The Styrian film pioneer Fritz Muchitsch, son of the long-serving mayor of Graz Vinzenz Muchitsch, produced films in the 1920s with his company ‘Werbelicht’, mainly on behalf of the municipality of Graz. His biggest project was the ‘Grazer Stadtfilm’, a comprehensive film documentation of Graz city life in the 1920s.
This early promotional film probably premiered at Theaterkino on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the City of Graz in 1928. The film presents ‘Red Graz’, the achievements of the municipality whose political institutions were not only progressive for the time.
The highly flammable and chemically unstable 35mm nitrate film with a length of around 6,000 metres was stored in its own tunnel, yet it was considered lost for a long time. By chance, Fritz Muchitsch himself found parts of the film at a flea market, bought it and donated it to the Multimedia Collections in 1986. In order to ensure the long-term preservation of this valuable filmic heritage, the nitrate film fragments were copied onto modern carrier materials in the 1990s - the originals are now stored in the nitrate film depot of the Filmarchiv Austria.
The following film fragments from the ‘Grazer Stadtfilm’ can be seen in the exhibition depot of the Museum of History:
‘The construction work of the municipality of Graz’ (detail)
Werbelicht – Werbefilmabteilung der Grazer Freilichtspiele
Client: Municipality of Graz, c. 1926–1928
35mm, s/w and tinted, silent, 15´42˝
‘Municipal fire brigade’ (fragment)
Werbelicht – Werbefilmabteilung der Grazer Freilichtspiele
Client: Municipality of Graz, c. 1926–1928
35mm, s/w and tinted, silent, 6´22˝
‘The Welfare of the Youth Welfare Office of the Municipality of Graz’ (fragment)
Production: Werbelicht – Werbefilmabteilung der Grazer Freilichtspiele
Client: Municipality of Graz
35mm, s/w and tinted, silent, c. 1926–1928, 11´59˝
