Fritz Hippler
Encyclopedia
Fritz Hippler was a German
filmmaker who ran the film department in the Propaganda Ministry of the Third Reich, under Joseph Goebbels
. He is most famous as director of the propaganda film Der ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew).
In 1927, Hippler became a student member of the 1927 Nazi Party . Later he studied law in Heidelberg and Berlin. He was a member of the Teutonia dueling team in Heidelberg and the Berlin Arminia country team. In 1932 he became NSDAP district speaker . In 1933 he was appointed the district and high school group leader for Berlin-Brandenburg in the National Socialist German Student Federation.
He then started studying jurisprudence in Heidelberg and Berlin. He joined the student corporation Teutonia and took part in academic fencing
.
Hippler was a supporter of expressionism
. As the leader of the National Socialist German Students' League
of Berlin he e.g. organized an exhibition in the Berlin university
for expressionist painters, for which he was vehemently attacked by Rosenberg
.
In 1932 Hippler was expelled from the University of Berlin for inciting violence. On 19 April 1933, the new National Socialist Education Minister Bernhard Rust
repealed any disciplinary actions against students associated with the Nazi party, thus reinstating Hippler.
On 22 May 1933, he gave a speech initiating a march from the student house in the Oranienburgerstrasse to Opera Square with books which were then burned.
Hippler was later involved in a dispute over the direction of arts policy. Although he was satisfied with the anti-Jewish orientation of the arts policy and the consequent banishment of that art from museums and art dealers who had been created by people of Jewish faith, but he criticized in July 1933 at a rally of the National Socialist Student League in the lecture hall of the Berlin University of the harsh action of some Nazi circles against the German modern artists like Nolde and Barlach, the artists group Die Brücke , the parts of the Nazi leadership as part of efforts against the Degenerate Art was propagated. Although Goebbels was a lover of Nolde, this direction after a word of argument was in favor of the more radical of Hitler's National Socialists, whose spokesman Alfred Rosenberg and his Combat League for German Culture.
In 1938 Hippler was appointed to the rank of SS Captain. According to Veit Harlan
, Hippler loved to wear his SS uniform.
In his ministerial functions, Hippler continued to produce films. In 1939/1940 he was responsible for the propaganda film The campaign in Poland which ran under the title of Baptism of fire. In 1940 he was responsible for the management and design of the feature-length documentary film "The Eternal Jew" - according to Courtade," History of Film in the Third Reich, "" the vilest anti-Semitic Nazi films " The film historian Frank Noack assessed the eternal Jew "as probably the most radical inflammatory film of all time". A drawn by Hippler article in the magazine "The film" about its creation marked Jews as "parasites of national degeneracy." The film served as a preparation and agreement of the population in the coming holocaust and was mainly used for training of police and SS troops. In the same year, Hippler received from Hitler a secret special endowment of 60,000 Reichsmarks in recognition of his services to the Reich
In addition to The Eternal Jew Hippler also directed the 1940 propaganda documentaryFeldzug in Polen
about the Third Reich's invasion and occupation of Poland
in 1939, andDie Frontschau
(The Frontshow), a series of shorts shown to soldiers before being shipped to the Eastern Front
.
In 1942 Hippler published a book about film theory
titled Betrachtungen zum Filmschaffen(i.e. Contemplations on Filmmaking), which included a preface by Emil Jannings
.
By 1943 he was promoted to Obersturmbannführer
.
In March 1943, Goebbels discharged Hippler as Reichsfilmsuperintendant after differences of opinion. (Rentschler Eric.1998. Ministry of Illusion p 266).
Hippler was sent to an infantry replacement battalion of the country, according to Strauss and underwent a mountain infantry training. Then he was again released from duty on the gun and used until February 1945 as a front camera man in order to produce material for newsreels.On 3 May 1945, he flew into Hamburg in British prisoner of war.
He was able to stage a comeback after his release. He was - in part under a pseudonym - with the creation of documentary and industrial films. In addition to television trailers for the extreme right-wing press Hippler wrote many books in which he, the thesis of Germany's sole guilt for the Second World War and tried to refute the anti-Semitism of the Nazis partially justified. The responsibility for his handiwork , the eternal Jew alone, and charged that his employer, Joseph Goebbels, because he - Hippler - only reluctantly had to follow orders from Goebbels.
The real-life Fritz Hippler was interviewed in the Bill Moyers' PBS documentary "Walk Through the 20th Century" in 1983.
He is portrayed by Cary Elwes
in the 2001 television movie, Uprising
and by Ralf Bauer in the 2010 movie Jew Suss: Rise and Fall
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
filmmaker who ran the film department in the Propaganda Ministry of the Third Reich, under Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
. He is most famous as director of the propaganda film Der ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew).
Early life and education
Hippler grew up in Berlin as the son of a petty official. His father died in 1918 in the First World War in France. Hippler resented the Treaty of Versailles and its associated regulations, such as the assignment of the Danzig Corridor , the occupation of the Rhineland and the disarmament of Germany as unjustified humiliation, and rejected the Weimar democracy.In 1927, Hippler became a student member of the 1927 Nazi Party . Later he studied law in Heidelberg and Berlin. He was a member of the Teutonia dueling team in Heidelberg and the Berlin Arminia country team. In 1932 he became NSDAP district speaker . In 1933 he was appointed the district and high school group leader for Berlin-Brandenburg in the National Socialist German Student Federation.
