Das Boot (novel) explained

Das Boot (pronounced as /de/, English: The Boat) is a 1973 autobiographical German novel by Lothar-Günther Buchheim based on his experiences as a war correspondent on U-boat submarines. Buchheim recorded his time on submarine U-96 and submarine U-309 during World War II. The Buchheim historical drama book was published in 1973 by Piper Verlag, the book has sold millions of copies and was translated into 18 languages. The novel portrayed the harsh and difficult submarine warfare life on a German submarine.[1] [2] [3]

Buchheim

Buchheim was a painter, author, and war correspondent for the Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. Buchheim was employed by the Nazi propaganda company, Propagandakompanie (PK). As part of his work, Buchheim was a "guest" on board Kriegsmarine ships and submarines. The novel is based on Buchheim's six weeks of experiences on several U-boat trips. Buchheim also wrote the books: The Fortress and The Farewell, in which he used also fictional names. In Das Boot, the main character is the commander, who is modeled after commander Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (1911-1986) of U-96, a Type VIIC U-boat. Willenbrock was given the nickname "the Old Man" and Herr Kaleun. In Das Boot, the other officers are unnamed and referred to by their job on the submarine.[4] One ensign is named Ullmann, and two noncommissioned officers are also named. Buchheim refers to himself as Herr Leutnant as the narrator, but not given a submarine job. In the book, the submarine is only referred to as the fictional UA. Other submarines are given fictional names: UF, UX, or UY. Places and dates are not used in the book. So while the book is in part a record of Buchheim's tenure, much of the book is fictionalized.[3] Buchheim died in 2007 at the age of 89.[5] [1] Buchheim wrote a short story about his experiences in the 1960s. Before he wrote Das Boot, the short story was called Die Eichenlaubfahrt, (or Oak Leaves Patrol). Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock was awarded the Knight's Cross with oak leaves, thus the title of the short story.[6] [7] In 1976 Buchheim released the book U-Boot-Krieg (U-Boat War), a story of his trip on U-96 and U-309. U-Boot-Krieg including 200 photographs Buchheim took on the trips.[8]

Book

thumb|A Type VII submarine similar to U-96Das Boot starts with the celebrations of the U-boat officers on land. The officers are enjoying life before leaving port. The crew are in a bar, Bar Royal, in northern France, near a base of the Kriegsmarine Organization. The officers talk about the dangers, Führer der Unterseeboote (leader of the U-boats), Befehlshaber der U-Boote (Commander-in-Chief of the U-boats), and Admiral Karl Dönitz. The officers talk about the Hotel Majestic near the Saint-Nazaire submarine base, a real place, a U-boat hang out. Life on the U-Boat is discussed: rules, dress code, drinking, and the tight confines on the submarine with 50 men. The base was under air raid attack as they depart. Das Boot described life on board in storms, idleness, attacks on ships, moral dilemmas to rescue or not, and hours of depth charge to avoid destroyers. The submarine is damaged and needs to return to port, but is ordered to pass the dangerous Strait of Gibraltar and operate in the Mediterranean Sea. The submarine is attacked and damaged in the Strait. The submarine dives to the bottom and works to repair the submarine. The repairs get the submarine off the bottom and she makes it to La Rochelle, a German-occupied port in France. But the submarine is sunk in an air raid at La Rochelle, with some of the crew lost.[1] [2] [3]

Reception

Being a novelization of real experiences, the book received mixed reviews. The book is a fictionalized autobiographical story.[9]

Translations

Das Boot has been translated into 18 languages. The United Kingdom edition was translated into British English by John Brownjohn and published by HarperCollins in 1974.[2] It was translated into American English by Denver and Helen Lindley in 1975 with editor-translator Carol Brown Janeway.[2] [14] A Dutch translation, De Boot, was published in 1974 by in den Toren.

1981 film

See main article: Das Boot. The book was the basis of the 1981 West German war film Das Boot, written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann. The film makes some changes from the novel.[15] [16]

Sequels

Buchheim subsequently published Die Festung (1995), an immediate sequel to Das Boot, and , set after the war. The three books form an autobiographical trilogy.

See also

Notes and References

  1. L.-G. Buchheim: Der Film Das Boot Ein Journal. Goldmann Verlag, München 1981.
  2. https://scholar.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1135&context=theses_dissertations Lothar-Ggünther Buchheim's Das Bboot: Memory and the Nazi Past
  3. Lothar-Günther Buchheim: Das Boot. 1977
  4. Das Boot
  5. Web site: Das Reboot. March 4, 2019. The New European.
  6. "U-boat Registry of Officers", German Federal Archives, Entry: Lehmann-Willenbrock Heinrich Fkapt.01.12.44, 11.12.1911–18 April 1986 – U-5, U-96.
  7. Book: Scherzer , Veit . 2007 . Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives . The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives . German . Jena, Germany . Scherzers Militaer-Verlag . 978-3-938845-17-2.
  8. https://uboat.net/books/item/587 U-Boot-Krieg (U-Boat War),
  9. https://www.jstor.org/stable/441638 Villains, Victims, and Veterans: Buchheim's Das Boot and the Problem of the Hybrid Novel-Memoir as History
  10. Franz K. Stanzel, “Literarische und historische Anatomie eines Bestsellers: Lothar-Günther Buchheims ‘Das Boot’” [Literary and historical anatomy of a bestseller], Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift 56 (2006): 204. Stanzel was referring to the 1973 reviews by Thomas Scheffel from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Peter Dubrow from Zeit. After the American English version of Das Boot was complete, The New York Times criticized the portrayal of the crew as "homogenous." Christopher LehmannHaupt, "Still Pure Hell Down There," The New York Times, May 13, 1975.
  11. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/13/archives/books-of-the-times-shill-pure-hell-down-there.html "Still Pure Hell Down There,"
  12. Michael Salewski: Von der Wirklichkeit des Krieges Analysen und Kontroversen zu Buchheims „Boot“. 2. Auflage. dtv, Nördlingen 1985, ISBN 3-423-01213-7, S. 96.
  13. M. Salewski: Von der Wirklichkeit des Krieges Analysen und Kontroversen zu Buchheims „Boot“. 2. Auflage. dtv, Nördlingen 1985, ISBN 3-423-01213-7, S. 118
  14. News: Carol Brown Janeway, Translator and Executive, Dies at 71 . Sam . Roberts . New York Times . August 6, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230930174359/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/07/books/carol-brown-janeway-translator-and-executive-dies-at-71.html . September 30, 2023 .
  15. Web site: McCarthy . Todd . March 31, 1997 . Das Boot: The Director's Cut . 2022-06-28 . Variety . en-US.
  16. Book: McCaulay, Philip Martin . World War II Movies . 2010 . Lulu.com . 978-0-557-30299-4 . en.