1954: The Era of Heimatfilme (Homeland Films)

The 1950s represent the most successful phase of Austrian Heimatfilme. If “Der Hofrat Geiger” (1947) was still influenced by the genre of “Wiener Film”, then a new model was created with “Echo der Berge” (1954, in West Germany: “Der Förster vom Silberwald”) around which numerous films would orient themselves. The great era of this film genre ended in the mid-1960s.

The portrayal of nature as a central element of the genre, constructed, on the one hand, the image of an idyllic, healthy country life – a backdrop for conformist, traditional behaviour. On the other hand, these films were meant as tourist advertisements. Seldom were these films more than just superficial entertainment that avoided political statements and suppressed the immediate past since filmmakers in particular had frequently been in close relationships with the Nazi regime. Although social hierarchy was depicted, it was not questioned. Mainstream conventional behaviour was awarded, while anything out of the ordinary was the “foreigner” or the “evil doer”, although the actors were one-dimensional in any case. In its time period, the Heimatfilm represented a closed world view based on the tradition of regionalist literature of the late 19th century.