My friend is becoming a miner
(1951)
The film “My friend becomes a miner” is a typical recruitment film for the German mining industry, which was produced by the German Coal Mining Management together with the Institute for Film and Image in Science and Education (FWU) in 1951.
About the plot: A mining apprentice meets his unemployed friend on the street and invites him to take a trip down into "his" Prosper II mine in Bottrop. As the two of them "walk" underground, the mining apprentice shows his amazed friend the mining operations of a modern mine, which are not characterized by hard work with shovels and pickaxes, but by the mechanization of work processes. The image of the physically hard-working but poorly paid miner is gradually corrected. Although the film's portrayal of underground operations may seem more like a technical educational film, the advertising intention remains intact, for example in the emphasis on the miner's professional skills and the high standards of his work. During the final visit to the mining apprentice's home, the exemplary social welfare provided by the mining industry for its employees is highlighted and the core message is summarized: the mining profession is not only versatile and desirable, but also offers capable young miners the best opportunities for advancement.
The reconstruction of coal mining after the end of the Second World War was closely linked to overcoming the labor shortage and rebuilding the mine workforce. In view of the blatant shortage of coal in the post-war years, the mining associations and companies as well as the responsible authorities tried to increase work output and recruit new miners with special rations and other benefits. Not least in the energy crisis of 1950/51, increasing the mine workforce was a key prerequisite for the desired increase in production. Particular attention was paid to the next generation of miners. In this context, the German Coal Mining Management (DKBL), founded in 1947, tried to counteract the poor public image of the profession and to present mining as an attractive, skilled profession.
An early example of the numerous mining recruitment films from the 1950s, and one that is already typical in its narrative, is "My Friend Becomes a Miner", which was commissioned by the DKBL together with the Munich Institute for Film and Image in Science and Education (FWU). The sound version from 1951 is shown. There was also a silent version with intertitles, which may have been subsequently given a soundtrack or accompanied by a narrator's commentary. "My Friend Becomes a Miner" was shown at the Berlinale and the Mannheim Culture and Documentary Film Weeks, among others.
Filmographic information
Producer: EKA-Filmproduktion, Munich
Client: German Coal Mining Authority, Essen / Institute for Film and Image in Science and Education (FWU)
Year of production: 1951
Book: Walter Kiaulehn
Director: Emil Karl Beltzig, Hanna Hirsch
Camera: Bertl Höcht
Language: German
Runtime: 23 minutes
Format: 16mm optical sound, black and white
Archive: Mining History Documentation Centre/Mining Archive Bochum of the German Mining Museum Bochum
Contact
Mining History Documentation Centre (montan.dok)
Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum
Dr. Stefan Przigoda
At the Mining Museum 28
44791 Bochum
stefan.przigoda@bergbaumuseum.de