HOME MOVIES: 1930s

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1930s

Format: 16mm

Description: Shot in the 1930s by an unknown American tourist, this silent home movie shows a trip to Switzerland and Holland. The film begins with images shot aboard a ship, probably cruising on Lake Lucerne or the Zurichsee. A stern wheel paddle boat is visible at :47. At :49 are images of either Zurich. At 1:04 a woman poses in front of a Renault car. At 1:22 a trip by train begins. At 2:06 Lucerne is shown. At 2:22 the Lucerne Lion is shown. The Lion Monument, or the Lion of Lucerne, is a rock relief in Lucerne, Switzerland, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and hewn in 1820–21 by Lukas Ahorn. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. At 2:37 a policeman wearing a spiked helmet gives directions. At 2:45, another trip by train. At 3:10 a hotel, the Pension Daheim, is seen. This was also known as the Haus Anton Lang and located at Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany. At 4:10, visitors pose -- possibly with German actor Anton Lang who performed every year in the passion play. More shots of Oberammergau follow. At 5:14 a man in traditional dress poses in front of parked cars near a restaurant, as a woman on a bicycle rides by. At 5:53 the Hotel Eisenhut is seen, in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. At 6:28 a woman is shown on the street making thread on a spinning wheel. At 6:53 a blimp is seen in the sky. At 7:00 a building marked Deutscher Hof is shown, this is likely the Deutscher Hof hotel in Nuremburg, Germany. At 7:11, older ladies pose for the camera. At 7:59, a building marked Paul Schoch is shown. At 9:37, the dock area at Ruedesheim, Germany on the Rhine is shown. At 10;11 the Mouse Tower is shown, which was used as a navigational station. At 10:36 a castle is shown. At 11:40 the Koblenz horse statue is shown. This is located on the Deutsches Eck. The monumental equestrian statue is of William I, first German Emperor, and was erected in 1897 in appreciation for his role in the unification of Germany. At 12:00 the film shows some shots in Holland of Dutch children wearing traditional clothing.

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