Figure 1.--Many scenes in the East German film "Der Untergang der Emma" are set in school. Most of the boys wore long pants, but a few boys wore short pants, some of which look like lederhosen.

The title of this film was "Der Untergang der Emma" which would translate as something like "The Downfall of Emma. It was a children's film made in East Germay (DDR). We are not sure about he date, but we would guess about 1986 as a very rough estimate. We do not know a great deal about the film. It was a tale about a couple of kids about 12 years old who amongst other things borrow their grand fathers boat and nearly sink after an accident with a bridge. The usual scenes of parades and East German propaganda are there as well as many the school scenes. The boys have long hair. Most wear long pants to school. Some boys wear short pants like lederhose, but they are a decided minority wven though it looks like a warm day. Both sneakers and sandals were widely worn. Interestingly almost none of the children wear their red Young Pioneer scarves. As late as the 1970s, wearing their Young Pioneer scarves to school was much more common. We are not sure how to interpret this, hopefully our German readers might have some insights. Perhaps it suggests declining iseological committment in the schools. Presumably because so few children wear the scarves, the children did not like them. Another interesting question is who the children were that wore them. Were they the children of Communist Party officials or perhaps the goody goodies at the school.

Title

The title of this film was "Der Untergang der Emma" which would translate as something like "The Downfall of Emma. The word "Untergang" means sinking when used with a ship. Otherwise the noun Untergang means downfall, or decline or even destruction. There was a famous German book HBC readers may be familiar with--Oswald Spengler's Der Untergang des Abendlandes" (The Decline of the West). The verb "untergehen" means simply "to go under". It all has nothing to do with the American slangword Gang.

Filmology

The movie Der Untergang der Emma was a children's film made 1974 in the former German Democratic Republic (DDR--East Germany), it was directed by Helmut Dziuba.

Figure 2.--The children wear casual clothes to school. Most boys wear long pants.

Chronology

We are not sure about he date, but we would guess about 1986 as a very rough estimate. It might have been a few years ear,lier, but I doubt if it was later than 1986.

Cast

The cast included the 12 year old leads Uwe Peter Trebs (Hartmut), Mathias Holzki (Mischa). Also the boy actors Lutz Augustin and Michael Jaroschinski and the girl actress Meike Ulrich. The adult actors are Erwin Geschonneck (as the old ferryman called Opa Kluge, which didn’t mean that he was the grandfather of one of the kids. In Germany people say also “Opa” to kind, old men.). Another member of the cast was Ruth Kommerell.

Plot

It was a tale about a couple of kids about 12 years old who amongst other things borrow their grand fathers boat and nearly sink after an accident with a bridge. Since a new bridge was built over the river the old ferry-ship was useless. Two 12-year old boys try to help the old ferryman who feels sick and lonely. With the help of friends they overhaul the old boat to a ship for young pioneers, but during the first passage they hit a bridge pier and the ship sinks.

Parades

One ofthe hallmarks of DDR films are scenes of parades honoring Communism and the East German "worker's" state. There are also pieces of East German propaganda.

School

There are also many school scenes, especially playground scenes.

Figure 3.--Notice the long hair and how virtually none of the children wear their Young Pioneer scarves.

Hair Styles

The boys have long hair. Quite a number of boys have hair over their ears, although shoulder length hair was rare.

Clothes

The children wear casual clothes to school. Most wear long pants to school. Some boys wear short pants like lederhose, but they are a decided minority even though it looks like a warm day. Even fewer boys wear kneesocks. Both sneakers and sandals were widely worn.

One interesting question about these East German films is to what extent they were costumed. The school yard sceneslook to us as if they simply went to a school and shot the scene with the children at the school wearing their everyday school clothes. We believe that this was especially true for children's films which tended to be low-budget shoots. Hopefully one of our German readers will provide us information about how these choldren's films were made.

Young Pioneers

Interestingly almost none of the children wear their red Young Pioneer scarves. The Young Pioneers was the Communist youth movements. Pioneer groups were organized around school classes thus making it virtually impossible for the children to avoid participating. As late as the 1970s, weariung their Young Pioneer scarves to school was much more common. We are not sure how to interpret this, hopefully our German readers might have some insights. Perhaps it suggests declining iseological committment in the schools. Presumably because so few children wear the scarves, the children did not like them. Another interesting question is who the children were that wore them. Were they the children of Communist Party officials or perhaps the goody goodies at the school.

Created: November 27, 2002
Last updated: January 3, 2003