Springorum Power Plant (1963)

It is actually just one of many coal-fired power stations that were built in the 1960s. The Springorum power station in the south of Bochum, which has long since disappeared, was given an artistically ambitious monument in the film of the same name. Music plays a key role in this.

The power plant

In 1961, the Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG (GBAG) in Bochum-Weitmar started up the Springorum power plant. The original plan was to burn coal from the nearby Prinz Regent mine, but it had been closed shortly before. Until it was shut down in 1985, the GBAG and Veba Kraftwerke Ruhr (VKR) used the Springorum power plant to generate lucrative electricity from high-ballast, hardly marketable hard coal, which was supplied to the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk (RWE). The power plant with two 150-megawatt blocks was technically state-of-the-art when it was put into operation and helped to meet the rapidly increasing demand for electricity in the 1960s.

The film

It is unclear why this particular plant was chosen for one of the rare cinematic portraits of a power plant. What is clear, however, is that “Kraftwerk Springorum” is an unusual mixture of “information film” and “art film”. In the first third, the narrator soberly explains the background to the construction and operation of the plant, accompanied by barely perceptible music. The image is characterized by unusual camera perspectives, quickly edited but static shots for the time, and many, many close-ups of plant parts, machine details and people. Then, under the three headings “Coal”, “Water” and “Electricity”, the film presents the operation of the power plant from the delivery of coal to the transfer of electricity to the RWE Eiberg substation. Now the jazzy music of Bert Grund comes to the fore and underscores or comments on the quickly edited image sequences. Driving rhythms accompany the coal on the many conveyor belts. Calm, spherical tones are heard in shots from the control room and laboratory, while sparkling flute tones and harp sounds accompany images of the water in the power plant. At the end, harpsichord sounds convey harmony and lightness to overlapping shots of high-voltage power lines. Even though the short film is clearly a product of its time, it is still entertaining and good to watch today.

The music was written by the composer Bert Grund (1920-1992), who, after studying at the Dresden Academy of Music, initially composed film music (including for Fritz Lang's "The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse"). In the early 1960s, he shifted his work largely to music for the young media television, usually on commission from Bavaria (eg "Funkstreife Isar 12").

Hans-Georg Thomas, Historical Corporate Archives RWE

Filmographic information

Producer: German Industrial and Documentary Film GmbH

Client: Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG)/Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-AG (GBAG)

Music: Bert Grund

Director: Hans Joachim Ruths

Screenplay: Dieter Rüsse

Year: 1963
Runtime: 10 minutes
Format: 16 mm light tone, color

Contact

Historical Corporate Archives RWE

Hans-Georg Thomas

Ernestinenstrasse 60