One of a series of silent educational films made for German schools in the pre-WWII era, this film “Rescuing People in Distress” shows the work of the coast guard and / or sea rescue services (the most famous of which was the WWII era Seenotdienst or “sea rescue service”, but also the Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger or DGzRS). Silent films such as this one were commonplace in German classrooms in this era due to the high cost of supplying projectors with amplifiers; the film would have been shown in classrooms with a student or educator reading an accompanying script. At (:54), a rescue boat is launched to rescue the crew of a foundering vessel. The boat is hauled to the ocean by a team of horses (1:31). At (2:14), crew dressed in heavy weather clothing rows out to a stormy sea (3:14). At 3:18 the vessel in distress is spotted, a small ketch. A (3:34) a rocket with a line is prepared by another sea rescue crew. At (4:09) a line is tied to the rocket and it is prepared for launch (4:27). At (4:41) the rocket ascends and the line pays out from the winch. At (5:07) the line is secured to the foundering ship and its crew is evacuated in a personnel transfer basket, aka marine offshore man basket. At (6:27) another rescue is shown, this one involving the use of a motorboat named the “Bremen”. At (7:16) crew are shown donning life vests stuffed with cork. At (7:59) the vessel moves at high speed across the sea, through heavy waves, towards the vessel in distress (9:39). A line is thrown and an inflatable lifeboat from the vessel is taken in tow. At (10:34) a crewman is rescued from the lifeboat and taken below decks past the engines (10:54) to warm up.
The DGzRS (Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger = German Maritime Search and Rescue Service) still exists and is responsible for the maritime search and rescue service in the German areas of the North Sea and Baltic Sea. It was founded as a private organization in 1860, after tragic shipwrecks at the North Sea coast, with its headquarters in Bremen.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
