History of German Cinema

German cinema history has had many twists and turns throughout the long years with World War One and the occupation of the Nazis. Perhaps Germany is most well known for its role in World War Two. But little is known in regards to the affects of those wars on German cinema. Admist the music playing at the Wintergarten music hall, Max and Emil Skladanowsky began to demonstrate their invention: The film projector that they named Bioskop. It was then on November 1, 1895 the Bioskop was introduced. However, the Bioskop glamour did not last long. The French brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumiere, began showing the cinematographe on December of 1895 with the movie L'Arrivee d'un train en gare de la Ciotat. In Paris, Max Skladanowsky was present for the French demonstration and found that the Bioskop could not measure up.

Metropolis, 1928 Giclee Print
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With the cinematograph, still pictures began to move. At first, the cinema attracted the richer class in German society. As the lure of moving pictures faded away for the wealthier crowd, the lower classes began to take interest. The short German films were set up in booths called Kintopps where they were shown as an attraction at the fair.

In a desperate attempt to appeal to the upper class, German films were becoming longer and longer. The directing also changed. The directors wanted to begin making the films in a more artistic tine. One of the first films was based on Edgar Allen Poe's version of The Student of Prague.

During the time before 1914, there were many foreign films imported into Germany. Since they were silent films, anyone could see a movie from a differnt country. However, as World War I came, there was a French movie boycott taking place in Germany. Since France was a leading country in cinema history, the boycott was very hard on the German cinema industry. This led to the creation of Universum Film AG, aka Ufa.

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Ufa was a nationalistic company which put out films that degraded the Allied forces and promoted nationalism. Soon, they became one of the largest film industries to date. After WWI, the box office reached an all new high due to the depression that hit Germany. Movies were a place to relax into an alternate universe. There was a significant boom of German movies due to the amount of money they were receiving. Expressionism became popular in the movie theaters because of its artistic symbolism and unrealism. However, it all came undone when the financially unstable Weimar Republic did not have the ability to set things right.

Metropolis was a movie that broke all bounds. Literally. Fritz Lang created a big budget German film that caused bankruptcies and sent Ufa to do the only thing it could. Ufa teamed up with MGM and Paramount until a nationalist newspaper owner Alfred Hugenberg bought it. Whatever the trouble, Metropolis was a movie well worth it. It is the most well known movie in German cinema history.

Expressionism soon gave way to realism again in the 1920's. One of the most famous German realism movie was Die Freudlose Gasse. But a new genre named New Objectivity was also appearing. This genre was concerned with morals and topics such as the controversial subjects that still exist today. They touched topics like prostitution, the decision of abortion, addiction to harmful substances and homosexuality.

Besides New Objectivity and realism, there was also man vs. nature. This was called Bergfilm. The most popular setting for these films were the mountains.

Soon the era of Nazism came. In 1933, the Nazis took control of all aspect of humanity, including cinema. Gradually they started making changes. When the Nazi army took over Ufa, they excluded Jews from employment. Many talented people were kicked ousted. Later, it expanded to anyone who was not German.

Censorship also took place. Instead of movie reviews, German journalists could only talk about the synopsis of the movie and not about the quality. The German films took a turn to propaganda and anti-Semitism. The Eternal Jew was an example of the films Ufa produced. Foreign films were banned, isolating the German people from the world. The only films allowed were about romance, nationalism, and the topics of Nazi ideals.

But another's loss is another's gain. Many people escaped from Germany to travel to the United States. Many talents flourished. Ernst Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, Marlene Dietrich, and Peter Lorre are some of the well known figures.

After the Nazi reign, foreign films were allowed once again (except for East Germany because of their censorship) and through it's ups and downs, German cinema has prevailed into creating big budget films and German box office smashes. It is their movie successes that are making German cinema history one of most interesting tales.

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