Das Beil von Wandsbek is a truthful portrayal of abhorrent nazi times. Falk Harnack's primary goal was to reveal the fact that scores of abominable murders were committed by ordinary people like Teetjen acting on other people's orders.His film shows how owing to penury an ordinary citizen is forced to slaughter fellow human beings.Teetjen makes the biggest mistake of his life when he joins the Nazi party.His plight is further exacerbated when he is made a scapegoat by his ex comrade Footh.Nazi thugs hoodwink him till the very end by promising him financial support.It is a bitter truth that all sincere works of art are never free of controversies.Das Beil von Wandsbek was no exception to this rule.After its premiere it was withdrawn from German cinemas as the cultural authorities misinterpreted its artistic merit.They believed that it neglected the role of working classes and roused sympathy for the butcher.It was re-released in 1962 under a new revised version devoid of pivotal suicide scene.It was only in 1981 that the original print was made available for general public viewing.
6 Reviews
Powerful East German Look Back at Nazi Era
lchadbou-326-2659213 July 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I haven,t read Arnold Zweig,s novel,originally published in Hebrew in 1943,on which this East German film is based,so can,t say how close an adaptation it is.The thinking behind the script-that Communists were blamed for a 1930s era crime and unfairly punished,but that their ideas would eventually triumph over Fascism,and that there was a strong resistance movement against Hitler-seems to line up with the ideology promoted during the new DDR government.The setting is Hamburg,which is portrayed as a city reluctant to embrace Hitler,where flags are put up only belatedly when the Fuehrer comes for a visit.At one point in the story,streetcar workers gather and make anti-Nazi comments.A crippled boy who has unallowed books in his apartment left by a previous tenant,is part of a group printing anti-Nazi leaflets.A woman doctor with a leftist past who attends to the four convicts about to be executed (one of whom is Jewish) expresses sympathy for them and tries to reopen their cases.And when the main character,a butcher turned state executioner,is made known for what he has done,people in other aspects of the community turn against him,leading him to try to get rid of the axe of the title,symbol of his guilt.The film builds to a climax reminiscent of Greek tragedy,but its most memorable scene is the execution,shown from the point of view of three women,watching from a high window,in the still early and quiet hours of dawn,an act so terrible that it is not made public.
Surprisingly good
moocow-6159829 December 2021
One often watches historical films, because they are historic. This one is actually interesting.
I kept thinking of the similarity to Fallada's Jeder stirbt fuer sich allein. In both stories, there are some committed nazis and a few brave heroes, but mostly just people getting by.
I kept thinking of the similarity to Fallada's Jeder stirbt fuer sich allein. In both stories, there are some committed nazis and a few brave heroes, but mostly just people getting by.
The tenderness of the butcher
hasosch24 December 2009
And alas, another masterpiece from the late GDR/DDR, edited in marvelous quality by the Institute for German Studies of the University of Massachussetts at Amherst! Thank you for this forgotten jewel! And look at the crew, there are actors inside that you could not seen anymore since the Silent Time and that you probably hear for the first time speaking - unless you had the chance to watch some of these movies in the former GDR/DDR.
I consider Dr. Falk Harnack's "Das Beil Von Wandsbek", together with "Obchod Na Korze/The Shop On Main Street" by Jan Kadar, and "Der Verlorene" by and with Peter Lorre as a Triptychon of the best World War II movies. Watch all the three, although the latter is still not available on international DVD (but you may order it from Germany and watch it on your computer or get one of the rare VHS editions edited by New Yorker Release some fifteen or so years ago).
Whoever has seen the scene where the newly "elected" headsman Teetjen (Erwin Geschonnek, who passed away not long ago, 100 years old, forgotten, in an assistant living home close to Leipzig) stands in his borrowed mask and mantel with his ax before the mirror and exercises, will never forget this picture even when he lies on his death-bed. This movie belongs without doubt to the greatest rediscoveries in film history. After having watched it, you will not be the same anymore. R.W. Fassbinder said that what makes a good movie is, that it continues playing in the heads of the watchers when they leave the cinema. Et Voici!
I consider Dr. Falk Harnack's "Das Beil Von Wandsbek", together with "Obchod Na Korze/The Shop On Main Street" by Jan Kadar, and "Der Verlorene" by and with Peter Lorre as a Triptychon of the best World War II movies. Watch all the three, although the latter is still not available on international DVD (but you may order it from Germany and watch it on your computer or get one of the rare VHS editions edited by New Yorker Release some fifteen or so years ago).
Whoever has seen the scene where the newly "elected" headsman Teetjen (Erwin Geschonnek, who passed away not long ago, 100 years old, forgotten, in an assistant living home close to Leipzig) stands in his borrowed mask and mantel with his ax before the mirror and exercises, will never forget this picture even when he lies on his death-bed. This movie belongs without doubt to the greatest rediscoveries in film history. After having watched it, you will not be the same anymore. R.W. Fassbinder said that what makes a good movie is, that it continues playing in the heads of the watchers when they leave the cinema. Et Voici!
