Before They Were Stars: Werner Herzog Directs “The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz”

Since we recently devoted an entire Shouts From the Back Row podcast to the eccentric career of Werner Herzog, I’ve decided to post one of his earliest short films. In 1967, Herzog directed The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz, a satire about four men breaking into an abandoned castle which was used for a battle during World War II and waging a war with a group of farmers. Unfortunately, there are no English subtitles available for the German voice-over narration, but thankfully, that’s the only form of dialogue in the entire film.