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German History in Documents and Images
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Film Poster for Die Halbstarken [The Rowdies] (1956)
Die Halbstarken was one of the greatest commercial successes of postwar West German cinema. Its star, Horst Buchholz, was seen as Germany's answer to James Dean. The film dealt with juvenile criminality and the ability of a paternalistic West German society to assert itself in the face of a burgeoning alternative youth culture and the growing Americanization of the Federal Republic. This photograph shows advertisements for Die Halbstarken featuring Buchholz and Karin Baal, at the Filmtheater am Lenbachplatz in Munich. Photo by Felicitas Timpe.