Did the Nazis overvalue film (specifically during the filming of Kolberg)? The Nazis, embodied by minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels, did overvalue film at times; specifically, this overvaluation of film is illustrated in the diversion of needed war resources to the film industry when Germany was approaching defeat, i.e. the production of Kolberg. The Nazis (Goebbels) placed a great importance on propaganda because they wanted a unified Germany, and they needed to maintain an appearance of strength to maintain public support, which was necessary to maintain power. Film was the most important form of propaganda because of its great effectiveness due to its subtlety and ability to reach the masses. Because of this importance of film to the Nazi cause, Goebbels, the minister of propaganda, remained preoccupied with the production of propaganda films even when the war was being badly lost. The best example of this is the production of the film Kolberg. During its production Germany was suffering many military losses and its economy was suffering. Despite the fact that Germany needed all the troops and resources it could get for the war, Goebbels diverted these troops and resources to this extravagant film with the hope that the film would inspire the support of the citizens, yet the film was released only a few months prior to German defeat. Overall, these misguided priorities of choosing investment in film versus directly into the war show that the Nazis overvalued film because they stubbornly stuck to the principles that got the Nazis in power, ignoring the dire situation with the war.

Marshall. L. "A Nazi Piece of Work," Herald Sun 06 May 1995. LexisNexis. 1 Dec 2008

     While Kolberg, has been criticized for being such an extravagant film that was filmed very late in the war and so close to Germany's defeat, there was another film that was being produced after Kolberg.  The production of this film went on almost until Germany’s defeat.  With shortages, bombings, and death only twenty miles away, Goebbels ordered the making of another extrazagant film, Das Leben geht weiter or Life Goes On. The set designer of this last film of the Nazi era, was instructed to “spare no expense to recreate the aftermath of the devastating Berlin air raids in November 1943”(Marshall).  This film was meant to be an updated version of Kolberg that just as extravagant.  The idea of the film was Goebbels', who definitely became obsessed with film.   This last film had mostly been forgotten in history.  This is in part because those involved were embarrassed they were part of the film , so they did not talk about the film.  The other reason is that the footage was completely lost.
    Most film historians view Kolberg as Goebbels' last production and biggest folly, but Das Leben geht weiter apparently takes its place.  This last film shows how illogical Goebbels was.  Germany did not have the resources to endure in World War II, but Goebbels felt that it had the resources to make a 2.5 million marks budget film.  Goebbels' priorities were very misguided.  He definitely should have had someone checking his power.  Goebbels wasted so many of Germany’s resources on useless film production.  Kolberg was barely viewed by audiences and Das Leben geht weiter was never finished and the footage was completely lost.  Even if these films had been viewed, they still would have been wasteful because the resources were needed so much more for the war effort.  Goebbels definitely overvalued film to the point where he was willing to sacrifice the war.  While this wasteful film production was not the cause of Germany’s loss, it definitely did nothing to help Germany endure with so many resources were being diverted away from the war.

Kracauer, Siegfried. From Caligari to Hitler, a psychological history of the German Film. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1947.

“Nazi Views And Measures”

    All films in Nazi Germany were propaganda films.  Newsreels and features were the two forms of propaganda.  Newsreels were a means of propaganda not information.  The purpose of newsreels was to give the German people skewed world views.  The production of newsreels greatly increased at the onset of WWII. While newsreels portrayed falsified messages, the scenes shown were never faked—they were always actual footage taken on site.  This element made these propaganda newsreels more believable.  The Nazis prided themselves on the fact that the cameramen for newsreels were like “regular soldiers, doing a soldier’s full duty, always in the first lines…” (Kracauer 276).  The deaths of these cameramen and reporters at the front lines were emphasized to the public to reiterate the fact that the reporters were, indeed, amongst the soldiers on the war front. These newsreels were considerably long, so that the propaganda techniques could be repeated for increased effectiveness.  While newsreels were long, unlike feature films, newsreels were produced rapidly so that the information was timely and viewed as actual news. 
    While in my thesis I use the broad term film, I only consider the term to describe feature films.  This chapter highlights the importance of the newsreel.  The newsreel is a form of film propaganda that I really should not have ignored.  Because of the newsreel’s entirely different nature, its inclusion would have given my thesis more depth.  The newsreel did not have the same production costs or length of time needed for production because all the footage is filmed live at the scene.  Considering these facts, newsreels as film propaganda were much more cost effective than feature films.  While newsreels directly told Germans what to believe, newsreels still were subtle forms of propaganda because they were being portrayed in documentary style as fact.  In my thesis I argued that film was overvalued by the Nazis at times because of its great cost when resources were needed badly for the war effort.  Newsreels, though, would have served as a good compromise. Still, though, when the situation with the war became very dire, resources should never have been diverted from the war effort.

     Mommert. Wilfried . "Wartime Germany: Concerts and cinema to the bitter end," Deutsche Presse-Agentur 19 Mar 1995. LexisNexis. 29 Nov 2008

     Nazi Germany had a thriving arts and entertainment culture until all theaters were shut down September of 1944 as a step toward pursuing “total war.” Up until this point, the theaters held regular showings of films and concerts despite the  fact that many were destroyed by Allied bombings.  These theaters were in use until the Nazis were on the edge of defeat.  Despite setbacks with the war and the continued bombings by the Allies, films were still made and shown up until the end of the war.  Twenty eight films were works in progress when the war ended.  Concerts were also still shown regularly. Thirty operas were ready for performance but never actually put on stage.  Resources were still being allocated to put on new operas and films despite the fact that Germany was in "total war," and all resources were allocated to the war effort supposedly.  Film and concerts were the main forms of amusement and diversion for the German people, and the Nazis felt that keeping the masses' minds diverted and happy was still important.
    This article really shows the misguided priorities of the Nazis.  Resources that could have been used for the war effort were misallocated to film production and concert staging.  The Nazis were concerned with appeasing the masses, even though they were about to lose the war.  Maintaining the support of the masses was a core value for the Nazis to attain and maintain their power, but if they lost the war, they would lose their power immediately.  These efforts to keep the masses happy were completely pointless and wasteful.  Goebbels proclaimed that he closed the theaters to put Germany on the track of “total war,” yet this obviously did not shut down the entertainment industry.  The film Kolberg began production in 1942 and was not released until 1945 (Thompson and Bordwell 274).  This film was the costliest of the Nazi cinema projects, and it was made at a time when Germany was losing the war and about to be defeated (Thompson and Bordwell 274).  Goebbels even diverted 200,000 troops from battle to be used in Kolberg's production (Thompson and Bordwell 274).  Overall, the Nazis wasted their resources on film and the arts during a critical time during the war when Germany could not afford it.

Thompson, Kristin, and David Bordwell. Film History An Introduction. 2nd. New York: McGraw Hill, 2003.