| Wilhelm Kranz | |
|---|---|
|
Name |
Wilhelm Kranz |
|
Occupation |
Peter's dad |
|
Known for |
Trying to get his kid back |
|
Nicknames |
Pete's dad |
|
Played by |
|
Wilhelm Kranz is a former German soldier, who lost his left arm, possibly in WWI. He is the father of Peter Kranz and husband of Dorothee Kranz, in Downfall.
Role in Downfall[]
Wilhelm is first seen approaching a flak nest manned by a few Hitler Youth soldiers. There he tries to get his son back home, only to be refused. He confronts the HJ lieutenant and Inge, telling them that their position is a trap. He shouts that the war is lost. Hearing this, his son runs away. He asks them one last time to give up and departs.
He returns home where he has an argument with his wife. He points to his missing left hand, telling her that he does not wish for his son to suffer the same fate. His wife tells him that Peter wanted to join the Youth, that he wanted to defend himself. When Wilhelm shouts that the Führer has gone insane Peter, who was in the door step, calls him a coward and flees. Wilhelm vainly tries to stop him.
When Peter enters a ruined building, he finds his parents there among other people. He gives them some bread and tells them he must go. Wilhelm tries to stop him, but another soldier, possibly a Greifkommando, tells him to stop. Wilhelm confronts him, and it is only the intervention of another soldier that prevents things from escalating.
Later, when Peter returns home, Wilhelm is on the stairs waiting. He hugs him, telling him that it's alright. When Dorothee tells him that he has fever, Wilhelm says that at least he is alive. He smiles to her.
After Peter hears Weidling's cease fire announcement, he runs home where he finds his mother shot and his father hanged, by a Greifkommando group that just exited his house.
He was played by Karl Kranzkowski.
In Downfall Parodies[]
Wilhelm appears in few parodies, mostly in the scene with the Hitler Youth. In many parodies, he is pointing out various problems the Youth characters face. In Hitler Vs Justin Bieber Fans, for example, he criticises the UBFA for the lack of weapons to fight against Hitler.
In KakashiBallZ's parody Hitler and Friends Explain How to Make a Hitler Parody, he is Hitler Rants Parodies himself, where he criticises a handful of aspiring Hitler parody makers and pointing out how they screw up their parodies.
In Joster285's series, The Console Wars, he is depicted as a retro Nintendo gamer who criticized a group of Nintendo fans who are trying to buy the Wii U for picking a poser (Inge) to join their group. In the extended version of the parody he plays a slightly bigger role, such as ranting about Inge while speaking to Dorothee and having a brief argument with a military FPS fanboy.
Trivia[]
- Just like his wife Dorothee his son Peter, Inge Dombrowski, Tellermann and Stehr, Wilhelm is a fictional character in Downfall.
- The scenes where he has an argument with his wife and when he is in the ruined building are included only in the Extended Edition.
- The actor potraying Wilhelm is also playing Adolf Hitler in the final scene of the movie "White Tiger".