and Neustettin. To film scenes with snow during summer, 100 railway wagons brought salt to the set in Pomerania. The film was finally completed at the Babelsberg Studios at Potsdam while the town and nearby Berlin were being steadily bombed by the Allies. Two extras were killed during the making of the film when an explosive charge went off too early. Release The film opened on 30 January 1945 in a temporary cinema (U.T. Alexanderplatz) and at Tauentzien-Palast in Berlin, and ran under constant threat of air raids until the fall of Berlin to Soviet forces in May 1945. Simultaneously with the opening in Berlin it was shown to the crew of the naval base at La Rochelle at the Théâtre de la Ville. It was also screened in the Reich Chancellery after the broadcast of Hitler's last radio address on 30 January. One of the last films of the Third Reich, it never went into general release. The city of Kolberg was declared a Festung ("fortress town") as Soviet forces neared it on 24 February 1945. Within a month of the film's opening Kolberg was under full siege (sometimes called the "Second Siege" or "Second Battle" of Kolberg), with around 70,000 trapped German civilians and military personnel. House-to-house fighting caused devastation. Kolberg fell to Soviet and Polish forces on 18 March 1945. Many civilians escaped by sea, and those who survived were permanently expelled along with all Germans in east Pomerania. The ruined city of Kolberg became part of Poland and is now known as Kołobrzeg. The film was re-released in 1965, with an attached documentary, and is now available on DVD. In Germany, it is a Vorbehaltsfilm ("reservation film"), available for screening from the holder of the rights (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation) only under special conditions. See also List of German films 1933–1945 Nazism and cinema References Notes Bibliography External links 1945 films 1940s historical films German historical films German epic films Films of Nazi Germany 1940s German-language films Films directed by Veit Harlan Films based on biographies Films set in Prussia Films set in 1806 Films set in 1807 Films set in 1813 Napoleonic Wars films Nazi propaganda films Siege films War epic films Kołobrzeg Censored films UFA GmbH films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios Cultural depictions of Napoleon Films set in Vienna