He then started studying jurisprudence in Heidelberg and Berlin. He joined the student corporation Teutonia and took part in academic fencing
Academic fencing
Academic fencing or Mensur is the traditional kind of fencing practiced by some student corporations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and to a minor extent in Kosovo, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Flanders.- Technique :Modern academic fencing, the "mensur," is neither a duel nor a sport...
.
Hippler was a supporter of expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
. As the leader of the National Socialist German Students' League
National Socialist German Students' League
The National Socialist German Students' League was founded in 1926 as a division of the NSDAP with the mission of integrating University-level education and academic life within the framework of the National Socialist worldview...
of Berlin he e.g. organized an exhibition in the Berlin university
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
for expressionist painters, for which he was vehemently attacked by Rosenberg
Alfred Rosenberg
' was an early and intellectually influential member of the Nazi Party. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart; he later held several important posts in the Nazi government...
.
In 1932 Hippler was expelled from the University of Berlin for inciting violence. On 19 April 1933, the new National Socialist Education Minister Bernhard Rust
Bernhard Rust
Dr. Bernhard Rust was Minister of Science, Education and National Culture in Nazi Germany. A combination of school administrator and zealous Nazi, he issued decrees, often bizarre, at every level of the German educational system to immerse German youth in the National Socialist philosophy...
repealed any disciplinary actions against students associated with the Nazi party, thus reinstating Hippler.
On 22 May 1933, he gave a speech initiating a march from the student house in the Oranienburgerstrasse to Opera Square with books which were then burned.
Hippler was later involved in a dispute over the direction of arts policy. Although he was satisfied with the anti-Jewish orientation of the arts policy and the consequent banishment of that art from museums and art dealers who had been created by people of Jewish faith, but he criticized in July 1933 at a rally of the National Socialist Student League in the lecture hall of the Berlin University of the harsh action of some Nazi circles against the German modern artists like Nolde and Barlach, the artists group Die Brücke , the parts of the Nazi leadership as part of efforts against the Degenerate Art was propagated. Although Goebbels was a lover of Nolde, this direction after a word of argument was in favor of the more radical of Hitler's National Socialists, whose spokesman Alfred Rosenberg and his Combat League for German Culture.
Career in film production
After receiving his doctorate in 1934, Hippler became a lecturer at the German University of policy in Berlin. From 1936 he worked as assistant to Hans Weidemann working on the production of German newsreels , directed in the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda . Here he learned the production of documentaries. In January 1939 he took over Willow's position. In August 1939, Goebbels promoted Hippler again.He appointed the 29 - year old Hippler to head the film department at the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda RMVP. In February 1942 he appointed him to the kingdom of movie directors . With these two functions Hippler was one of the most important politicians of the film " Third Reich "after Goebbels. In October 1942 he was Director in the RMVP. His task was to control, supervision and direction of German filmmaking.In 1938 Hippler was appointed to the rank of SS Captain. According to Veit Harlan
Veit Harlan
Veit Harlan was a German film director and actor.-Life and career:Harlan was born in Berlin. After studying under Max Reinhardt, he first appeared on the stage in 1915 and, after World War I, worked in the Berlin stage. In 1922 he married Jewish actress and cabaret singer Dora Gerson; the couple...
, Hippler loved to wear his SS uniform.
In his ministerial functions, Hippler continued to produce films. In 1939/1940 he was responsible for the propaganda film The campaign in Poland which ran under the title of Baptism of fire. In 1940 he was responsible for the management and design of the feature-length documentary film "The Eternal Jew" - according to Courtade," History of Film in the Third Reich, "" the vilest anti-Semitic Nazi films " The film historian Frank Noack assessed the eternal Jew "as probably the most radical inflammatory film of all time". A drawn by Hippler article in the magazine "The film" about its creation marked Jews as "parasites of national degeneracy." The film served as a preparation and agreement of the population in the coming holocaust and was mainly used for training of police and SS troops. In the same year, Hippler received from Hitler a secret special endowment of 60,000 Reichsmarks in recognition of his services to the Reich
In addition to The Eternal Jew Hippler also directed the 1940 propaganda documentaryFeldzug in Polen
Feldzug in Polen
Feldzug in Polen is a 69 minute documentary/Nazi propaganda film depicting the 1939 invasion of Poland and directed by Fritz Hippler...
about the Third Reich's invasion and occupation of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
in 1939, andDie Frontschau
Die Frontschau
The Front Show is a series of World War II era German military training films shown to German soldiers before being shipped off to the Eastern Front...
(The Frontshow), a series of shorts shown to soldiers before being shipped to the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
.
In 1942 Hippler published a book about film theory
Film theory
Film theory is an academic discipline that aims to explore the essence of the cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding film's relationship to reality, the other arts, individual viewers, and society at large...
titled Betrachtungen zum Filmschaffen(i.e. Contemplations on Filmmaking), which included a preface by Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings was a German actor. He was not only the first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but also the first person to be presented an Oscar...
