''The Captain from Köpenick'' (german: Der Hauptmann von Köpenick) is a 1956 West German

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Helmut Käutner Helmut Käutner (25 March 1908 – 20 April 1980) was a German film director active mainly in the 1940s and 1950s. He entered the film industry at the end of the Weimar Republic and released his first films as a director in Nazi Germany. Käu ...

and based upon the 1931 play '' The Captain of Köpenick'' by

Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. Life and career Born in Nackenheim in Rhenish Hesse, he was ...

. The play was based on the true story of

Wilhelm Voigt Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt (13 February 1849 – 3 January 1922) was a German impostor who, in 1906, masqueraded as a Prussian military officer, rounded up a number of soldiers under his "command", and "confiscated" more than 4,000 marks from a mu ...

, a German impostor who masqueraded as a Prussian military officer in 1906 and became famous as the Captain from Köpenick. It was nominated for the

29th Academy Awards For the 29th Academy Awards, the Best International Feature Film was introduced as a competitive category, instead of only a Special Achievement Award. The first winner in this new category was Federico Fellini's ''La Strada'' with Anthony Qu ...

in the category Best Foreign Language Film. It was shot by

Real Film Real Film or Real-Film was a West German film production company. It was established in 1947 in Hamburg, then part of the British Zone of Occupation. Its founders were Walter Koppel and the Hungarian Gyula Trebitsch. The company released some rub ...

at the

Wandsbek Studios The Wandsbek Studios are film production and television studios located in Wandsbek, a district of the German city of Hamburg. The complex was established in 1948 when Real Film, set up the previous year, acquired a site in Wandsbek for constr ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director

Albrecht Becker Albrecht Becker (14 November 1906 – 22 April 2002) was a German production designer, photographer, and actor who was imprisoned by the Nazi regime for the charge of homosexuality. Personal life Born in Thale, Germany, Becker trained as a ...

and

Herbert Kirchhoff Herbert Kirchhoff (1911–1988) was a German art director. Selected filmography * ''Nora's Ark'' (1948) * '' My Wife's Friends'' (1949) * '' The Last Night'' (1949) * ''Second Hand Destiny'' (1949) * ''Third from the Right'' (1950) * ''Harbour ...

Cast

* Heinz Rühmann as

Martin Held Martin Held (1908–1992) was a German television and film actor. Partial filmography * '' Dark Eyes'' (1951) - Alexander Grabner * ''Homesick for You'' (1952) - Direktor Petermann * '' Canaris Master Spy'' (1954) - Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich ...

as Dr. Obermüller *

Hannelore Schroth Hannelore Emilie Käte Grete Schroth (; 10 January 1922 – 7 July 1987) was a German film, stage, and television actress whose career spanned over five decades. Career Born in Berlin in 1922, she was the daughter of popular stage and film actor ...

as Mathilde Obermüller * Willy A. Kleinau as Friedrich Hoprecht *

Leonard Steckel Leonard Steckel (18 January 1901 – 9 February 1971) was a German-JewishSiegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), p. 213 actor and director of stage and scr ...

as Adolph Wormser *

Friedrich Domin Friedrich Domin (15 May 1902 – 18 December 1961) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1939 and 1961. He was born in Beuthen, Germany (now Bytom, Poland) and died in Munich, Germany. Selected filmography * '' ...

as Jail Director * Erich Schellow as Capt. von Schlettow *

Walter Giller Walter Giller (23 August 1927 – 15 December 2011) was a German actor. He was very successful in the 1950s and 1960s, when he was often seen as a comedic leading man. One of his most successful and more serious roles was in ''Roses for the Pros ...

as Willy Wormser *

Wolfgang Neuss Wolfgang Neuss (3 December 1923 – 5 May 1989) was a German actor and Kabarett artist. Beginning in the mid-1960s, he also became famous for his political engagement, first for the SPD, then for the extra-parliamentary opposition, ''APO''. ...

as Kallenberg *

Bum Krüger Bum Krüger (born ''Willy Krüger''; 13 March 1906 - 15 March 1971) was a German actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1948 to 1969. Filmography References External links * 1906 births 1971 deaths German male film ...

as Schutzmann Kilian *

Joseph Offenbach Joseph Offenbach (born ''Joseph Ziegler''; 28 December 1904 – 15 October 1971) was a German actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1942 to 1969. Selected filmography References External links * * 1904 births 1 ...

as Wabschke *

Ilse Fürstenberg Ilse Fürstenberg (12 December 1907, in Berlin – 16 December 1976, in Basel) was a German actress, working on stage, screen, television and as voice actress. Selected filmography * '' The Blue Angel'' (1930) - Raths Wirtschafterin / Maid * '' ...

