Film

Darkness Fell on Gotenhafen

1960 · 1h 39m · Drama · War

IMDb

6.8

The film depicts the first month of 1945 when the Russian Red Army broke into the eastern part of Germany and forced millions of civilians to flee in the coldest of winter. While the Russians invaded Ostpreussen hundred of thousands of civilians were evacuated by ships. Gotenhafen was the last open port and ships left the town almost by the minute, overloaded by refugees. One of the last ships to leave Gotenhafen was the 'Wilhelm Gustloff', a former 'Kraft durch Freude' pleasure cruiser designed for 1000 passengers. Until today it is unknown how many people were on board but it is said to be around 10.000. The ship sunk without a trace and only a handful of people survived this hellish nightmare.

Sonja Ziemann

Maria Reiser

Gunnar Möller

Kurt Reiser

Erik Schumann

Hans Schott

Brigitte Horney

Generalin von Reuss

Mady Rahl

Edith Marquardt

Wolfgang Preiss

Dr. Beck

Erich Dunskus

Vater Marquardt

Willy Maertens

Vater Reiser

Tatjana Bokan

Dienstmädchen Marta

Dietmar Schönherr

Gaston

Günter Pfitzmann

Oberleutnant Dankel

Günther Ungeheuer

Arzt

Karl-Heinz Kreienbaum

Funker der Gustloff

Carl Lange

Kapitän Zahn

Carla Hagen

Monika

• Frank WisbarDirector · Writer
• Victor SchullerWriter
• Martha DübberEditor

Release date

February 25, 1960

Status

Released

Original language

German

Runtime

1h 39m

Genres

Drama, War