Nacht über Berlin: Der Reichstagsbrand - a historical drama about Germany in 1932 and 1933 – premiered on German television (ARD) in February 2013.
February 2013 was chosen in order to mark the 80-year anniversary of the Reichstagsbrand - the burning of the famous building which housed the German parliament - in the night of 27 February 1933.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Produced by Norbert Sauer, Julia Teich, and Cornelia Wecker
** Directed by Friedemann Fromm
** Screenplay written by Rainer Berg and Friedemann Fromm
** Language: German – no English subtitles!
** Released on DVD in 2013
** Run time: 108 minutes
The cast includes the following:
** Anna Loos as Henny Dallgow – a singer in a dance hall: “Ballhaus”
** Jan Josef Liefers as Albert Goldmann – a doctor and a member of parliament for the Social Democratic Party
** Jürgen Tarrach as Matze Belzig – the owner of the “Ballhaus”
** Marie Gruber as Gunda – a bartender in “Ballhaus”
** Johannes Klaussner as Marinus van der Lubbe (1909-1934) – a Dutch communist
Nacht über Berlin is a historical drama. It is a fictional story placed in a historical context.
In this case, the historical context is Germany in 1932 and 1933. A love story between Henny and Albert takes place while Germany is being swallowed up by Hitler and the Nazi Party.
The culmination of the story is the Reichstagsbrand - the burning of the famous building which housed the German Parliament - in the night of 27 February 1933.
Henny and Albert are an odd couple. It is hard to see what they have in common. The characters are played by Anna Loos and Jan Josef Liefers, who are married to each other in real life.
Henny and Albert are fictional characters, and so are most other people around them. Towards the end of the drama, a real historical person appears:
The Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe
First, he shows up for treatment in Albert’s clinic.
Later, we see him while the Reichstag is burning.
This case is still controversial. Nobody knows exactly what happened when this building was set on fire.
Who did it?
Did Marinus van der Lubbe act alone?
Or was he working with other people?
Was the Nazi Party responsible for the fire?
And was the Dutch communist merely a scapegoat?
He was found at the scene. Perhaps he was involved, but it is hard to see how one man could set such a large building on fire.
Whatever the truth, he was arrested and later found guilty in a court of law (which was controlled by the Nazis). He was executed in 1934.
This case is still being discussed by historical scholars. In 2008, Marinus received a posthumous pardon by a German court.
Hitler blamed the communists for the fire and used it as a pretext to outlaw the communist party and to introduce additional restrictions against the remaining opposition.
From Hitler’s point of view, the fire was a blessing. He had no need for a parliament with many different political parties.
Now he had an excellent excuse to outlaw the opposition and to introduce a ruthless one-party system dominated by the Nazi Party.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
On IMDb it has a rating of 62 per cent.
On Amazon Germany there are at the moment 112 ratings of this product, including 34 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.3 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 86 percent.
In my opinion, both ratings are too high.
The drama was nominated for a prestigious award, the Jupiter Award, in the category Best German Television Film. It did not win. I am not surprised.
In the German press, there were positive as well as negative reviews.
There is a positive review by Sven Goldmann in Der Tagesspiegel. There is a negative review by Wolfgang Bittner in the online magazine Hintergrund.de
Bittner, who is a well-known German author, says the drama was praised in the media before the premiere, but what we have here is:
“a problematic TV-event, made with good intentions, but nevertheless failed, and sometimes embarrassing.”
He adds:
“Part of the problem seems to be that nowadays directors like to write their own screenplay, even though they do not know how to do it.”
He concludes his review with the following words:
“Everything [in this drama] seems wrong, superficial and fake.”
These are harsh words, but I think they are true.
This drama did not capture my attention. The performances by the actors are not convincing, even though the leading actors have a lot of experience.
The beginning of the plot does not make any sense. The story begins in Denmark in 1932 where we see Henny riding her motorbike.
Albert is also in Denmark. He is there to visit his sick brother who is a communist.
Henny and Albert take the ferry from Denmark to Germany and this is where they meet each other.
What is Henny doing in Denmark?
This is never explained.
We see her motorbike as it is lifted onto the ferry. When the ferry arrives in Germany, Henny and Albert board a train for Berlin. Why does Henny take the train? Why does she not take her motorbike?
Later, she has the motorbike in Berlin. We have to ask: how did the motorbike get from the ferry to Berlin?
This is never explained.
Perhaps it was on the train as cargo, but if that was the case, she would still have to make sure it was moved from the ferry to the train, and this never happens: she walks straight from the ferry to the train.
While in Denmark, Henny rides the motorbike on a deserted road. Suddenly, she makes a daring gesture: she lets go of the handlebars and stretches out both arms. Then she closes her eyes and it feels as if she is flying.
This works very well, until a black cat crosses the road in front of her and she has to stop. She almost crashes on her bike. Perhaps the black cat is a bad omen?
While in Germany, Henny and Albert ride the motorbike on a deserted road in a forest and the daring gesture is performed once more.
With Henny in front and Albert behind her, with their arms stretched out, they look almost like the famous scene with Rose and Jack in the movie Titanic.
The resemblance is so close that I am quite sure the gesture was borrowed from this movie.
What a silly idea!
This is a historical drama, but apparently the director is not very interested in real historical events. He is more concerned with Henny and Albert and their fictional relationship.
Henny’s family is not happy to have Albert over for dinner, because he is Jewish. For Henny, the big problem is not Hitler and the escalating Nazi terror, but the fact that her family does not like her new boyfriend.
It could have been a great drama. Unfortunately, it is not. I am sure the director has good intentions, but good intentions do not guarantee a good result.
When we are dealing with a drama, a book, or any other work of art, the only thing that really matters is the result, and in this case the result is simply not good enough.
I agree with Wolfgang Bittner when he says everything in this drama seems “wrong, superficial and fake.”
This drama is neither great nor good. It is not even average. It is fatally flawed and this is why it cannot get more than two stars (40 percent).
PS # 1. Nacht über Deutschland – Hitler: Die ersten 100 Tage is a documentary film by Jürgen Ast and Kerstin Mauersberger which was shown on German television (ARD) in February 2013, as a companion to the historical drama.
This film, which runs for 30 minutes, is no longer available on the ARD website.
PS # 2. For more information, check out the following documentary films:
** Der Reichstag (2017)
** Alls der Reichstag brannte (2023)
*****
Der Reichstag
August 1932
Six months before the fire
*****
Der Reichstag
The building is on fire
February 1933
*****
Der Reichstag
In the twenty-first century
Restored
With a new dome
*****
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