The Film about the Funeral of Kurt Eisner, 26 February 1919

The funerary ceremonies for Prime Minister Kurt Eisner (1867-1919), who had been murdered a few days earlier, took place in Munich on 26 February 1919. They were held by a funerary commission in the Foreign Office similarly to a state funeral. The day was declared a national day of mourning and all companies remained shut.

The event attracted a great deal of media attention. Many recordings were taken of the funerary procession, including the two films shown here in one document, which were subsequently shown in Munich cinemas. The copies of the films were donated to the Munich City Archive by cinema operator Carl Gabriel (1857-1931) in 1924.

The films document the great funerary procession that led from Theresienwiese through Munich's city centre to the Ostfriedhof (Eastern Cemetery). A total of almost 100,000 people were present as participants or spectators. Diverse groups, including representatives of Munich regiments (02:57), Russian prisoners of war (03:16) and trade unionists with their flags (03:27), took part in the funerary procession. Miners from Penzberg and Peißenberg also sent delegations to Munich (07:32). The procession ended at St. Martins-Platz in Giesing (11:30), where obsequies (12:49) were delivered. Among the speakers was the soldier's councillor Fritz Schröder (1891-1937).

To the film