Name: Brüder (Brothers) Director: Werner Hochbaum Studio: Willi Münzenberg’s Weltfilm (with workers’ film collectives) Starring: Heinrich George, Hermann Recknagel, Ilse Bastubbe, Erwin Biswanger Release Date: 1929 (Germany) Runtime: \~75 minutes Format: Black-and-white, silent film Country: Germany Language: Silent (German intertitles) Genres: | Drama | Political | Silent | Social Realism --- Summary: *Brüder* (*Brothers*, 1929) is a socially conscious silent drama by Werner Hochbaum that depicts the conflict between striking dockworkers and strikebreakers in Hamburg. The story centers on two brothers who find themselves on opposite sides of the labor struggle—one aligning with the striking workers, the other siding with the employers. Their personal relationship becomes a microcosm of the broader class struggle, culminating in tragedy and reflection on solidarity, justice, and social inequality. --- Background: The film was inspired by the real-life Hamburg dockworkers’ strike of 1896–97 and produced under the influence of left-wing film organizations in Weimar Germany. Werner Hochbaum, who would later gain recognition as an important realist filmmaker, used *Brüder* to highlight the harsh realities of working-class life. The film combines documentary-like realism with dramatic storytelling, foreshadowing later trends in social realist cinema. Though not widely circulated outside Germany at the time, it remains an important artifact of politically engaged filmmaking during the Weimar Republic. --- Trivia: * The film was financed with the support of labor and socialist organizations rather than traditional studios. * *Brüder* is considered Hochbaum’s breakthrough work and one of the earliest politically motivated German feature films. * Heinrich George, who later became one of Germany’s most famous actors, was cast in a pivotal role. * Long thought lost, the film has survived in partial prints and is studied for its combination of propaganda and human drama. --- Hashtags: \#Brüder1929 #WernerHochbaum #WeimarCinema #SilentFilm #GermanCinema #PoliticalFilm #SocialRealism #FilmHistory