| Genre: | Biopic |
| Screenplay: | Otto Bonhoff Georg Schiemann Erich Selbmann |
| Director: | Ursula Bonhoff Georg Schiemann |
| Starring: | Helmut Schellhardt Christine Schorn Günther Grabbert Peter Sodann |
| Music: | Karl-Ernst Sasse |
| Country: | East Germany |
| Language: | German |
| Num Episodes: | 2 |
| Runtime: | 4 hours |
| Company: | DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme |
| Network: | Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF) |
Ernst Thälmann is a two-part television film by DEFA from 1986. It was first broadcast on February 7, 1986 on GDR television, DFF. It is on the life of German Communist leader, Ernst Thälmann (who in the Weimar years was the head of the ticket for the German Communist Party-KPD, and was executed on Adolf Hitler's order, 1944).[1] [2]
The biographical film spans May 1, 1929, the Blutmai, on which police shot at demonstrating Berlin workers, to February 7, 1933, the day on which the meeting of the Central Committee of the KPD took place in Sporthaus Ziegenhals, where Thälmann appeared as a speaker for the last time. [3] Filming began in 1984 and took place in Görlitz and Wuppertal.[4]
The film received numerous awards from the East German authorities. Helmut Schellhardt received the First Class prize, "for his outstanding achievements as an actor, especially for his portrayal of Ernst Thälmann", for the National Prize of East Germany in 1986. The following cast members also received the First Class prize for the National Prize in 1986: Otto Bonhoff, Ursula Bonhoff, Hans-Jürgen Faschina, Georg Schiemann, Erich Seibmann.[5] [6] Other cast and production members, including film composer Karl-Ernst Sasse, won Second Class prizes for their contributions.[7] [8]
Recent reception has been more critical: