Streit ums Reich: Der Sattler gegen den Kaiser is a documentary film which premiered on German television (ZDF) in 2021.
The topic is the history of Germany 1871-1918, a period which is known as the Second Empire.
In order to cover the history of the German Empire, the directors decided to focus on two persons who lived during this period:
** The Emperor Wilhelm II (1859-1941)
** The Saddle-Maker Friedrich Ebert (1871-1925)
The decision to focus on these two persons allows the directors to present the history of the German Empire from two different angles:
The rich emperor views German society from the top, while the poor saddle-maker views German society from the bottom. This is a good idea.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** English title: The Struggle over the State: The Saddle-Maker Against the Emperor
** Directors and writers: Annette von der Heyde and Stefan Brauburger
** Narrator: Isaak Dentler
** Language: German
** Subtitles: German
** Available on the ZDF website
** Run time: 44 minutes
Five experts are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants (in alphabetical order):
** Bernd Braun (born 1963) – Friedrich Ebert Gedenkstätte, Heidelberg
** Walter Mühlhausen (born 1956) – Friedrich Ebert Gedenkstätte, Heidelberg
** Christoph Nonn (born 1964) – professor of history, University of Düsseldorf
** Hedwig Richter (born 1973) – professor of history, University of the German Armed Forces, Munich
** Andreas Wirsching (born 1959) – professor of history, Institut für Zeitgeschichte, Munich
Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the talking heads. Archive footage is used when the narrator is talking.
Kaiser Wilhelm II was born in 1859. He was a member of the imperial family (the House of Hohenzollern) which was rich and powerful.
He was emperor from 1888 to 1918. He was the third and the last German emperor. He was forced to abdicate in 1918, when the monarchy was abolished and replaced by a republic.
Friedrich Ebert was born in 1871, the year in which the German Empire was proclaimed. He was born in a poor family. He went to elementary school, but the family could not afford to let him continue with secondary school. He became an apprentice. He was going to be a saddle-maker. In the 19th century, this was still a common profession.
Ebert became a member of the Social Democratic Party. He opposed the monarchy, in which the emperor appointed the government. He did not like that.
He opposed the empire, in which the nobility had special powers and privileges. He did not like that. He wanted social and economic justice.
The emperor did not like the Social Democrats. Otto von Bismarck, who was the chancellor for almost twenty years, felt the same way.
In 1878, there was an attempt on the life of the first emperor, Wilhelm I. The emperor was injured, but he survived.
Bismarck was convinced that the Social Democratic Party was responsible for this attempt. This was not true, but this did not matter to him. Bismarck used this episode as an excuse to ban the Social Democratic Party.
This did not help him. The party carried on in the underground and it was still popular among the German workers.
Bismarck tried to win over the workers by borrowing some ideas from the Social Democratic platform:
** He introduced a government pension for people who were old or disabled.
** He introduced a government supported health insurance.
But this did not help him.
In 1888, when the first emperor and the second emperor had both passed away, Wilhelm became emperor. His title was Wilhelm II.
He wanted a fresh start. He wanted to be popular. In 1890, Bismarck was asked to resign and the ban on the Social Democratic Party was lifted.
Many people were pleased about this, but the Social Democratic Party was still popular and its support among the people was growing.
Ebert was no longer a saddle-maker. For a while, he had a small guesthouse and a restaurant. This was a place where workers could spend their free time and discuss politics.
We know a good deal about this aspect, because the government was watching Ebert. Police officers dressed as civilians were sent out to spy on dissidents. They came to public meetings and they came to his restaurant where they sat for hours and listened carefully to the discussions. Later, the contents of the discussions were written down and reported to the government.
The secret government documents from the German Empire have been preserved until our time and they reveal how much energy and how many resources the government used in the effort to monitor and undermine the Social Democratic Party.
Ebert was hired to work for the Social Democratic Party. After a while, he became the leader of the party. He was born in a poor family, but now he had made a good life for himself and his family.
He did not rest. He did not forget where he came from. He was still active. He was still fighting for social and economic justice.
There was, however, at least one moment when Ebert failed. In August 1914, when World War I broke out, the German parliament had to make a decision, and the Social Democrats had to make a decision: were they going to support the war or not?
Ebert had been opposed to war, but when the Entente (Britain, France and Russia) declared war on Germany, the government said that Germany had to defend itself.
It was a trick to present the war as a defensive act, but he fell for it. Ebert and the Social Democrats in parliament voted yes to the war and yes to pay for the war.
It was the beginning of a horrible conflict which cost millions of lives. Not only soldiers, but also many civilians, were killed during the next four years.
In August 1914, Ebert failed the German workers and the German people. Saying yes to war was not a good way to solve the problems between European countries.
In November 1918, when Germany had lost the war and the monarchy was abolished, Germany became a republic, known as the Weimar Republic.
From 1919 until his death in 1925, Friedrich Ebert was the president of Germany.
The emperor was out.
The saddle-maker was in.
In this film, domestic policy is covered in great detail. But foreign policy is virtually ignored.
The construction of an imperial German navy is mentioned. The creation of a German colonial empire is mentioned. But no more than two minutes are devoted to the navy and only one minute is devoted to the colonial empire.
This is a shame.
These topics deserve to be explored. I think the directors should have made a second film about the foreign policy of the German Empire. But they did not do that,
This film is a good but not great. I like it and I want to give it a good rating, but I cannot go all the way to the top, because there is a flaw, which cannot be overlooked. I have to remove one star because of this flaw. Therefore, I think this film deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
PS. The house where Friedrich Ebert was born in 1871 is now a public museum:
To find more information about this place, you can visit the museum website.
REFERENCES
# 1. The German Imperial Navy
The Great Naval Game: Britain and Germany in the Age of Empire by Jan Rüger (2007) (2009)
The Kaiser’s Cruisers, 1871-1918 by Aidan Dobson and Dirk Nottelmann (2021)
# 2. The German Colonial Empire
The Rise and Fall of Germany’s Colonial Empire by Mary Evelyn Townsend (1966)
The German Colonial Empire, 1884-1919 by William Otto Henderson (1993)
German Colonialism: A Short History by Sebastian Conrad (translated by Sorcha O’Hagan) (2012)
# 3. The Emperor
Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Life in Power by Christopher Clark (2009)
Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Concise Life by John C. G. Röhl (2014)
# 4. The Saddle-Maker
Friedrich Ebert: Germany by Harry Harmer (2009)
Friedrich Ebert, 1871-1925: A Social Democratic Statesman by Walter Mühlhausen (2015)
*****
Otto von Bismarck
(1815-1898)
Chancellor of the German Empire
1871-1890
*****