as Marie Hoprecht, Voigt's sister *

Maria Sebaldt Maria Katharina Helene Sebaldt (26 April 1930 in Berlin- Steglitz) is a German actress. Life The daughter of a department head of the Paramount film distribution company took private acting lessons from 1946 to 1949 and passed an acting examina ...

as Auguste Viktoria Wormser, seine Tochter *

Edith Hancke Edith Hancke (; 14 October 1928 – 4 June 2015) was a German stage, film and television actress. Life and career Edith Hancke, daughter of a bank clerk, grew up in Berlin-Charlottenburg. She received an education at the Lettehaus and, at the ...

as Sick girl * Ethel Reschke as Pleureusenmieze *

Siegfried Lowitz Siegfried Lowitz (22 September 1914 – 27 June 1999) was a German actor. Born in Berlin, he played the Hauptkommissar ''Erwin Köster'' in the German television drama '' Der Alte''. Prior to his tenure as Hauptkommissar, he played a killer ...

as Stadtkämmerer Rosenkranz *

Willi Rose Wilhelm Bernhard Max Rose (4 February 1902 – 16 June 1978) was a German actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1936 to 1978. Selected filmography References External links * 1902 births 1978 deaths German male fi ...

as Police sergeant *

Willy Maertens Willy Maertens (1893–1967) was a German film and television actor. He was married to the actress Charlotte Kramm with whom he had a son Peter Maertens. Selected filmography * ''Attack on Baku'' (1942) - Notar beim dänischen Ölherrn Jenssen ...

as Prokurist Knell * Kurt Fuß *

Karl Hellmer Karl Hellmer (11 March 1896 – 18 May 1974) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in 92 films between 1932 and 1969. He was born in Vienna, Austria and died in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * ''I by Day, You by Night'' (1932) * ...

as Nowak * Robert Meyn as Polizeipräsident von Jagow *

Otto Wernicke Otto Karl Robert Wernicke (30 September 1893, Osterode am Harz – 7 November 1965) was a German actor. He is best known for his role as police inspector Karl Lohmann in the two Fritz Lang films '' M'' and ''The Testament of Dr. Mabuse''. Marrie ...

as Schuhmachermeister *

Ludwig Linkmann Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and ...

as Betrunkener Zivilist * Wolfgang Müller * Rudolf Fenner as Polizeioberwachtmeister in Potsdam *

Reinhard Kolldehoff Reinhard Kolldehoff (29 April 1914 – 18 November 1995) was a German film actor. He appeared in 140 films between 1941 and 1988. He was born and died in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * '' The Gasman'' (1941) - Polizeibeamter (uncr ...

as Drunken soldier * Kurt Klopsch as Polizei-Inspektor von Köpenick * Helmut Gmelin as Kürassier-Oberst * Reinhold Nietschmann * Jutta Zech * Jochen Blume as Paß-Kommissar * Peter Ahrweiler as Anstaltsgeistlicher * Jochen Meyn as Von Schleinitz * Werner Schumacher as 2.Gefreiter *

Joachim Hess Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

as 1.Gefreiter *

Balduin Baas Balduin Baas (9 June 1922 – 22 May 2006) was a German actor. He appeared in more than 70 films and television shows between 1956 and 2002. Partial filmography * '' The Captain from Köpenick'' (1956) - Ostpreußischer Grenadier * ' (1956 ...

as Ostpreußischer Grenadier * Peter Franz * Joachim Wolff as 2.Bahnbeamter * Erich Weiher as Dorfschulze * Holger Hagen as Dr. Jellinek * Eddi Thomalla as 1. Bahnbeamter

Awards

* Nominated for the

in the category Best Foreign Language Film *

Bundesfilmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous co ...

(Filmband in Gold) in the categories Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Film Architecture *

(Filmband in Silber) in the category Best Film Promoting Democracy *

(Goldene Schale) in the category Best Feature Film *

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten ...

in the categories Best Film and Most Commercially Successful Film *

Preis der deutschen Filmkritik The Preis der deutschen Filmkritik is a prize given by the German Film Critics Association, awarded to the best German films of the past year. The Preis der deutschen Filmkritik is the only German film prize issued exclusively by film critics. The ...

* Price of the Berlin Film Critics Association for Heinz Rühmann * Special Merit recognition by the Filmbewertungsstelle

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

* Screened at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

, the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

and the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...

References

External links

*
''Der Hauptmann von Köpenick''
at filmportal.de/en {{DEFAULTSORT:Captain From Kopenick 1956 films 1950s historical comedy-drama films German historical comedy-drama films West German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Helmut Käutner German films based on plays Films based on works by Carl Zuckmayer Films about con artists Films set in 1906 Films set in Berlin Films shot in Hamburg Remakes of German films Real Film films Films shot at Wandsbek Studios German biographical films Biographical films about fraudsters Cultural depictions of Wilhelm Voigt 1950s biographical films 1950s German films

Cast

Awards

See also

References

External links