Abschied (1968)

Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968) has a typical sixties subject: the alienation of young people. Unusual is that the film was made in East-Germany. But typical for this Communist state was that the film was unofficially banned. The fresh and good looking stars of this little gem were Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzel.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3278, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Jan Spitzer in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3279, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Rolf Ludwig, Katharina Lind and Jan Spitzer in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3281, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzel in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).

A farewell to his class

During the 1960s, many films in Hollywood and Europe were made about alienated young men. Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968) is another film in that genre, but this one has the distinction of being made in East Germany, a country where you would not imagine a film celebrating non-conformity could be made.

The film was based on 'Abschied' a famous German novel by Johannes R. Becher and SED politician Alexander Abusch contributed to the scenario in an advisory capacity. Also, the society the lead character is rebelling about is Germany in the years leading up to the first World War. This explains how the unconventional film could be made.

In August 1914, amidst the public ecstasy surrounding the impending war, Hans Gastl (Jan Spitzer) is the seventeen year-old son of a prominent prosecutor (Rolf Ludwig) in Munich. The bullying and hypocrisy of his father and the other adults around him sicken him and he drifts into a life of petty crime. Will some new found friends save him from the road to ruin with their talk of socialism and Karl Marx?

He seeks refuge with Fanny (Heidemarie Wenzel), a prostitute who still has the strength for real feelings, but not the strength to break away from her milieu. Gastl finds new friends among artists. But the war turns some of them - once expressive opponents of the war - into fanatical war supporters. The artist Sack, a poet, remains his only companion.

Hans makes a decision: he will not take part in this war. This resolution signifies a turning point in his life; a farewell to his class and his family. His notions of 'transformation' are still nebulous, but are nevertheless linked with a sensible life in a just society.

Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968) is a visually striking film, with many shots and editing tricks that owe a debt to the French New Wave films of the 1960s. The film has an anachronistic look. Despite being set in the 1910s, everyone looks like they just stepped out of a 1960s fashion magazine. Director Egon Günther did not want to make a mere literary adaptation but translated it to the current GDR.

The film premiere was on 10 October 1968 in Berlin. Abschied was awarded the title 'Particularly valuable', but soon it was criticised for its "stylistic devices". Egon Günther and Günter Kunert had implemented the novel “as a modern satirical spectacle, anti-bourgeois and pacifist at the same time”. At the 9th plenary session of the Central Committee of the SED on 24 October 1968, the film was sharply criticised. When the film was to be shown at a ceremony in honour of Johannes R. Becher, Walter Ulbricht demonstratively left the cinema shortly before the start of the performance.

Abschied was taken from the East-German cinemas after a short time and later only ran occasionally in individual screenings. While the film never ran on television in the GDR, the ZDF showed him the film 1971 on West-German television. In 2007 the film was released on DVD by Icestorm.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3282, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzel in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3283, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzel in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).


East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3284, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Rolf Ludwig and Jan Spitzer in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).

Sources: Filmportal.de (German), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

Heidemarie Wenzel

German actress Heidemarie Wenzel (1945) became known in DEFA films of the early 1970s, such as Zeit der Störche/Time of the storks (1971) and Nemuritorii (1974). After her move to West-Germany, she became a star in both West and East Germany in the TV series Unsere Hagenbecks/Our Hagenbecks (1991-1994).


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3302, 1968, 1971. Retail price: M 0,20. Photo: Schwarz.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin / VEB Bild und Heimat Reichenbach, no. 5/F/73, 1973. Retail price: 0,20 M. Photo: Uhlenhut.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 87/75, 1975. Retail price: 0,20 M. Photo: Uhlenhut.

Open-minded and intelligent as well as introverted

Heidemarie Wenzel was born in 1945 in Berlin, Germany. During her youth, she played in the children's theatre and in the movement choir of the Deutschen Staatsoper (German State Opera).

From 1963 to 1966 she studied at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch (Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts) in Berlin. After graduation she got her first engagements in Rostock and Greifswald.

Very soon she began to work as a freelance actress in film and on television. Her first major role was as Fanny in the film adaptation of Johannes R. Becher's novel Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968), starring Rolf Ludwig and Jan Spitzer. The film was heavily criticised by officials in the GDR because of the unusual narrative style.

Wenzel had her breakthrough in the role of the self-confident teacher Susanne in Zeit der Störche/Time of the storks (Siegfried Kühn, 1971), opposite Winfried Glatzeder.

In Die Taube auf dem Dach/The Dove on the Roof (Iris Gusner, 1973), she was able to show her acting talent properly for the first time, but the film was banned even before its premiere.

The pretty, tall, slender and blonde actress was both open-minded and intelligent as well as introverted. She was often cast for contemporary roles as in Die Legende von Paul und Paula/The Legend of Paul und Paula (Heiner Carow, 1973), starring Angelica Domröse and Winfried Glatzeder. This was the most successful film of the DEFA in its history.


Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3281, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzel in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3282, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzel in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3283, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Dietrich. Jan Spitzer and Heidemarie Wenzel in Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).

Considered politically unreliable

Until the mid-1970s, Heidemarie Wenzel played several more major roles, but then she got less and less good offers, as she was considered politically unreliable by the state.

In 1986 she made an exit request and was not occupied in the following years. Therefore, she had to work as an office assistant at the church.

In 1988 she was expatriated to the Federal Republic (West-Germany). From 1991, she became a star in both West and East Germany in the TV series Unsere Hagenbecks/Our Hagenbecks (1991-1994) about a family who runs a zoo in Hamburg. When her character died in an accident, it came to public protests.

In the 1990s Wenzel also appeared more often in the theatre. Her later series include the popular hospital soap In aller Freundschaft/In all Friendliness (1998) with Rolf Becker. The series follows the staff of the fictional Sachsenklinik hospital in the city of Leipzig.

Wenzel lives in Berlin-Tempelhof. She has a son and a daughter. In her first marriage Wenzel was married to the director Kurt Veth, which is why she was also credited at times as Heidemarie Wenzel-Veth. Since 1977, she is married to the director and author Helmut Nitzschke.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3267, 1968. Retail price: MDN 0,20. Photo: Balinski.


Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 207/69, 1969. Retail price: 0,40 MDN. Photo: Uhlenhut.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 14/71, 1970. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Uhlenhut.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 167/70, 1970. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Uhlenhut.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 165/71, 1971. Retail price: M 0,20. Photo: Uhlenhut.

Sources: Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.