IF UNDISCOVERED CINEMA GEMS ARE YOUR THING...AXE IS THE REAL DEAL !!!
Tony-Kiss-Castillo4 March 2024
Upon seeing the Poster on the left for the first time, I was vilely repulsed. My God! It looks like a recruitment poster for an SS Death Squad! Whose idea of a sick joke was this, anyway? But the image kept ricocheting around in my brain non-stop.
Hmmm...1951, after the war. It's got to be ANTI-Nazi, for sure, I thought. Many of us spend time searching for "hidden gems". "The Axe of Wandsbek" is, unequivocally, my best find to date, bar none! It is a truly misunderstood masterpiece, of great cinematic, social and historic import.
Director Falk Harnak was a member of the German resistance during the war, as was his brother and most of his extended family. Harnak's brother and most of his relatives were German Gentiles who died in Nazi death camps. Harnak himself narrowly escaped death at Dachau. After the war, the ("We Love Freedom") Americans REFUSED to grant him permission to make this film. He was forced to ask the Russians, in control of East Germany, and they gave him the green light. AXE played to packed houses in the East until the Russians, after 3 weeks, pulled the plug on its continued presentation and kept it out of East German release for over 30 years! (They had their own agenda, of course, and claimed AXE painted an unrealistically sympathetic portrait of the Nazis!)
Harnak's film speaks a truth that has been yearning to be told for decades! "For ye shall know the TRUTH...and the TRUTH shall set you FREE!" Before viewing, it is indispensable that you watch University of Massachusetts Historian Dr. Allen's explanation of the great social and historical significance of AXE. At 30 minutes it's a bit long, but worth it! Dr. Allen adds that in 1951 Germans seemed anathema to any forum in search of collective catharsis. All background info mentioned here comes from her interview. BTW, AXE is exquisitely made! 10*********, but recommended only for History, Sociolgy, Poly-Sci or classic foreign cinema enthusiasts!
ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!
Hmmm...1951, after the war. It's got to be ANTI-Nazi, for sure, I thought. Many of us spend time searching for "hidden gems". "The Axe of Wandsbek" is, unequivocally, my best find to date, bar none! It is a truly misunderstood masterpiece, of great cinematic, social and historic import.
Director Falk Harnak was a member of the German resistance during the war, as was his brother and most of his extended family. Harnak's brother and most of his relatives were German Gentiles who died in Nazi death camps. Harnak himself narrowly escaped death at Dachau. After the war, the ("We Love Freedom") Americans REFUSED to grant him permission to make this film. He was forced to ask the Russians, in control of East Germany, and they gave him the green light. AXE played to packed houses in the East until the Russians, after 3 weeks, pulled the plug on its continued presentation and kept it out of East German release for over 30 years! (They had their own agenda, of course, and claimed AXE painted an unrealistically sympathetic portrait of the Nazis!)
Harnak's film speaks a truth that has been yearning to be told for decades! "For ye shall know the TRUTH...and the TRUTH shall set you FREE!" Before viewing, it is indispensable that you watch University of Massachusetts Historian Dr. Allen's explanation of the great social and historical significance of AXE. At 30 minutes it's a bit long, but worth it! Dr. Allen adds that in 1951 Germans seemed anathema to any forum in search of collective catharsis. All background info mentioned here comes from her interview. BTW, AXE is exquisitely made! 10*********, but recommended only for History, Sociolgy, Poly-Sci or classic foreign cinema enthusiasts!
ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!
Very mediocre
Horst_In_Translation30 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"Das Beil von Wandsbek" or "The Axe of Wandsbek" is an East German movie from 1951, so this is definitely still from the really early years of the GDR and the film has its 65th anniversary this year. Also looking at when this was made, it should not be a surprise to anybody that it is still in black-and-white, but sound is of course there, has been for a long time already by the 1950s. The director is Falk Harnack and he is also one of the many writers who worked on this one. For Harnack, it was the first film behind the camera and at the same time it should stay his most known work until the end of his career and his death. The lead actor is Erwin Geschonneck and he was definitely among the most known actors from the GDR at that point. Apart from that, it is pretty much what you could expect. Most or almost all of the German films from the early 1950s had to do with coming to terms with what happened during Nazi Germany and World War II in the country. This one here is no exception. As such it is not a failure, but also there is not a single aspect about this film that stands out, be it acting, writing or directing. It is really only worth checking out for people with a major interest in the subject, but maybe not even for these as I like that historic era too and yet the film did very little for me. I can only shake my head at people who give this a 10/10 rating and thus put it into the circle of best films ever made. It is no such thing. I give it a thumbs-down.
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