Berlin 36
Encyclopedia
Berlin 36 is a 2009 German film telling the fate of Jewish athlete Gretel Bergmann
in the 1936 Summer Olympics
. She was replaced by the Nazi regime by an athlete later discovered to be a man. The film is based on a true story and was released in Germany on September 10, 2009.
Reporters at Der Spiegel
challenged the historical basis for many of the events in the film, pointing to arrest records and medical examinations indicating German authorities did not learn Dora Ratjen
was male until 1938.
championships in the United Kingdom. For the Nazi racial laws prevented her continuing her training in Germany, being a Jew, her father had sent her to England, where she could live more safely and continue her sporting career.
At the Berlin Olympics in 1936, the Americans and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) demand that Jewish athletes are not to be excluded from the event, especially the high jumper Gretel Bergmann of international fame, thus putting the Nazi Olympic Committee in great difficulty. A victory by a Jewish athlete would seriously humiliate the Nazi party. When her family in Germany is threatened, Gretel returns to Germany. She is included in the German Olympic high jump team, seemigly with the same rights as the other athletes in the training camp.
Hans Waldmann, the coach of the team, is excited about the skills and discipline of Gretel, and reveals an impartial personality to sports. However, Waldmann is dismissed by order of the Nazi party officials. He is replaced by coach Sigfrid Kulmbach, loyal to the party. He attempts, instead, by all means to discourage the young athlete and beat her self-esteem.
Her roommate and sole competitor in skills is Marie Ketteler. Marie, however, is really a man, by whom the Nazis want to get the gold medal
in high jump. Between Marie and Gretel emerges, despite numerous threats from outside, the friendship of a company.
Despite being the most promising athlete in high jump training, Gretel is suddenly excluded from competition under false pretenses, a few days before the Games. She is replaced by Marie, the second best athlete.
Marie, however, behaves in strange ways: she never takes a bath with her companions, shaves her legs several times a day and has a tone of deep voice. Gretel, therefore, discovers her true identity. Meanwhile, Marie discovers that Gretel was excluded from the race under false pretenses. So Marie decides to deliberately lose the final and decisive leap. The bar falls, and with it the hope of victory by officials dumbstruck. Marie gains only the fourth place. Marie and Gretel, the latter observing the contest as a spectator, exchange a secret happy smile, for their common opposition led to the defeat of the cruel Nazi ambitions and ideals.
and "play" with the German weekly Die Zeit
.
On January 2010, the film was presented in the Palm Springs International Film Festival. On the same date, the film was presented in the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival and the New York Jewish Film Festival, a film festival that meets with a major Jewish history.
During the presentation of the movie in ther Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, the consular officer Lutz Görgens compared the theme of the movie to Jeremy Schaap
's book Triumph, which tells the story of the American athlete Jesse Owens
, who won the gold medal in the 1936 Olympic Games, despite the strong discrimination he suffered. Görgens said that "the book and the movie teaches us about the bad politics of sport. They remind us of the preciousness of political freedom, the excellence of athletic futility, and the true value of friendship".
In fact, unlike the film, Gretel Bergmann, as a young woman did not know her partner was really a man, but she learned it only in 1966, reading a newspaper article in The Times
. Bergmann told the magazine Der Spiegel, at the age of 95 years, "I never suspected anything. We all wondered why she never got naked in the shower. Being so shy at seventeen, it seemed absurd, but we thought, well, it is bizarre and weird".
Gretel Bergmann
Gretel Bergmann, also known as Margaret Bergmann-Lambert is a German-born athlete who competed as a high jumper during the 1930s.-Biography:Bergmann was born in Laupheim, Germany, where she later began her career in athletics...
in the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
. She was replaced by the Nazi regime by an athlete later discovered to be a man. The film is based on a true story and was released in Germany on September 10, 2009.
Reporters at Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
challenged the historical basis for many of the events in the film, pointing to arrest records and medical examinations indicating German authorities did not learn Dora Ratjen
Dora Ratjen
Heinrich Ratjen was a German athlete who competed for Germany in the women's high jump at the 1936 Summer Olympics at Berlin, finishing fourth, but was later discovered to be male...
was male until 1938.
Plot
The athlete Gretel Bergmann wins the high jumpHigh jump
The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....
championships in the United Kingdom. For the Nazi racial laws prevented her continuing her training in Germany, being a Jew, her father had sent her to England, where she could live more safely and continue her sporting career.
At the Berlin Olympics in 1936, the Americans and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) demand that Jewish athletes are not to be excluded from the event, especially the high jumper Gretel Bergmann of international fame, thus putting the Nazi Olympic Committee in great difficulty. A victory by a Jewish athlete would seriously humiliate the Nazi party. When her family in Germany is threatened, Gretel returns to Germany. She is included in the German Olympic high jump team, seemigly with the same rights as the other athletes in the training camp.
