Skip to content
Poster for Ernst Thälmann – Son of the Working Class
DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme

Ernst Thälmann – Son of the Working Class

1954 124 min German NR
Wubly rating 6.6 IMDb rating 6.3

This film is the first of a two-part historical and biographical portrait of the communist politician and anti-fascist Ernst Thälmann. In early November 1918, Ernst Thälmann is an unwilling soldier serving on the western front. As the revolutionary movement at home is threatened by the betrayal of the Social Democrats and fissures in the working class, Thälmann calls on his fellow soldiers to put down their weapons and unite with the workers in the communist struggle at home. Thälmann’s qualms about which side he is fighting on continue, but when the local police attempt to prevent a shipment of provisions and supplies from reaching the people in Petrograd, he intervenes and the ship is unloaded. With this moment of clarity, Thälmann continues to follow his political convictions and joins the workers at the Hamburg uprising in October 1923.

Where to watch

Not streaming anywhere

Not on any streaming service in United States, and not available to rent.

Your rating

Your review

Part of Ernst Thälmann Collection

2 films

Cast

82 people

Kurt Maetzig Director · Michael Tschesno-Hell Writer

First release March 9, 1954 · Produced in XG · Languages German, Russian

Production

D

DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme

Production

D

DEFA

Production

XG

Produced in

Languages

Original title

Ernst Thälmann - Sohn seiner Klasse

Original language

German

Spoken on screen

German · Russian

Release dates

Germany · March 9, 1954

Theatrical

No release date listed for United States.

Czechia

July 29, 1956 · Karlovy Vary Film Festival

Hungary

November 4, 1954

Poland

October 27, 1956 · TV premiere

Russia

January 24, 1955 · Theatrical

XC

October 7, 1954 · TV · ČST

October 8, 1954 · Theatrical

More from Kurt Maetzig

See all

If you liked Ernst Thälmann – Son of the Working Class

Some details come from TheTVDB.

Share

wubly

Track it on Wubly

Wubly is invitation-only during the beta. Join the waitlist and we'll email you an invitation.

Have an invitation? Sign up

You're offline

Recently viewed pages still work. Your changes save locally and sync when you're back.

Back online · syncing