Rheinüberquerung (LFS00236 2)

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Résumé

German troops cross the Rhine with a pontoon boat. Destroyed houses in Alsace.

Description

Makeshift ferry on the Rhine. Pontoon boat is pulled by a sports boat. Soldiers with bicycles and motorbikes leaving the ferry. Loading the ferry with vehicles. Soldiers on the banks of the Rhine watch the ferry crossing, among them standing on the bank also Lahr's Mayor Karl Winter and NSDAP Gauleiter Richard Burk. Burk and Winter in conversation with a member of the Wehrmacht. Burk, winter and military men on the ferry.

Soldier inspects overturned French truck lying on roadside. Burk and soldiers in front of the ruin of a shop (Boulangerie Patisserie). Pictures of a destroyed house, view through the roof structure. Street name "Rue de Chateau" on a house with a collapsed roof. Sign "Hommage a nos Concitoyens le Comte Freytag 1745 - 1817, Lieutenant-General Kolb 1843 -1932, General de brigade Marckolsheim 11 XI 1934". Preserved facade of a war ruin with the sign "Metzgerei & Wurstellerei Eug. Wipff", above it in the gable the year "1898" and "Boucherie Charcuterie". Military cemetery, recognizable the grave plate "Schützen Robert Stammwitz, 3 / IR. 634, found on June 19, 1940 at Markirch". Wooden panel with text: "Here are 30 heroes of Inf. Rgt. 634, who bravely fought for and won the Col de Ste Marie from June 19-22, 1940. Favorable for leaders, people and Reich".

Métadonnées

N° support :  LFS00236 2
Date :  1940
Coloration :  Noir et blanc
Son :  Muet
Durée :  00:04:45
Format original :  16 mm
Genre :  Documentaire
Institution d'origine :  Haus des Dokumentarfilms

Contexte et analyse

The almost five-minute film shows various sequences that were made by cameramen on behalf of the city of Lahr shortly after the Wehrmacht invaded eastern France in 1940. The first half of the film shows German troops crossing the Rhine with the help of pontoon boats. The pontoons are pulled by private pleasure boats. In addition to the soldiers, equipment and the wounded are also transported. The film also documents the visit of the NSDAP district leader of Lahr, Richard Bürk (1892-1956) and the Mayor of Lahr, Dr. Karl Winter; their visit is the likely reason for the recordings. This transport of troops across the Rhine is probably a replenishment because the actual attack did not take place at Lahr.

The second half of the film shows ruins of the French village of Marckolsheim. Marckolsheim is located about 20 km north of Neuf-Brisach, where the Wehrmacht first reached the French bank. German soldiers and officers inspect the destruction. Some men from the working brigade (Reicharbeitsdienst) have started clearing the French army barricades and rubble out of the way. On June 14 and 15, the village was almost completely destroyed by bombing by the Wehrmacht. The great offensives of the Wehrmacht were often initiated at the beginning of the war by violent bombing by the Air Force. From Marckolsheim, Wehrmacht troops went to the west, towards Colmar and the Vosges, and north, towards Strasbourg. Colmar was occupied on June 17 and Strasbourg just two days later. Marckolsheim was an important location for the Nazis because the village was on a line between Basel and Strasbourg. The village is also on a line between Germany and the Vosges. At the end of June 1940, Adolf Hitler also went to Alsace. He visited both Strasbourg and Marckolsheim (June 30th). The population of Marckolsheim, like most of the Alsatian population, was evacuated to communities in southwestern France from September 1939. The population of Marckolsheim was brought to the Dordogne and the first residents returned in October 1940. They were housed in wooden barracks called 'settlement' because of the destruction. Polish prisoners of war were brought to Alsace to clear up the rubble.

The film ends with a shot of a cemetery where 30 German soldiers were buried who died fighting in the 'Col de Sainte-Marie' west of Colmar. You can see a fenced cemetery in a forest that several Wehrmacht soldiers visit. A photo shows a memorial stone on which all the essential information is written: “30 heroes of the 634th Infantry Regiment are buried here. From June 19th to 22nd 1940 they bravely fought for and won the Col de Sainte Marie. In favor for the leader, people and the Reich”. The 634th Infantry Regiment had been stationed on the Upper Rhine since February 15, 1940 and was dissolved after the conquest of France to form several home guard battalions.

The film was shot in late June or early July 1940, after the armistice between France and the German Reich was signed, as a result of the 'western campaign'. This is what the Wehrmacht offensive was called by the Nazis between May 10 and June 24, 1940. They attacked their four western neighboring countries (France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg). During the "Western Campaign" the 7th Army of the Wehrmacht marched into Alsace on June 14th. The 7th Army was established in the V district around Stuttgart at the beginning of the war. It was under the command of Friedrich Dollmann. In May the 7th Army was integrated into Army Group C and placed under the command of Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. It crossed the Rhine between Alt-Breisach (DE) and Neuf-Brisach (FR) in the Haut-Rhin region. At the same time, the 1st Army crossed the Rhine a little north near Karlsruhe. The occupation of Alsace-Lorraine was militarily unnecessary, since the Wehrmacht had already conquered considerable areas in northern France. It should have a more psychological effect on the French population. The area was viewed by the National Socialists as 'original German'. After the signing of the armistice agreement, the region was integrated into the German Empire. They wanted to 'germanize' Alsace-Lorraine. This was about the spread of culture and the German language. Numerous monuments have been destroyed as part of this policy.

Laurent Hermes

Lieux ou monuments

Oberbürgermeister Lahr Karl Winter (1933-1945), NSDAP-Gauleiter Richard Burk

Bibliographie

ALTENBURGER, ANDREAS. Infanterie-Regiment 634. http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Infanterieregimenter/IR634.htm BRANCALEONI, KEVIN. La cité révée des Nazis. http://cuej.info/mini-sites/traces/articles/marckolsheim Mairie de Marckolsheim. Présentation: Marckolsheim au fil du temps. https://www.marckolsheim.fr/Votre-ville/Presentation/Marckolsheim-fil-temps.html Tourismusbüro von Colmar. Chronologie: Von 1918 bis 1945 – Zwischen den beiden Weltkriegen und die Zeit schwerer Prüfungen. https://www.tourisme-colmar.com/de/entdecken/geschichte-kulturerbe/colmar-entdecken/chronologie/106-von-1918-bis-1945-zwischen-den-beiden-weltkriegen-und-die-zeit-schwerer-prufungen Westfeldzug: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westfeldzug 7. Armee: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/7._Armee_(Wehrmacht)#Vorgeschichte

Friedrich Dollmann: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Dollmann#Am_Westwall

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