Culver City,
California
x
Urlaub 1960 in der Ober-Lausitz/Der Oybin/Aufstieg durch die Ritterschlucht
Maker: Hoffman Family
Date Made: 1960
Country: German Democratic Republic
Materials: 8mm; silent; b&w
Duration: 17:15
Collection/Series: Hoffman Home Movie Collection
Accession Number: 2009.032.019
Home movie of a family vacation in East Germany. Animated title cards reads “Urlaub 1960 in der Ober-Lausitz/Der Oybin /Aufstieg durch die Ritterschlucht” (Vacation 1960 in Upper Lusitania/Mount Oybin/Ascent through the Knight’s Gorge). Mother and son on steps in narrow mountain gorge; camera pans up to show bridge spanning above it. TITLE CARD: “Ausblick von der Burg” (View from the castle); views of forested mountain slopes and rock formations. Mother, daughter, and son in castle and/or church ruin. TITLE CARD: “Auf zugiger Höhe” (At a drafty height); mother, son, and daughter with wind-blown hair and mountains in background. Detail of stone gothic arch ruins. Father, in sunglasses, poses with daughter and son, mugging for camera. TITLE CARD: “Abstieg” (Descent); mother and daughter walk down wooden steps towards camera. TITLE CARD: “Zittau”; views of city hall, clock-shaped topiary, the Petri-Pauli-Kirche or Klosterkirche of Zittau (church and abbey of St. Peter and Paul), clock tower. TITLE CARD: “Schirgiswalde”; view of baroque church “Mariä Himmelfahrt”. TITLE CARD: “Kraxelei auf den Kälbersteinen” (Scrambling on Kälbersteine mountain). Family clambers across rocky outcroppings. TITLE CARD: “Auf dem Bieleboh” (On Bieleboh Mountain); mother, daughter, and son in front of Bieleboh lookout tower with other tourists. TITLE CARD: “Achtung äsendes Wild!” (Beware grazing wild game!); two deer graze in field then run into woods. TITLE CARD: “In Weifa bei Hensels” (In Weifa at the Hensels’); mother in flower print dress with kitten on lap; daughter, holding yarn, plays with kitten and gondola-shaped basket. TITLE CARD: “Burg Stolpen” (Stolpen Castle). Clock tower and church; Stolpen castle grounds with tourists; stone cross relief carving inlaid in earth; daughter, son, and mother investigate ruins. Pentagonal embrasure (opening) with cannon, seen from inside of castle wall. Close-up of sign: “Johannisturm (Coselturm) Erbaut 1509/ Bis 1742 Bollwerk der Festung, später Wohnsitz der Gräfin Cosel.” (Johannis Tower [Cosel Tower] built 1509/ Until 1742 rampart of the fortress, later the residence of the Countess of Cosel). View of castle wall; sign: “Schöfferturm 1476-1487/ Amtssitz des Burgschöffers/ früher 11 [14?] Stock höher” (Schöffer Tower 1476-1487 Official residence of the Schöffers/ earlier 11 [14? illegible] stories higher). Stone relief carving of crest flanked by two knights in armor; round tower; father stands under stone archway, walks towards camera. TITLE CARD: “Johnsdorf.” Rock formations; short single-frame or pixilated sequence ends with father, daughter, and son posing on rocks. Father pokes daughter with cane as they climb. Views of rock formations and forest glades; mother’s head appears briefly at bottom of frame; daughter and son appear to search for something inside a bush. TITLE CARD: “Moritzburg”; view of Moritzburg Castle entrance, statue. TITLE CARD: “ENDE” (THE END).