# Das Erbe > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Das_Erbe > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Das_Erbe.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Erbe > Source revision: 1329430022 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1935 Nazi propaganda film For the silent film, see [The Inheritance (1922 film)](/source/The_Inheritance_(1922_film)). Das Erbe Directed by Carl Hartmann Written by Walter Lüddeke Produced by Harold Mayer Release date 1935 (1935) Running time 12 minutes Country Nazi Germany Language German ***Das Erbe*** ("The Inheritance")[1] was a [Nazi](/source/Nazi_Germany) [propaganda](/source/Propaganda) movie released in 1935.[2] Produced by Harold Mayer[3] under the aegis of the [Nazi party](/source/Nazi_party)'s [Office of Racial Policy](/source/Office_of_Racial_Policy)[1] and directed by [Carl C. Hartmann](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carl_C._Hartmann&action=edit&redlink=1), it aimed at legitimizing the [Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring](/source/Law_for_the_Prevention_of_Hereditarily_Diseased_Offspring) ("*Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses*"),[2] which allowed for [sterilization](/source/Sterilisation_(medicine)).[1] The movie is 12 minutes long,[4] and was shown as part of several trailers in contemporary German movie theaters.[5] ## Plot and message The plot was written by [Walter Lüddeke](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_L%C3%BCddeke&action=edit&redlink=1).[5] The basic message, that only the strong and healthy are victorious, is demonstrated by fighting [stag beetles](/source/Stag_beetle) commented on by a "professor",[6] These clips are watched by the character Fräulein Volkmann, a [blonde young woman](/source/Aryan_race), who is therewith introduced to the "struggle for existence"(*Daseinskampf*).[2] After watching the clips, Volkmann is astonished and says to the friendly, elderly professor: "So animals actually pursue a racial policy!"[7] In the second part, the movie discusses the sorrow of the disabled and posits a relation between choice of the right partner and hereditary diseases of the offspring.[7] The message is carried by shock clips of asylum patients and presentation of the high care cost.[7] Peter Zimmermann of the House of Documentary Film in [Stuttgart](/source/Stuttgart) evaluates the movie as follows: The [short movie](/source/Short_movie) *Das Erbe* (1935), which leads over from the animals' struggle for survival and [natural selection](/source/Natural_selection) to a plea for forced sterilization of the mentally ill, marks exactly the point where [Social Darwinist](/source/Social_Darwinism) [biologism](/source/Biological_determinism) turns into [Fascist](/source/Fascism) racial policy providing the reasoning for the necessity of [euthanasia](/source/Euthanasia).[nb 1] In addition to *Das Erbe*, two [silent movies](/source/Silent_movies) were produced in 1935 to propagate [euthanasia](/source/Euthanasia) in the German population, *[Sünden der Väter](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=S%C3%BCnden_der_V%C3%A4ter&action=edit&redlink=1)* and *[Abseits vom Wege](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abseits_vom_Wege&action=edit&redlink=1)* ("Sins of the Fathers" and "Off track").[8] In the subsequent years, the media campaign was completed by another [sound movie](/source/Sound_movie), "*[Opfer der Vergangenheit](/source/Victims_of_the_Past)*" ("Sacrifice of the Past", 1937) and three more silent movies, "*[Erbkrank](/source/Erbkrank)*" ("Inherited Malady", 1936), "*[Alles Leben ist Kampf](/source/Alles_Leben_ist_Kampf)*" ("All Life is Struggle", 1937) and "*[Was du ererbst](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Was_du_ererbst&action=edit&redlink=1)*" ("What You Inherit", 1939).[8] All these movies were produced by the Office of Racial Policy, shot in the Berlin area, and shown nationwide in movie theaters, factories and at Nazi party events,[1] and together reached an audience of twenty million per year.[9] Together with *Erbkrank* and *Alles Leben ist Kampf*, *Das Erbe* reflects the spirit of the [Nuremberg Laws](/source/Nuremberg_Laws) by subordinating the people to the authority of a superior "breeder's" cost-benefit analysis.