''Three Birch Trees on the Heath'' (German: ''Drei Birken auf der Heide'') is a 1956 West German

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Ulrich Erfurth and starring

Margit Saad Margit Saad (30 May 1929 – 7 August 2023) was a German actress who worked largely in German film and television, with occasional English language appearances. Biography Margit Saad was born in Munich, Germany, the daughter of a Lebanese lingu ...

, Sonja Sutter and Helmuth Schneider. It was one of 54

heimatfilm ' (, German for "homeland-films"; German singular: ') were films of a genre popular in West Germany, Switzerland, and Austria from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. '' Heimat'' can be translated as "home" (in the geographic sense), "hometown" or " ...

pictures produced that year, as the genre's popularity reached its peak.Boa & Palfreyman p.214 The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Dieter Bartels. The film was shot 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 construc ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and on location around

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (, ) is a large area of heath (habitat), heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen and is ...

outside the city.

Plot

Cast

as Susanna, Zigeunerin * Sonja Sutter as Rose Heidkämper * Helmuth Schneider as Hans Freese, Revierförster * Albert Matterstock as Jan Wedekind, Verleger *

Rolf Wanka Rolf Wanka (14 February 1901 – 30 November 1982) was an Austrian actor. Biography He was of Czech, German and French origin. His father was Dr. Josef Wanka was head physician in Vienna. His mother was Emma Pippich. His family owned a mans ...

as Ernö, Zigeunerprimas *

Irene von Meyendorff Baroness Irene von Meyendorff (6 June 1916 – 28 September 2001) was a Russian-born German-British actress. Biography Baroness Irene von Meyendorff was of Baltic German origin, born in 1916 in Tallinn (then Reval, Russian Empire), Estonia as th ...

as Ada Wedekind *

Paul Henckels Paul Henckels (9 September 1885 – 27 May 1967) was a German film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1921 and 1965. Paul Henckels had started his acting career on the stage in the 1900s. He was well known for his eccen ...

as Vater Heidkämper, Imker *

Albert Florath Albert Peter Adam Florath (7 December 1888, Bielefeld – 11 March 1957, Gaildorf) was a German stage and film actor. Early life and education Born to Joseph Florath, a locksmith, and his wife Matilda, née Burkart, he attended school in Brak ...

as Pastor Mettelmann *

Carsta Löck Carsta Löck (28 December 1902 – 9 October 1993) was a German film actress. Life The daughter of a merchant grew up in Kiel and worked as a typographer. After training as an actor, she made her debut as Rosi in Hermann Sudermann's The Butterfl ...

as Meta, Haushälterin bei Wedekind *

Robert Meyn Robert Meyn (16 January 1896 – 2 March 1972) was a German stage, film and television actor.Fehrenbach p.103 Partial filmography * '' The Sinner'' (1951) - Von Hernsdorf - Marinas Stiefvater / Marina's Stepfather * ''Kommen Sie am Ersten'' (195 ...

as Rackebrand, Forstmeister * Hubert Hilten as Mirko, junger Zigeuner *

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 Kriminalassistent Grimm * Balduin Baas as Plaskude * Jochen Meyn as Sterthus, Hilfsförster * Hans Schwarz Jr. as Oldehoff, Torfbauer * Lore Schulz as Trina, Dorfmädchen * Hans Fitze as Ahrens, Gemeindevorsteher * Werner Schumacher as Born, Wachtmeister * Peter Ahrweiler as Ein Beamter * Kerstin De Ahna as Dörte, Dorfmädchen *

Maria Litto Maria Litto (1919–1996) was a German ballet dancer, choreographer and film actress. In 1970, she pioneered dance programming on German television. Early life Born in Ovenhausen, Höxter, on 9 September 1919, Litto attended the town's primary an ...

as Jolan, Zigeunerin * Alma Auler as Telefonistin * Ronni Fischer as Geza, ein junger Zigeuner * Erica Schramm as Krankenschwester * Mita von Ahlefeldt as Frau Mettelmann * August Weiß as Istvan, Stammesältester der Zigeuner

References

Bibliography

* Elizabeth Boa & Rachel Palfreyman. ''Heimat - A German Dream: Regional Loyalties and National Identity in German Culture 1890-1990''. OUP Oxford, 21 Sep 2000.

External links

* 1956 films 1956 romantic drama films German romantic drama films West German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Ulrich Erfurth Films about Romani people Films shot at Wandsbek Studios Real Film films 1950s German films German-language romantic drama films {{1950s-Germany-film-stub