Hochwasser in Wetzlar 1920 [Archivtitel]

The Flood of Wetzlar 1920

The Wetzlar Flood Disaster of 1920. The film shows the old Lahn Bridge at high water and a view from the bridge down the river. The street Am Mühlgraben is flooded. In the Langgasse, people carry each other so that they don't get dirty. In front of the house "Goldenes Ross", which used to be an inn, there are boats. Ernst Leitz I. stayed at "Goldenes Ross" when he came to Wetzlar. There is also a photograph of the flood of 1920, which Oskar Barnack took with the first Leica.

Since the 1910s, Oskar Barnack, the inventor of the Leica, has 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.