NPO4 will broadcast the beautiful film on 2 February Ganz: How I lost my Beetle from. It is the film adaptation of the book “The Secret of Hitler's Volkswagen”, which was written by investigative journalist Paul Schilperoord. The film has been screened in various cinemas for a while and is now shown to the viewer via the public channel.
De Kever is one of the most built cars of all time. It came on the market in 1938 and was built more than twenty million times. The VW Typ1 needs no further introduction in that regard. However, the maps are different for the history of the beetle. De Kever was commissioned by Adolf Hitler to be designed by Ferdinand Porsche. The large contribution of the Jewish car engineer Josef Ganz was carefully concealed. To this day, that history is still very sensitive within Volkswagen's offices in Wolfsburg, where Ganz's influence is still not recognized.
Taboo in Wolfsburg
Ganz is considered one of the founders of the Beetle concept, but to this day he is not recognized as such by Volkswagen, among others. In Wolfsburg there is still a taboo on the outpourings. However, Paul Schilperoord has shown that the influence of Josef Ganz on the construction of cars has been a determining factor for the people. Schilperoord traveled around the world to finalize his investigation, and built up an intensive ban with Ganz's next of kin. In addition, he made use of a large amount of original archive material. On January 27, 2020, a new book by Paul Schilperoord will be published, this time about the search for Josef Ganz, a process that Schilperoord has been working on for at least fifteen years.
Ganz: Engineer who lost everything
The documentary Ganz: How I Lost My Beetle reconstructs the life story of Josef Ganz (1889-1967). The car engineer and journalist surprised Germany when he appeared in a revolutionary small car, the Maikäfer, in 1932. It was his dream: a light and manoeuvrable car that everyone could afford. Hitler, just in power, shared that ambition. With consequences. The documentary tells the tragic story of the man whose designs and ideas contributed to the invention of the Volkswagen Beetle. Ganz had to flee the Nazi regime, and eventually lost everything.
Restored Standard Superior
Paul Schilperoord is committed to putting the historical efforts of the engineer and Motor Kritik journalist in the right perspective. Special is that Schilperoord has a real Ganz car: the Standard Superior from 1933. It has been restored to perfection and was once found to have been rebuilt and rebuilt. Schilperoord got a breath of it. He bought the Standard, had it restored in Romania and unveiled it together with Lorenz Schmid, a family member of Ganz. In the fall of 2019 he was in Leeuwarden with the unique trolley, that in the Frisian capital during the Wagenfolks Movie Meeting and was shown during CLASSICSNL 2019.
"Fascinating History"
We spoke to Schilperoord several times, and he also announced the arrival of his new book. You still love the interview too much, but everything shows that Schilperoord has not yet finished his search for the background and history of Josef Ganz. “I've been working on its history for years, and only rest when I have the feeling that I know everything. That history is fascinating. And his contribution was really important ”, says Schilperoord, who does not claim that Ganz invented the Beetle. "No, various developments were visible in those years, but Ganz made his contribution and had a major influence on the concept, from which the Beetle later emerged."
Immersive and astonishing
Schilperoord is proud of the film version of Ganz history, which he has brought up. That is understandable, because film producer Suzanne Raes made an impressive documentary, in which the necessary original archive material was also used. The film is not only based on facts, but also gives a wonderful picture of the sensitivity of history, the emotion of the family and the bewildering arrogance with which Wolfsburg downplays the influence of Ganz. How I lost my beetle is a beautiful and complete document that subtly draws every viewer into historical and sensitive events. It is visible how descent, dream and regime forced Ganz's road to success into an escape route.
4 February, 22.20 pm, NPO2
Every enthusiast who did not see the film must switch on NPO4 on Tuesday 22.20 February at 2 pm. And whoever saw the film will no doubt want to see this masterpiece again. It is impressive and a must to be able to appreciate the history of Josef Ganz and the work of Paul Schilperoord.
The beetle is of course the most produced car ever with over 21 million units. Despite frantic attempts by Toyota to give the Corolla that honor: the beetle has of course always remained the same, with the Corolla only the name has remained the same.
For completeness: in place 2 the T-Ford and in place 3 the Renault 4.
Tribute for Mr Schilperoord for his thorough search and beautiful book. Weird that VW is still so popular. And no, the times are (unfortunately) no different. Also read the work of researcher Johann Chapoutot. He shows that after 1945 Nazism lived on for a long time (until now). Also, perhaps correct, at the top of society: directors, directors, nobility and the like.
To the editors:
in the paragraph 'taboo in wolfsburg' it says 'intensive ban with the fam', but that must of course be 'intensive bond'
Thanks for that viewing tip about that Ganz movie. Last week saw a lot of Ganz about an item about streamlined cars in the Louwman Museum.