Goebbels Makes A Film About Hermann The German
Goebbels was Hitler’s propaganda minister. That is well known. But how many people know that he was interested in stories about Hermann the German? Tacitus’s Germania was one of his favorite books. The Roman historian wrote about the northern barbarians and contrasted them with the more corrupt and sophisticated Romans back in Italy. He even stated that in ancient times the very fair, blonde, and red-haired Germans did not generally tend to intermarry with the peoples around them and stayed to themselves thinking themselves superior and very pure. Goebbels couldn’t have said it better.
It inspired him to make a movie about Hermann the German in the 1930’s that was never released because the war started too soon. His hero was a Roman soldier who found a Thor’s hammer engraved in a tree outside his tent. He had a nightmare about the German tribes around him, but his General, Varus, won’t listen to him. He is dissolute and brings women with him to camp. He doesn’t want to be bothered. A German woman visits his tent and seduces him. He watches through the trees as she takes the map she stole from him to their leader who lives high up on a hill. This is Hermann. He tries to report the theft of the map to Varus, but again the general won’t be bothered. The map reveals the Roman plan for going east to the Elbe River. On the way home to Trier, the Germans fall upon the Romans and kill them almost to a man. The Roman escapes. He tries to sail away, but all the boats are burned. There is no way. He comes to realize that he, too, must become a German warrior. Hermann gives him land, and he marries the German woman who seduced him. He goes from being against the Germans to being one of them.
Goebbels was Hitler’s propaganda minister. That is well known. But how many people know that he was interested in stories about Hermann the German? Tacitus’s Germania was one of his favorite books. The Roman historian wrote about the northern barbarians and contrasted them with the more corrupt and sophisticated Romans back in Italy. He even stated that in ancient times the very fair, blonde, and red-haired Germans did not generally tend to intermarry with the peoples around them and stayed to themselves thinking themselves superior and very pure. Goebbels couldn’t have said it better.
It inspired him to make a movie about Hermann the German in the 1930’s that was never released because the war started too soon. His hero was a Roman soldier who found a Thor’s hammer engraved in a tree outside his tent. He had a nightmare about the German tribes around him, but his General, Varus, won’t listen to him. He is dissolute and brings women with him to camp. He doesn’t want to be bothered. A German woman visits his tent and seduces him. He watches through the trees as she takes the map she stole from him to their leader who lives high up on a hill. This is Hermann. He tries to report the theft of the map to Varus, but again the general won’t be bothered. The map reveals the Roman plan for going east to the Elbe River. On the way home to Trier, the Germans fall upon the Romans and kill them almost to a man. The Roman escapes. He tries to sail away, but all the boats are burned. There is no way. He comes to realize that he, too, must become a German warrior. Hermann gives him land, and he marries the German woman who seduced him. He goes from being against the Germans to being one of them.
