und Regime. Die Filmpolitik der SED im Spiegel der DEFA-Produktionen'', p. 45. Shortly afterwards, Harnack left for West Germany, abandoning his position as DEFA's artistic director. The studio came under the control of party functionary Sepp Schwab. In 1962, the film was allowed to be screened again, in honor of Zweig's 75th birthday. The authorized version was twenty minutes shorter than the original.Miera Liehm, Antonin J. Liehm . ''The Most Important Art: Soviet and Eastern European Film After 1945'', p. 92.

References

External links

*
The Axe of Wandsbek
' on the IMDb. {{DEFAULTSORT:Axe of Wandsbek 1951 films DEFA films 1950s German-language films Films set in 1934 Films set in Hamburg Babelsberg Studio films Censorship in Germany Films about Nazi Germany Films based on German novels German black-and-white films