LGM Film Club, Part 509: Norwegian Forestry, 1920s

After all these years here at LGM, I’ve discovered that what really drives comments is a combination of silent film and logging and so here is some footage of logging near Bergen, Norway, in the 1920s. At least I think–there’s no real attribution to this film. There’s a disclaimer at the YouTube site that this is Nazi propaganda, but I don’t think that’s right. First, there’s nothing propagandistic to it. Second, it’s a silent film and why would Nazi-occupied Norway produce a silent film? So I think it’s just some logging footage. It’s definitely German though and to be honest, my knowledge of German symbology, including that of the Nazis, is not very good (there are other things in the world to know) so I leave it to you all to figure that part out in the initial German titles to start the film.

In any case, it’s really pretty interesting because you get a great look at the working ways of a hard industry in the middle of winter. Tell you one thing, I wouldn’t want to be one of those guys bobsledding down an icy track on a sleigh of timber.