Born in 1902 in Velbert in the Rhineland, Günther Weisenborn founded the “Bergische Spielgemeinschaft” at the age of 16, tried to study medicine after graduating from high school, but quickly switched to German and philosophy, became an assistant dramaturge at the Bonn City Theater and wrote his first plays, including."U-Boot S 4” (1926), an anti-war play that premiered in four theaters. He moved to Berlin and worked with Piscator, Eisler and Brecht. His plays “Mother” and Why is Frau Balsam laughing" triggered violent scandals and riots. Some of his works were banned and he continue to write under pseudonyms. In 1935, his best-known novel, “The Girl from Fanö”, was published. In 1936, Weisenborn went to the USA for a short time, met the pilot lieutenant Harro Schulze-Boysen after his return in Berlin and began to work in his resistance group with illegal flyer work against the Nazi regime. From 1941, as the work of the resisters intensified, he also worked as chief dramaturge at the Berlin Schiller Theater and head of the Nazi cultural editorial team on radio. In 1942 Günther and his wife Joy were arrested by the Gestapo. They were tried for high treason and were sentenced to prison. Günther suffered tough conditions in Luckau prison, where he was liberated by the Red Army at the end of April 1945. His wife Joy, a singer originally from Wuppertal, was also sentenced to prison for her work in the Schulze-Boysen group, but was released in 1943 to her former apartment at 10 Bayreuther Strasse.
President Kennedy in summer 1963 stood on the city hall steps seen in this film and delivered his famous"Ich bin ein Berline" [I am a Berliner] cold war speech.
Guenter Weisenborn kept a diary from this day. The Rote Kapelle, or Red Orchestra, was what the Gestapo called the group of German artists, intellectuals, and bureaucrats (almost half of them women) who resisted Nazi oppressors. They printed and distributed prohibited leaflets, posters, and stickers in Germany hoping to incite civil disobedience, aided Jews and resistance members to escape the regime, documented Nazi atrocities, and transmitted military intelligence to the Allies. For more information, refer to the USHMM Holocaust Encyclopedia article on"Resistance inside German" at https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/resistance-inside-germany.
January 25, 1941 wedding of Günther Weisenborn and Margarethe (Joy) Schnable in Berlin. Günther and Joy belonged to the important German resistance group labeled"Rote Kapell" [Red Orchestra] by the Gestapo. Both were later arrested and survived only with great fortune. Resistance members pictured in the film include Harro Schulze-Boysen and his wife Libertas, the actress Marta Husemann, and famous publisher Ernst Rowohlt. The film opens with a hand-drawn title: “Hochzeit in Schoeneberg”. Horse-drawn carriage with driver. Günther and Joy seated. Berlin street scenes - street cars, tall buildings, pedestrians. At city hall in Berlin-Schöneberg, a sign with the coat of arms of the Free State of Prussia reads"Preußisches Standesamt Berlin-Schöneber" [Prussian marriage license bureau] . Deliberate shot of a German sign on building with a bird in flight. Camera follows the newly married couple and their guests from the city building where the marriage ceremony took place to a car. Wedding program handwritten in German: “Margrit und Günther Weisenborn”. 01:37 Hand-drawn title: “Hochzeitsfeirer im Famlilienkreis“ Reception with food, drinks, wedding cake, decorative table setting. Women in fancy dresses, men in tuxedos, military uniforms, suits and ties. Eating, drinking, speeches, talking, dancing, Accordion player. Titles: 01:02:30 Welcome sign at reception. 01:02:50 Hand-drawn image of man in top hat climbing ladder to the sun, bed in bottom right of frame, with German caption. Second illustration of a door (German caption) and filled suitcase. 01:03:18 Title with welcome sign and stairs to liquor bottles, hearts. Final two frames illustrated by hand with two hearts with doves. Last frame: Cupid with “Ende”.
Wedding of Red Orchestra resistance members