[10] ## See also - [List of German films 1933–1945](/source/List_of_German_films_1933%E2%80%931945) - [Nazism and cinema](/source/Nazism_and_cinema) - [Aktion T4](/source/Aktion_T4) - *[Opfer der Vergangenheit](/source/Opfer_der_Vergangenheit)* - [Life unworthy of life](/source/Life_unworthy_of_life) - [Euthanasia](/source/Euthanasia) - [List of German films 1933–1945](/source/List_of_German_films_1933%E2%80%931945) - [Nazism and cinema](/source/Nazism_and_cinema) - Erbkrank ## Notes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Zimmermann (2003), quote: "Der Kurzfilm Das Erbe (1935), der vom Existenzkampf in der Tierwelt und der Auslese der Arten zum Plädoyer für die Zwangssterilisierung [Geisteskranker](/source/Mental_disorder) überleitet, bezeichnet genau den Punkt, an dem ein sozialdarwinistischer Biologismus in eine faschistische Rassenpolitik umschlägt, die die Notwendigkeit der Euthanasie argumentatorisch vorbereitet." ## Sources ### References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Poore110_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Poore110_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Poore110_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Poore110_1-3) Poore (1997), p. 110 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Zimmermann214_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Zimmermann214_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Zimmermann214_2-2) Zimmermann (2005), p. 214 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Barsam (1992), p. 126 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Delage (1989), p. 233 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-augenblick80_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-augenblick80_5-1) Augen-Blick 22.1995, p. 80 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Zimmermann95_6-0)** Zimmermann (2005), p. 95 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Zimmermannmedia_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Zimmermannmedia_7-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Zimmermannmedia_7-2) Zimmermann (2005), as cited at mediaculture-online.de 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Matzek277_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Matzek277_9-1) Matzek (2002), p. 277 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Poore111_10-0)** Poore (1997), p. 111 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Reichert (2006), p. 53 ### Bibliography - Barsam, Richard Meran (1992). *Nonfiction film. A critical history*. A Midland book. Vol. 706. Indiana University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-253-20706-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-253-20706-1). - Delage, Christian (1989). *La vision nazie de l'histoire. Le cinéma documentaire du Troisième Reich*. Histoire et théorie du cinéma (in French). L'AGE D'HOMME. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [2-8251-3348-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/2-8251-3348-5). - Matzek, Tom (2002). *Das Mordschloss. Auf den Spuren von NS-Verbrechen in Schloss Hartheim* (in German). Kremayr & Scheriau. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-218-00710-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-218-00710-0). - Poore, Carol (2007). *Disability in twentieth-century German culture Corporealities. Discourses of Disability*. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-472-11595-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-472-11595-2). - Reichert, Ramón (2006). *Kulturfilm im "Dritten Reich"* (in German). Synema. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-901644-14-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-901644-14-8). - Zimmermann, Peter. "Zwischen Sachlichkeit, Idylle und Propaganda. Der Kulturfilm im Dritten Reich". In Zimmermann, Peter; Hoffmann, Kay (eds.). *Triumph der Bilder. Kultur- und Dokumentarfilme vor 1945 im internationalen Vergleich*. Close Up. Schriften aus dem Haus des Dokumentarfilms (in German). Vol. 16. Konstanz: UVK Medien 2003. pp. 59–73., **cited in [https://web.archive.org/web/20100131063204/http://www.mediaculture-online.de/fileadmin/bibliothek/zimmermann_propaganda/zimmermann_propaganda.html](https://web.archive.org/web/20100131063204/http://www.mediaculture-online.de/fileadmin/bibliothek/zimmermann_propaganda/zimmermann_propaganda.html), retrieved 2010-02-21 - Zimmermann, Peter (2005). *Geschichte des dokumentarischen Films in Deutschland* (in German). Vol. 3. P. Reclam jun. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-15-010586-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-15-010586-2). - hardback, [Google books preview](https://books.google.com/books?id=It1kAAAAMAAJ&q=volkmann) - pp. 505–529, 554–567 as cited by [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927012529/http://www.mediaculture-online.de/fileadmin/bibliothek/zimmermann_propagandafilm/zimmermann_propagandafilm.html#sdfootnote22anc](https://web.archive.org/web/20070927012529/http://www.mediaculture-online.de/fileadmin/bibliothek/zimmermann_propagandafilm/zimmermann_propagandafilm.html#sdfootnote22anc), retrieved: 2010-02-21 - "Das kalte Bild. Das Erbe (1935)". *Augen-Blick* (in German) (22). Philipps-Universität Marburg. Institut für Neuere Deutsche Literatur. 1995. ## External links - [*Das Erbe*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247318/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Das Erbe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Erbe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Erbe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.