Ruderregatta (1914)

Rowing Regatta (Imperial Regatta)

Documentation of the International Regatta of the Frankfurter Regatta-Verein e.V. on 31 May/1 June 1914 at Deutschherrnkai in Frankfurt am Main. The film shows races around the Kaiser Vier with the boats Grasshopper Zürich (number 2), Offenbach RG Undine (number 1), Mainzer RV (number 1, far right in the picture) on the Main passing the Osthafen on the river Main; Mainz wins. The referee with a white cap and the regatta committee in a white boat. Excerpts from other races: Club prize in coxed four and double scull.

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.