Der Polizeistaatsbesuch - Beobachtungen unter deutschen Gastgebern (1967)

The Swiss documentary filmmaker Roman Brodmann initially takes a slightly ironic look at the preparations for the state visit. In Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a hotel is getting ready for the distinguished guests. Dances are rehearsed, and the most talented actor in town practices a speech while dressed in a suit of armor. Security measures are extreme. A fleet of police motorcycles rehearses the Shah’s arrival with the only Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman in town. On May 27, 1967, the Shah and his wife, Farah Diba, land at Cologne/Bonn Airport and are welcomed by Federal President Heinrich Lübke, Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Foreign Minister Willy Brandt, and an honor guard from the Guard Battalion of the Federal Ministry of Defense. That evening, Heinrich Lübke hosts a gala reception for the Persian guests at Villa Hammerschmidt. Distinguished guests from West Germany’s highest circles arrive proudly and bask in the Shah and his wife’s reflected glory. Pahlavi appears in a white full-dress uniform. Over the following days, the state guests visit the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, a steelworks belonging to August Thyssen-Hütte in Duisburg, the SOS Children’s Village in Dießen am Ammersee, and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. The motorway is closed to traffic heading toward the visit, while cars pile up on the opposite carriageway. The highlight of the trip is to be a visit to West Berlin. There, students at the Free University are preparing to protest the visit. To loud applause, Bahman Nirumand speaks in the Audimax about conditions in his homeland. On June 2, students and onlookers gather outside Schöneberg Town Hall. Before the Shah arrives, a coach carrying the so-called “jubilation Persians” pulls up. When the Shah arrives, a noisy clash breaks out between protesting students and cheering Persians. After the Shah enters the town hall, the Persians attack the students with truncheons and wooden clubs. The police initially keep their distance. When mounted police finally appear, the students at first applaud them, but soon realize that the police are acting only against the students. The Persians are able to board buses for a city tour without being harassed. On the evening of June 2, protests continue outside the German Opera. While the Shah is inside the opera house, a large police force attacks the students. Police Chief Duensing’s so-called “liverwurst tactic” is put into practice. Suddenly, a shot rings out. Student Benno Ohnesorg lies mortally wounded on the ground in a courtyard on Krumme Straße in Charlottenburg. A young passerby bends over him and is berated by a police officer. The protests then continue on Kurfürstendamm. Another student is injured and taken away in an ambulance. The next day, the final day of his trip through Germany, the Shah travels on to Lübeck. He listens to an organ concert at St. Mary’s Church and is bid farewell at Lübeck Town Hall by Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister-President, Helmut Lemke. Lemke compares the recent histories of Iran and Germany and concludes that the two countries are very similar in their efforts to build a modern state.