Hardly any props, no studio, rubble everywhere:Under these conditions, the first film by Studio Hamburg's predecessor Real-Film, founded on January 10, 1947, was made after the war. The company now produces series such as "Großstadtrevier".
by Kathrin Weber
A tiny room in a former dance hall as a studio, unknown actors, a circus wagon as a wardrobe:Hollywood glamor looks different. The conditions under which one of the first post-war films was shot in Hamburg from March 1, 1947 were difficult. But Gyula Trebitsch and Walter Koppel are optimistic. On January 10th they founded the company Real-Film, now we can start. "Arche Nora" is the name of the first production.
"Ark Nora":Props from the black market
The makers face the adverse circumstances with a talent for improvisation. An old barge on the Bille forms the backdrop for the outdoor shots, the technical equipment is on loan from DEFA in East Berlin, and the required props come from the black market. And they have to rent the chicken that is needed for the film from an allotment gardener.
Koppel thinks it's only logical that the production has to do without technical refinements and complex settings:"We want to protect ourselves from hypocrisy and it would be dishonest to shoot films at great expense in a distressed Germany, an expense that adds to the reality of our time is at odds." The shooting is similar to everyday life in the bombed-out city:there are shortages everywhere. But it can be overcome - that's also the message of the film. In "Arche Nora" a young woman who has lost everything wants to end her life, her husband is traumatized by the war. Two young men on a shipwreck rescue them.
A debris film as encouragement
"Optimism without trivialization":Post-war audiences appreciate the honesty of the film "Arche Nora".That goes down well with audiences and critics. After the premiere on February 6, 1948 in the Waterloo Theater, "Der Spiegel" wrote:"The film says yes to life without cheap optimism and without trivializing the time from the perspective of the ruins. A film without phrases and soul acrobatics, with young people who really are young, not just masked like that." The viewers also like this rubble film. Film historian and Trebitsch biographer Michael Töteberg attributes this to the fact that "rubble films were also reconstruction films at the same time. The viewers were not sent home depressed."
Foundation for successful film production
But what is almost more important:The film is an initial spark for Hamburg as a film city. "'Arche Nora' will be our first step in Hamburg and create the basis for a permanent production in this city, which should also gain international importance." With these words, Gyula Trebitsch encouraged the team at the start of shooting "Arche Nora". And he's right. The film after the next was shot in the autumn of 1948 in the company's own studio in Tonndorf, which continued to expand in the years that followed. Twelve more films were made by 1950, including stars such as Willy Fritsch, O.W. Fischer, Marianne Hoppe and Zarah Leander.
"Captain von Köpenick" earns an Oscar nomination
The international breakthrough comes in 1956 with the "Captain von Köpenick". The drama, directed by Helmut Käutner and starring Heinz Rühmann, attracts ten million viewers to German cinemas and is also successful abroad. It was nominated for an Oscar as best foreign film and won six awards at the German Film Awards. Other productions that are now classics follow - including "Das Herz von St. Pauli" with Hans Albers or "Die Zürcher Verlobung" with Liselotte Pulver.
Bankruptcy of Real-Film and entry into television production
A turning point in 1960 brought the increasing importance of television. While Gyula Trebitsch relies on the new medium, Walter Koppel is skeptical, he continues to believe in cinema. So the paths of the founders separate. Real-Film is renamed Real-Film Walter Koppel KG and continues to produce feature films, but goes bankrupt in 1965. Together with the NDR advertising subsidiary NWF, Trebitsch founds Real-Film Atelierbetriebsgesellschaft mbH, which shortly afterwards is renamed Studio Hamburg and henceforth produces mainly for television and rents out its studios.
Studio Hamburg is successful with series
Dirk Matthies (Jan Fedder) and Ellen Wegener (Mareike Carrière, l.) in an episode of the series "Großstadtrevier" from 1993.In the following years, Studio Hamburg increasingly focuses on series with popular actors, which not only go down well with the German pre-evening audience, but some of which can also be sold abroad. In the 1960s, among other things, "Let's say my name is Cox!" with Günther Pfitzmann, "Gertrud Stanitzki" with Inge Meysel and the crime series "Hafenpolizei" and "Polizeifunk rufe". The first "Tatort" follows in 1970, later "Sesame Street", "Das Traumschiff" and "Die Schwarzwaldklinik". Many popular series are currently being produced at Studio Hamburg, such as "Rote Rosen" and "Großstadtrevier" - the audience's all-time favorite, which, among others, was portrayed by actor Jan Fedder, who died in 2019, as policeman Dirk Matthies.
Prepared for the future in stormy times
Today, Studio Hamburg is one of the largest German film and television production companies and an important employer and training company in the Hanseatic city. The company employs around 800 permanent and more than 800 freelancers and cooperates with German-speaking film schools to promote young talent. In order to be well prepared in the course of media change in the future and to hit the nerve of the audience, Studio Hamburg has constantly expanded its portfolio in recent years and relies on event series such as "Die Toten von Marnow" and elaborate documentaries such as "Die Affair Borgwarad".