''Hotel Clausewitz'' (German: ''Pension Clausewitz'') is a 1967 West German

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Ralph Habib Ralph Habib (Paris, 29 June 1912 – Paris, 27 June 1969) was a French film director of Lebanese people, Lebanese origin. He started his film career with Pathé. He later worked as assistant director notably Jean Dréville and Jean-Paul Le Chanoi ...

and starring

Wolfgang Kieling Wolfgang Kieling (16 March 1924 – 7 October 1985) was a German actor. Biography In films since childhood in his native Germany, Kieling appeared in a few American films, notably in Alfred Hitchcock's '' Torn Curtain'' (1966), where he playe ...

Maria Brockerhoff Maria Brockerhoff (born 1942) is a retired German model (profession), model, film actress, film and television actress. Selected filmography * ''Come to the Blue Adriatic'' (1966) * ''Hotel Clausewitz'' (1967) * ''Our Doctor is the Best'' (1969) ...

and

Friedrich Schoenfelder Friedrich Schoenfelder (17 October 1916 – 14 August 2011) was a German actor. Schoenfelder was born in Sorau/Lower Lusatia and died in Berlin. He was 94. He was the German dubbing voice of David Niven and Vincent Price. In the German versio ...

Plot

The main character of the story, Stemmka, through an inheritance, becomes the owner of a West

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

, called "Pension Schölermann". In order to refresh the "establishment", Stemmka immediately hires two attractive young ladies. One of them is Marlies, whose fiancé, Werner, is stuck in East Berlin and was prevented from escaping to the West. Not only is the brothel used for erotic encounters, it also becomes the meeting place of the intelligence services. Among the clients are a West-German nuclear scientist, a

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

officer, a representative of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

and his

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

opponent from beyond the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

. Marlies wants to free Werner from the Stasi's grip and therefore agrees to cooperate with the

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

, passing on the secrets she learns from

pillow talk ''Pillow Talk'' is a 1959 American romantic comedy film in CinemaScope directed by Michael Gordon and starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day. The supporting cast features Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter, Nick Adams, Allen Jenkins, Marcel Dalio and ...

to the communist enemy. Her spying ends when her fiancé escapes from the east to the city's western sector. Now they can turn the tide and help the Western Allies smash the East German ring of agents.

Production

Pension Clausewitz, also known as Hotel Clausewitz, was filmed in February and March 1967 in Berlin and premiered on April 28, 1967. The story was inspired by the events surrounding the real Pension Clausewitz, which caused a veritable scandal at the end of 1964. In order not to give the impression of a faithful retelling of the actual events, the Pension Clausewitz was called Schölermann in the film. The FSK credits the film with the "staggering persiflage, which often turns into a fuss," mellowing the portrayal of delicate situations and frivolous utterances. Nevertheless, several scenes had to be cut, in which the bosoms of striptease dancers was seen. The comedian

Karl Dall Karl Bernhard Dall (, 1 February 1941 – 23 November 2020) was a German comedian, singer, and television presenter. His distinctive 'hanging' eye was caused by a congenital ptosis. Family Karl Dall was born in Emden, the son of a scho ...

had a cameo appearance in the film as a pimp with two words dialog text: "poaching, wa" His three colleagues of comedy combo ''Insterburg & Co.'' also have cameo appearances, but were little more than extras.

Cast

Cast list from Filmportal.de and World Filmography 1967.

References

Bibliography

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External links

*{{IMDb title, 0062111 1967 films West German films 1960s spy comedy films German spy comedy films 1960s German-language films Films directed by Ralph Habib Films set in Berlin Films set in West Germany Cold War spy films Films about prostitution in Germany Films shot in Berlin 1967 comedy films 1960s German films German-language comedy films