Shot in 1934 by an unknown amateur filmmaker, this home movie captures shots of Austria and its inhabitants. It was apparently shot shortly after the 1934 Austrian Civil War ended, as bullet holes riddle the walls of Vienna’s Cafe Arbeiterheim and the Consumer Cooperative Building. Pedestrians wander past barricades set in place by Republican Schutzbund. The film includes a “film within a film” (produced by Russell and Allan Wright) touring the highly disputed Saar Basin as it was preparing for the 1935 plebiscite. The Saar was occupied and governed by the United Kingdom and France from 1920 to 1935 with its own flag of colors representing Bavaria and Prussia; lands which the territory crossed. The region was a hub for coal and iron production leading to territorial and economic conflict between France and Germany. The year 1934 was marked by intense Nazi propaganda as Hitler encouraged Joseph Goebbels to design a campaign to sway voters, so that the plebiscite would lead the territory back to the Third Reich. Interestingly, the film contrasts the industrial and agricultural industries of both regions featuring footage of potato pickers in the rural countryside and coal workers within heavily industrialized cities.
0:00 Film opens in the First District Innere Stadt of Vienna, Austria with the Ballhausplatz; a historically significant square due to the Federal Chancellery of Austria being the most senior cabinet minister for over 200 years (:10). Women jump on their heels in the grass nearby (:26). Traces of war cross the façade of the Workers’ Home Ottakring building in Vienna’s 16th district (:32). More bullet holes run over the Cafe Arbeiterheim (:54). The portal of the Ursuline Convent in Vienna (1:17) precedes armed soldiers guarding barricades (1:27). The barricades were set up in working class districts especially those with large city council housing estates erected by Social Democrats. A soldier mans an anti tank gun on the street (1:36). Ground views watch trolley cars and cyclists pass as a man pulls from a tobacco cigarette (1:59). The Karl-Marx-Hof (3:20); a municipal housing complex located within Heiligenstadt of Vienna, is one of the longest single residential buildings. It is considered a rare example of architecture both as a political instrument and ideological symbol. A female resident smiles by her window sill (3:37). Pedestrians pass barricades and armed soldiers (4:06). The German Calvary (4:45) rides past. Foot soldiers march under trees (4:47). Horses tug carriages near street shops under construction following damage from battle (5:26). Troops guard the Municipal Office in Kitzbuhel (5:57). Shots pan over the war memorial (6:07). Female farmers work in the field (7:03). A title card reading “The Much Disputed Saar” indicates a shift to the Saar Basin territory (7:34) and the political turmoil surrounding the area’s future. The film was produced and edited by Russell and Allan Wright (7:35). Overhead shots of locals at a newsstand (7:47). Steel and coal foundries showing equipment manufactured in Mulheim Ruhr (7:53), minecarts (8:20 & 8:25), workers sifting through chunks of coal (8:33), the exterior of a colliery (9:32), and interior (10:13) as cars move through and workers shuffle to and from work (10:16). Locals hang from their windows (12:44). A group in a stone alley toy with one another (13:15). Damage to local buildings (13:27,13:35,14:31). A woman chats with the camera over a flower pot (14:58). An older couple poses on their stoop (15:11). Locals mill around a hardware store (15:39). Youth rush for a monument in the square (15:48). Potato pickers (16:50) fill baskets tossing collections into a wagon (17:42). Scenes return to the coal industry (17:59) workers hose off hot slag (18:33) and share a smoke break (19:54). Cyclists and pedestrians exit the “Torhaus 6” (20:03). Travelers wait at a train station (20:28), tracing fingers over train schedules (20:34).
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