Maria Braun: A Woman With Choices
By Megan Sheely

"The Marriage of Maria Braun" was a film about a woman with choices. She had the choice of how she wanted to rebuild her life. She could have waited around for something to drop on her lap in a country that was in the process of reconstruction, but she chose not to. She was not a liar, but brutally honest. Maria Braun should not only be accepted for the things she did, but should be respected for why she did them.

As we learned through reading and discussion, Germans of the post-war era were less concerned with politics than they were with trying to rework their lives around Germany’s defeat. Women were running the social and occupational aspects of German life and men were trying to adjust. It was a completely different country with completely different values than the pre-war generations. They had to be different, they had no choice.

Maria Braun was no exception to the changing social system. Married to her husband for only one day and one night, she was told that he had died in battle. She did what she felt she had to do to keep herself and her loved ones alive; she worked in a bar as a companion to the U.S. soldiers. This was quite possibly not the most respected job in the market, but it paid. She took care of her family, who was, at the time, very important to her. This also shows that working in the bar didn’t decrease her sense of moral responsibility.

In working her way to the top and becoming the strong, self-sufficient woman she was, she represented Germany and the trials and tribulation Germany faced while struggling to rebuild after devastation. She struggled with money, power, and race/gender issues. Her affair with and murder of Bill, the U.S. soldier, represented the people’s loyalty to Germany and the German culture. She kills him after her German husband, who served in the war, returns home. She is, in a sense, sleeping with both the enemy and the hero, for the U.S. helped to reconstruct parts of the country.

The film deals with the outer reconstruction of Germany and also the inner reconstruction of Maria. There was always some kind of outside noise, such as the radio, jackhammers, and the television. In the beginning of the film, the radio was listing the soldiers missing or killed in the war, symbolizing the period of grief that Germany went through. During the middle portion of the film, there were the noises of construction and rebuilding, demonstrating the reconstruction of, not only the buildings, but also the government. In the last, and possibly one the most important scene of the film, the Olympic soccer game was on the television. This game symbolized the achievement and power that Germany had regained.

Symbolism can be found, not only in the visual aspects of the film, but in the characters as well. If one looks closely at the names of the two lead characters, one can discover Fassbinder’s intentions. He purposely used names with meaning to symbolize Germany. The name Herman Braun, when one separates the different parts of the words, is very symbolic of the Nazi era. Herr, meaning mister, and Man, meaning man, is a very strong name, symbolizing the strength of the soldiers. Braun alludes to the "brown shirts", or Nazi soldiers. Maria Braun also holds special meaning in Germany’s history. Maria is being used in the biblical sense, meaning Holy Mother, or the Virgin Mary. While the last name Braun in Herman’s name symbolizes the Nazi party, Eva Braun was one of Hitler’s many lovers during that period.

Maria Braun was not a woman to be looked down upon. She was a woman to be admired and revered for her ability to become strong and independent. Many women of that time period were doing the same things that the character did, but received no recognition for their work. Fassbinder, the director, created this film to give credit to those women who Germany owes much gratitude for rebuilding their demolished nation.
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Works Cited
Esa, Mohamed. In-class discussion and class notes. http://wwwfac.wmdc.edu/German/German1125/index.html
The Marriage of Maria Braun. Directed by R.W. Fassbinder, Germany 1978.