Pankoff. Ein gesamtdeutsches Stück
Pankoff. An All-German Affair![](/media/filmstills/2016/retrospektive/201602803_1_RWD_1380.jpg)
Source: Filmmuseum Potsdam, © DEFA-Stiftung/Hans-Eberhard Leupold
![](/media/filmstills/2016/retrospektive/201602803_1_RWD_1380.jpg)
Harry Hornig (r.) bei den Dreharbeiten/Harry Hornig (r.) during the shoot
Pankoff. Ein gesamtdeutsches Stück | Pankoff. An All-German Affair by Harry Hornig
DDR 1965, Retrospective
Source: Filmmuseum Potsdam, © DEFA-Stiftung/Hans-Eberhard Leupold
A satirical montage. In the 1950s and 60s, West German politicians commonly used East Berlin’s Pankow district as a synonym for the political leadership of East Germany. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, calling it “Pankoff” in a parody of a Russian accent, scorned it as a Soviet-run “zone regime”. The film combines street interviews with (uninformed) West Germans with scenes from the district. Footage of a men’s choir, a folk festival and an open-air swimming pool are evidence of carefree normality – “come, let’s go to Pankow, it’s lovely there!”.