Ochsenfest / Tierschaufest in Wetzlar 2. und 3. Juli 1914

Summary

Documentation of the Wetzlar Festival. Floats with the seasons of rural life passing by, footage of the Wetzlar Cathedral Square and Kornmarkt. Other floats: Wittenberg traditional costumes and the float of the "Union-Club", an association famous for its choir, which still exists today. Animals are lined up on the "Finsterloh" fairground near Büblingshausen to be judged by a jury (in the background). On the stands the haute volee of Wetzlar of that time. There are two versions of this film, which was later edited, shortened and newly set to music by Paul Görnert: The image quality of the longer version is worse.

Since the 1910s, Oskar Barnack, the inventor of the Leica, had captured events around Wetzlar on film with his self-constructed film camera. He documented flood disasters, city festivals, medical experiments, sporting events and the company where he was employed as chief designer: the Optical Works Ernst Leitz in Wetzlar. His films form the basis of a film archive in which local history has the same place as the effects of great historical events.