Introduction

If the decision to surround Ruttmann with party loyalists for the making of Blut und Boden did stem from any suspicion of an eminent Weimar modernist, that suspicion was short-lived. Almost immediately after the completion of BLUT UND BODEN, Darré's Stabsamt des Reichsbauernführers rehired Ruttmann, this time as principal director, for a short cultural film entitled ALTGERMANISCHE BAUERNKULTUR (ANCIENT GERMANIC AGRARIAN CULTURE). Premiering on 14 April 1934 in a closed screening attended by Darré, Himmler and several other prominent figures from the Stabsamt des Reichsbauernführers and the Reichsnährstand, the film went on to play in the preliminary program (Vorprogramm) at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo before touring German theaters the same year. Employing several Weimar actors – most notably Fritz Rasp who had played in dozens of big-budget films, including a stint in Fritz Lang's Metropolis as the “Thin Man” – it told the story of a devoted member of the Hitler Youth (Claus) who defends the honor of the ancient Germanic people when a liberal professor (“Dr. Sandmann”) depicts them as savages and nomadic peoples without a sedentary culture. Among other things, the film was notable for its interactive format. In a variation on the “prize contest” format often used in advertising films, in which audiences were prompted to solve a riddle or engage in some other similar activity, Ruttmann had the student address the spectators directly at the end of the film, calling on them to contribute to the propaganda campaign by sending in letters to the Reichsbauernführer:

In contrast to traditional prize films – for example the Viennese film WO SIND DIE MILLIONEN? (WHERE ARE THE MILLIONS?, 1925), which was combined with a contest to win a bicycle – ALTGERMANISCHE BAUERNKULTUR did not invite its audience to win anything.