Diederich Heßling is a typical Prussian subject of pre-World War I Germany: he is blindly loyal to Kaiser Wilhelm II and deeply admires him, supports extreme nationalist policies and his country's militaristic tradition and claims to be an honorable, just person.
When Heßling unveils a monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I before his city's dignitaries, he carries a speech in which he announces that Germany cannot prosper in peace, but can only achieve glory on the battlefield.
Heinrich Mann's satirical novel der Untertan, with its attack on Wilhelmine conservatism, was held in high esteem by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany; it was entered into the schools' curriculum, and the cultural establishment viewed it as vital for re-educating the populace.
[4][5] Director Wolfgang Staudte first suggested adapting the novel to the screen in 1946; while visiting London for the premiere of The Murderers Are Among Us, he was approached by a local critic, Hans H. Wollenberg, who told him he should direct a picture based on the book.
[12] While working on the film, Staudte was almost completely exempt from interference by state censors: the establishment regarded the picture as highly important, and did not subject it to the demands of the Anti-formalism campaign which began in the GDR at the time.
[19] Der Spiegel claimed it was "a supposedly a-political film, that is actually intended to raise public opinion in the West against the Federal Republic, in order to disrupt its rearmament.
[25] Stephen Brockmann commented: "Heßling's tyrannical behavior towards his subordinates... and slavish worship of authority figures... is presented as typical to the German bourgeoisie and a major factor in Germany's descent into barbarism.
"[26] Ulrike Wekel concluded that der Untertan also attacked - "intentionally or not" - the "functionaries' methods and blind obedience of the SED state", while that its censure in West Germany made the audience there understand that this mentality was still widespread in their country as well.