Hans Waldmann, the coach of the team, is excited about the skills and discipline of Gretel, and reveals an impartial personality to sports. However, Waldmann is dismissed by order of the Nazi party officials. He is replaced by coach Sigfrid Kulmbach, loyal to the party. He attempts, instead, by all means to discourage the young athlete and beat her self-esteem.
Her roommate and sole competitor in skills is Marie Ketteler. Marie, however, is really a man, by whom the Nazis want to get the gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
in high jump. Between Marie and Gretel emerges, despite numerous threats from outside, the friendship of a company.
Despite being the most promising athlete in high jump training, Gretel is suddenly excluded from competition under false pretenses, a few days before the Games. She is replaced by Marie, the second best athlete.
Marie, however, behaves in strange ways: she never takes a bath with her companions, shaves her legs several times a day and has a tone of deep voice. Gretel, therefore, discovers her true identity. Meanwhile, Marie discovers that Gretel was excluded from the race under false pretenses. So Marie decides to deliberately lose the final and decisive leap. The bar falls, and with it the hope of victory by officials dumbstruck. Marie gains only the fourth place. Marie and Gretel, the latter observing the contest as a spectator, exchange a secret happy smile, for their common opposition led to the defeat of the cruel Nazi ambitions and ideals.
Cast
- Karoline HerfurthKaroline Herfurth-Life and career:She is probably most well known to English-speaking audiences for her appearances in the Academy Award Best Picture-nominee The Reader and in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, the 2006 film adaptation of Patrick Suskind's best-selling novel Das Parfum. The feature was directed by...
as Gretel BergmannGretel BergmannGretel Bergmann, also known as Margaret Bergmann-Lambert is a German-born athlete who competed as a high jumper during the 1930s.-Biography:Bergmann was born in Laupheim, Germany, where she later began her career in athletics... - Sebastian Urzendowsky as Marie Ketteler
- Axel PrahlAxel PrahlAxel Prahl is a German actor.Prahl, born in Eutin, grew up in nearby Neustadt in Holstein. After his A-levels, Prahl started studying music and mathematics, but then went on to acting school in Kiel...
as Hans Waldmann - August Zirner as Edwin Bergmann
- Maria Happel as Paula Bergmann
- Franz Dinda as Rudolph Bergmann
- Leon Seidel as Walter Bergmann
- Thomas Thieme as Hans von Tschammer und Osten
- Johann von Bülow as Karl Ritter von Halt
- Julie EngelbrechtJulie EngelbrechtJulie Marie Engelbrecht is a German actress. She is Constanze Engelbrecht's daughter. Her debut role was in 1996 TV movie "Adieu, mon ami". Engelbrechet was born in Paris, France.-External links:...
as Elisabeth 'Lilly' Vogt - Klara Manzel as Thea Walden
- Robert Gallinowski as Sigfrid Kulmbach
- Elena Uhlig as Frau Vogel
- Tausig as Leo Löwenstein
- John Keogh as Avery Brundage
Premiere
Berlin 36 premiered on August 22, 2009 in Berlin, capital of Germany. The film received a critics generally positive. The film has been called "interesting" by the German magazine Der SpiegelDer Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
and "play" with the German weekly Die Zeit
Die Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...
.
On January 2010, the film was presented in the Palm Springs International Film Festival. On the same date, the film was presented in the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival and the New York Jewish Film Festival, a film festival that meets with a major Jewish history.
During the presentation of the movie in ther Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, the consular officer Lutz Görgens compared the theme of the movie to Jeremy Schaap
Jeremy Schaap
Jeremy Schaap is an American sportswriter, television reporter, and author. Schaap is a six-time Emmy Award winner for his work on ESPN's E:60, SportsCenter, and Outside the Lines.-Biography:...
's book Triumph, which tells the story of the American athlete Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the...
, who won the gold medal in the 1936 Olympic Games, despite the strong discrimination he suffered. Görgens said that "the book and the movie teaches us about the bad politics of sport. They remind us of the preciousness of political freedom, the excellence of athletic futility, and the true value of friendship".
In fact, unlike the film, Gretel Bergmann, as a young woman did not know her partner was really a man, but she learned it only in 1966, reading a newspaper article in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
. Bergmann told the magazine Der Spiegel, at the age of 95 years, "I never suspected anything. We all wondered why she never got naked in the shower. Being so shy at seventeen, it seemed absurd, but we thought, well, it is bizarre and weird".
External links
- Spiegel interview with Gretel Bergmann
- Berlin 36 at the Palm Springs FilmFest website
- Berlin 36 review from Hollywood Reporter