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On February 4, 1930 the possibly most remarkable film of the Weimar era premiered at the UFA- Palast (a cinema also known as “Union-Theater am Ku’damm” and opened in 1913 as “Filmbühne Vienna”) on Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm at No 26.

Poster for the film via Deutsche Kinemathek.

“Menschen am Sonntag, ein Film ohne Schauspieler”, made using a filming technique referred to as “the flying camera”, was created by a group of then little known people and featured an amateur cast of five.

A still from the film

Directed by Robert Siodmak, whose brother Kurt’s article of the same title inspired the seven-page long script outline by one Billie (soon Billy) Wilder, it had Fred Zinnemann as cameraman (he would gain fame as the director of the classic western movie “High Noon” for which he was awarded an Oscar), and Edgar G Ulmer as designer (Ulmer, like Wilder and Zinnemann would make career in Hollywood, where he specialised in films for Yiddish-speaking audience as well as in horror movies). Although each of them had a different role during the making of “Menschen am Sonntag”, these roles were, in fact, interchangeable.

Unlike those of their cast: Brigitte Borchert (record seller), Erwin Splettstößer (taxi driver), Annie Schreyer (model), Christl Ehlers (film extra) and Wolfgang von Waltershausen (wine merchant), the amateurs who played themselves: young people enjoying a sunny weekend in Berlin.

Brigitte Borchert, after the film a regular at Berlin’s famous “Romanisches Café”, where she met her future husband, German illustrator Wilhelm M Busch. She died in Hamburg in 2011, having re-told the story of the making of “Menschen am Sonntag” in the 2000 documentary “Weekend am Wannsee”.
Erwin Splettstößer (taxi driver who died 1932 in an accident, crushed by his own taxi after the hand-break on a parked vehicle failed while he was closing the gate to the garage)
Annie Schreyer, a model, whose fate after the making of the film remains unknown
Christina (Christl) Ehlers became an actress but as a half-Jew had to escape Nazi Germany with her parents. In 1960 she would die in a plane crash in New Mexico, leaving five children.
Wolfgang von Waltershausen, an itinerant wine-seller when he was given the role in Siodmak’s film, came from the German nobility and upon his family’s wish, gave up his acting career to work in industrial administration under the Nazis.

The film, made thanks to the financial support of Robert and Kurt Siodmaks’ uncle, the great film producer, Heinrich Nebenzahl of Nero-Film, also featured (as extras) several great names of the Weimar era cinema: like the wild-girl of Berlin’s cabaret stages, Valeska Gert; Swiss actor, Heinrich Gretler; Kurt Gerron (real name Gerson), a well-loved actor of the time, who after many dramatic attempts to escape the Third Reich persecution, was murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz.

“Menschen am Sonntag: Ein Film ohne Schauspieler” remains a priceless document not only of the history of the cinema, but also of the history of Berlin. It was filmed in and around the city, documenting the everyday life of the people in 1929 on a sun-drenched days between world catastrophes.

You can see the film in its full version on YouTube. Have fun trying to recognise the locations and keep the lookout for the legendary Karstadt am Hermannplatz!

A film still with the tower of the Karstadt am Hermannplatz in the background.

A short clip from the film introducing the main characters and Berlin (via Filme – Wahre Begebenheiten)

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“As one very witty man once wrote: ‘Anhalter Bahnhof is where the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation ends, and Schlesiche Bahnhof is the western gate to the Balkan. Between these two lies Berlin.'”

Schlesischer Bahnhof (today’s Ostbahnhof) in the 1920s. Photographer unknown. Image via bildindex.de.

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Built in 1891, Bismarckbrücke is a bridge spanning a canal connecting Herthasee and Hubertussee: two of the four artificial lakes – lakes created specifically to raise the value and appeal of the then new residential area for well-heeled Berliners, Villenkolonie Grunewald.

Bismarckbrücke with the Klein sphinxes around 1900. Author NN, image in public domain (via Wikipedia)

Unlike many Berlin bridges in more central locations, Bismarckbrücke survived the Second World War in almost mint condition. And so did the remarkable limestone sphinxes made by a Berlin artist, Max Klein – sphinxes whose faces might or might not have been inspired by the visage of Max Klein’s wife, Eva Klein nee Dohm (daughter of brilliant write Hedwig Dohm and the editor-in-chief for one of the best German satire magazines ever – the “Kladderdatsch” – Ernst Dohm. Her portrait below would suggest so but you, dear reader, can judge for yourself.

Now, with the days getting longer and sunnier, a stroll through the “Millionärskolonie”, as Villenkolonie Grunewald was dubbed soon after its first residents had moved in, and over the Bismarck Bridge is a perfect way of stocking up on your vitamin D reserves. And an even better way to discover Berlin on foot.

Portrait of Eva Bondi-Dohm (she re-married later) made by Emilie Vogelsang in her Berlin atelier in Leipziger Straße. Image source: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Thomas-Mann-Archiv / Fotografin: Emilie Vogelsang / TMA_0561

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