Fiery wedding
A Symphony in Steel and Iron (1951)
Audiences at the Gloria Film Theater in Rheinhausen experienced more than just an ordinary film premiere on October 18, 1951. They saw the first color film from the German mining industry: "Fiery Wedding - A Symphony in Steel and Iron." The commissioning party was the Iron and Steel Industry Association, whose general manager, Wilhelm Salewski, also played a key role in the film's production as a consultant. The first color film - and that at a time when the rubble of the Second World War had by no means been cleared away, when "reconstruction" was only slowly gaining momentum.
The fact that an elaborate color film was produced during these years is testament to the ambition of the trade association and indicates the high hopes that were placed in the film. Another indication confirms this: they hired two highly renowned experts, Dr. Ulrich Kayser to direct and Hugo O. Schulze to operate the camera. Kayser had made a name for himself as a dramaturge and director in the cultural and industrial film department of Universum Film AG (UFA), and Schulze had been behind the camera for such spectacular entertainment productions as “The Tiger of Eschnapur” (1937). Now he managed to successfully defy many technical adversities, for example the enormous temperatures at the blast furnace or the shower of sparks in the steelworks. “Fiery Wedding” shows footage from the Rheinhausen steelworks, part of the Krupp group. A few scenes were also shot at the Gelsenkirchen ironworks (Schalke club) and at the Bochum club.
The viewer experiences how iron ore arrives at the port, how the blast furnace is then fed and how pig iron is produced there. The blowing converters in the Thomas steelworks, where pig iron is transformed into steel, have a magnificent effect "in color". The liquid steel is poured into blocks and processed in the rolling mill to make rails, wire or sheet metal. Other scenes show the production of steel pipes and the melting of stainless steel in the electric steelworks. At the end, the viewer sees a bell with the inscription "Grant us peace, graciously".
The ringing of bells has been a frequently used cinematic device since Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will" (1935) or Veit Harlan's "The Great King" (1942), used in particular for a final apotheosis. In "The Fiery Wedding", the bell and its inscription symbolize a future for the steel industry that is based on ideal values. Industrial work should serve the cause of peace. This is the actual intention of the film: the West German iron and steel industry wanted to counteract a negatively charged image. Some still held them partly responsible for the Nazi regime, war and violence, while others associated jobs in the steelworks with nothing but dirt and danger. "The Fiery Wedding", however, mythologizes the production of steel and aestheticizes the work processes.
Which viewer can resist the fascination of a blast furnace being tapped or a blowing converter? The press, in any case, was enthusiastic about the "tremendous force" of the images and the "strong impact" of the film (Neue Ruhr-Zeitung). The film also attracted a great deal of attention from specialist audiences. It was shown at the International Cultural and Documentary Film Congress in Salzburg in 1952 and even at the International Film Festival in Cannes. The Film Evaluation Board of the States of the Federal Republic of Germany gave it the rating "valuable" and on April 23, 1952 it received a Federal Film Prize. In everyday company life, it was to be shown at festive occasions, lectures or graduation ceremonies for apprentices.
Felix Hartelt, Krupp Historical Archives, Essen
Aerial photograph of the Krupp Friedrich-Alfred-Hütte in [Duisburg-] Rheinhausen, around 1950 Photo: Historical Archives Krupp
Filmographic information:
Client: Iron and Steel Industry Association, Düsseldorf
Year of production: 1951
Format: 35mm optical sound
Color: color
Language: German
Running time: 11'10“
Written and directed by: Dr. Ulrich Kayser
Camera: Hugo O. Schulze
Collaboration: Wilhelm Salewski
Music: Erich Kuntzen
Producer: Epoche Color-Film AG, Wiesbaden/Düsseldorf/Berlin/Frankfurt a. M.
Distributor: Constantin-Filmverleih GmbH, Frankfurt a. Main (1952)
Premiere: 18 October 1951, Gloria-Filmtheater, Rheinhausen
Awards: Rating “Valuable” from the Film Assessment Board of the Federal Republic of Germany, FBL-Prüfung No. 396 of April 2, 1952 German Film Prize 1952: “Goldene Kassette” in the category “particularly valuable cultural film”
Archive: Historical Archive Krupp, Essen / thyssenkrupp Corporate Archives, Duisburg
Contact:
Krupp Historical Archive
Villa Hill, Hill 1
45133 Essen
Prof. Dr. Ralf Stremmel / Felix Hartelt, M.Sc.
archive@hak-krupp-stiftung.de