Der Augenzeuge - Die 50er Jahre (The Eyewitness - The 50s)

2001, b/w, 349 min. (3 cassettes), Documentary/Newsreel
VHS-PAL, no subtitles - renting information

Synopsis:

This video series gives one insight into the daily events back then in the form of raw reportage of the weekly chronicles, showing (often in headlines) the momentous political and economic occurrences, athletic and youth competitions, arts and entertainment and diverting encounters with public officials as well as discoveries and incidents that moved a nation.

Part 1: The 50s (1950-1953)

In a selection of individual "Eyewitnesses" from the years 1950 and 1953, one can see amongst other things:

No. 11 from 3/17/1950: Leipzig Spring Fair 1950
No. 28 from 7/14/1950: Foreign Legionnaires in Vietnam, Construction of the Sosa Dam, Gymnastics

No. 23 from 6/1/1951: Launch of the "Wilhelm Pieck," GDR Soccer Championship Finals
No. 33 from 8/10/1951: Third World Festival Games by the Youth and Students for Peace in Berlin
No. 53 from 12/28/1951: Caricaturists, Visit to a Liqueur Factory, "Happy New Year"

No. 2 from 1/11/1952: National Construction Program Berlin, Adenauer and the Knechtsand Island
No. 21 from 5/23/1952: Essener Bloody Sunday, Book Week, Teletype from Chemnitz
No. 49 from 12/5/1952: Christmas Trees from the Thuringian Forest, Mansfeld Combine

No. 26 from 6/26/1953: Crimes of the Rosenbergs, TB Innoculations from Jena
No. 30 from 7/24/1953: Fallingbostel: Nazi Rally, International "Avus" Race, Holiday in Thuringia

Part 2: The 50s (1954-1956)

In a selection of individual "Eyewitnesses" from the years 1954 and 1956, one can see amongst other things:

No. 6 from 2/1/1954: Four Powers Conference in Berlin, Defeat for ten Hoff in the U.S.A.
No. 12 from 3/19/1954: "Ernst Thälmann" Film Premiere, Otto Grotewohl Turns 60, "Thistle"
No. 28 from 7/9/1954: Press Conference with Former Field Marshall Paulus
No. 52 from 12/24/1954: Federal Border Guard (BGS), Christmas at the Head of the Train, East-West Celebration

No. 6 from 2/11/1955: 10th Anniversary of the Destruction of Berlin, Mardi Gras on the Spree
No. 17 from 4/29/1955: Albert Einstein Dies, Lenin's 85th Birthday
No. 52 from 12/30/1955: The 500th Eyewitness - An Anniversary Show

No. 34 from 8/24/1956: KPD Banned - Report from Karlsruhe, Bertolt Brecht Dies
No. 51 from 12/21/1956: Highlights of the 16th Olympic Games
No. 52 from 12/28/1956: Our Republic 1956, West Germany: Between Rock n' Roll and Military Drafts 

Part 3: The 50s (1957-1959)

In a selection of individual "Eyewitnesses" from the years 1957 and 1959, one can see amongst other things:

No. 39 from 6/11/1957: Wedding of F.J. Strauss, Manöver: 15 Soldiers, Speedboat EM
No. 82 from 11/8/1957: Sputnik II with Laika, Ulbricht and Grotewohl Travel to Moscow
No. 95 from 12/23/1957: Year in Retrospect

No. 16 from 2/21/1958: French Attack of Tunisia, Flak Unit of the National People's Army (NVA), Friedrichstadtpalast
No. 37 from 5/6/1958: May First: the Battle of Nuclear Death: National and International Reports
No. 45 from 6/3/1958: General de Gaulle in France, Berlin Presents Fashion "Line 58"

No. 21 from 3/10/1959: Khruschev at the Leipzig Fair, Alpine Ski Championship
No. 32 from 4/17/1959: Grotewohl on Adenauer, Professor Hagemann on Unity, Youth Celebration
No. 72 from 9/4/1959: Highest Court of the GDR Convicts 4 German and American Agents, International Motor Boat Race
No. 82 from 10/9/1959: 10th Anniversary of the GDR