.
By 1943 he was promoted to Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
.
Conflict with Goebbels
Goebbels could usually count on its young people. Nevertheless, he frequently criticized its shortcomings. As early as 1939, he recorded in his diaries that Hippler was intelligent but cheeky and totally contradictory. He also stated that Hippler was immature. Goebbels complained repeatedly about the disorganization of the film department. Hippler suffered apparently of alcohol addiction. [6] Goebbels finally discharged Hippler in June 1943 because of his alcohol addiction. [7] Hippler enter an appearance in his memoirs that he had been dismissed when it became known, was that the ostracized from the National Socialists' Erich Kaestner, "the screenplay for the film Münchhausen wrote, emerged as an apologetic statement. After his dismissal Hippler and the SS ranking again disallowed because they accused him of having denied that a great-grandmother was of Jewish descent.In March 1943, Goebbels discharged Hippler as Reichsfilmsuperintendant after differences of opinion. (Rentschler Eric.1998. Ministry of Illusion p 266).
Hippler was sent to an infantry replacement battalion of the country, according to Strauss and underwent a mountain infantry training. Then he was again released from duty on the gun and used until February 1945 as a front camera man in order to produce material for newsreels.On 3 May 1945, he flew into Hamburg in British prisoner of war.
Postwar
After the end of the Second World War, Hippler was interned and sentenced to two years in prison.He was able to stage a comeback after his release. He was - in part under a pseudonym - with the creation of documentary and industrial films. In addition to television trailers for the extreme right-wing press Hippler wrote many books in which he, the thesis of Germany's sole guilt for the Second World War and tried to refute the anti-Semitism of the Nazis partially justified. The responsibility for his handiwork , the eternal Jew alone, and charged that his employer, Joseph Goebbels, because he - Hippler - only reluctantly had to follow orders from Goebbels.
The real-life Fritz Hippler was interviewed in the Bill Moyers' PBS documentary "Walk Through the 20th Century" in 1983.
He is portrayed by Cary Elwes
Cary Elwes
Ivan Simon Cary Elwes , known professionally as Cary Elwes, is an English actor. The son of Dominick Elwes and Tessa Georgina Kennedy, Elwes acted in off-Broadway plays during college and moved to the United States in the early 1980s. He is known for his role as Westley in the cult classic The...
in the 2001 television movie, Uprising
Uprising (film)
Uprising is a 2001 war/drama television movie about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The film was directed by Jon Avnet and written by Avnet and Paul Brickman...
and by Ralf Bauer in the 2010 movie Jew Suss: Rise and Fall
Jew Suss: Rise and Fall
Jew Suss: Rise and Fall is a 2010 German drama film directed by Oskar Roehler, picturizing the creation process of the 1940 antisemitic Nazi propaganda movie Jud Süß. It was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival....
.
Filmography
- Word and deed. A documentary film (1938, director), a film about the annexation of Austria
- The Western Wall (1939, director)
- Campaign in Poland (1939-40, director)
- The Eternal Jew "Film contribution to the problem of world Jewry "(1940, directed, co-ordination)
- Several short film reviews for the "front shop" (1941, director)
- Victory in the West (1941, producer), a film about the campaign against Denmark, Norway, the Benelux countries, France and Great Britain allied with him.
- Orient-Express (1944, producer)
Books
- Reflections on filmmaking. With a foreword by C. Froelich and a foreword by E. Jannings, 2nd Ed, Berlin (Hesse's Publishing) 1942
- The entanglement: even e. film book ...; settings and flashbacks , Düsseldorf revised second Edition 1982
- Dressage opinion? a merry-critical television diary, Mountain / Lake Starnberg ( Kurt Vowinckel Verlag ) 1985
- Criminal man? Observations of historian John Scherr, Mountain / Lake Starnberg ( watchman-Verlag ) 1987
- Schopenhauer today - food for thought and food tasting, Mountain / Lake Starnberg (watchman-Verlag) 1988
- Fixes. Contemporary History traces once differently, Mountain / Lake Starnberg ( Mountain Publishing Company ) 1995
- Objection your honor - the spirit of the times in the pillory. Recent news from the German Province, Mountain / Lake Starnberg (Mountain Publishing Company) 1999
Further reading
- Hans-Jürgen Brandt: Nazi documentary film theory and practice: Hippler, Noldan, Junghans . Tuebingen (Niemeyer) 1987, ISBN 3-484-34023-1
- Felix Moeller: The Film Minister. Goebbels and the Cinema in the Third Reich. With a foreword by Volker Schlondorff. Translated from the Deutsch by Michael Robinson. Stuttgart-London 2000, ISBN 3-932565 10-X
- Roel Vande angle: Fritz Hippler's Nazi Germany. In: Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 23, No. 2, 2003 (English)
- Silver bullet movie: eyewitness report: State Film Intendant Fritz Hippler . Bochum 2007, time travel-Verlag (DVD Documentary), ISBN 978-3-941538-19-1
External links
- "Film As a Weapon", a Hippler essay from a Nazi magazine translated into English