{ "id": "epq72rkwx8", "slug": "der-schatz-im-silbersee", "title": "Der Schatz im Silbersee", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "label": "Action and adventure films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980", "label": "Westerns before 1980", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980.yr-1961-1979", "label": "Released 1961 to 1979", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980.yr-1961-1979" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000: Action and adventure films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "label": "Action and adventure films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Der Schatz im Silbersee (The Treasure of Silver Lake; Blago u srebrnom jezeru) is Harald Reinl's 1962 Karl May Western with Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand and Pierre Brice as Winnetou, the first and most successful Karl-May film, grossing 6.4 million DM.", "snippet": "Der Schatz im Silbersee (The Treasure of Silver Lake; Blago u srebrnom jezeru) is Harald Reinl's 1962 Karl May Western with Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand and Pierre Brice as Winnetou, the first and most successful Karl-May film, grossing 6.4 million DM.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.westerns-before-1980.yr-1961-1979", "markdown": "# Der Schatz im Silbersee\n\n**Der Schatz im Silbersee** (The Treasure of Silver Lake) is a 1962 Western adventure film directed by Harald Reinl, produced by Horst Wendlandt for Rialto Film, and based on [Karl May](https://www.edgepedia.org/karl-may)'s 1894 novella of the same title. It was the first of the Karl May films of the 1960s and became the highest-grossing German film of its season, launching one of the most successful film series in West German cinema.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89) • [2](https://www.rialtofilm.de/silbers.htm) • [3](https://hoerspielforscher.de/artikel/karl_may/europa_silbersee.php?ep=2§=production)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Premiere | 12 December 1962, Universum cinema, Stuttgart[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89) |\n| Production | Rialto Film (Berlin/Hamburg) with Jadran Film (Zagreb) and S.N.C. (Paris); producer Horst Wendlandt[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89) |\n| Budget | 3.5 million D-Mark, the most expensive West German postwar film to that date[4](https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html) |\n| Shooting | Croatia (then Yugoslavia), 6 August to 6 October 1962[2](https://www.rialtofilm.de/silbers.htm) |\n| Format | 35 mm CinemaScope (1:2.35), Eastmancolor; original length 3027 m, 111 minutes[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89) |\n| Box office | 6.4 million D-Mark; top-grossing film of the 1962/63 season in German cinemas[4](https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html) • [2](https://www.rialtofilm.de/silbers.htm) |\n| Honors | Prädikat \"wertvoll\"; Goldene Leinwand and Bambi, both 1964[2](https://www.rialtofilm.de/silbers.htm) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe story follows the white trapper [Old Shatterhand](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-shatterhand) and his [blood brother](https://www.edgepedia.org/blood-brother), the Apache chief Winnetou, as they pursue a gang of treasure hunters led by the unscrupulous Colonel Cornel Brinkley. Brinkley has murdered the settler Engel, who carried one half of a treasure map showing the way to a legendary Indian treasure hidden in a cave at Silver Lake; the other half is kept on the Patterson farm, which the gang then attacks, kidnapping Patterson and his daughter Ellen.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89) • [5](https://www.3sat.de/film/spielfilm/der-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html)\n\nThe young Fred Engel, the murdered man's son, joins Winnetou and Old Shatterhand in the pursuit, together with the comic companions Sam Hawkens and Gunstick Uncle. On the hunt for the treasure, Brinkley succeeds in stirring up the Ute Indians against the heroes; only after a duel between Old Shatterhand and the Ute chief is the war axe buried and the pursuit continued to Silver Lake itself.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89) In the finale, the treasure and the villain plunge irretrievably into the depths of a cave, while Fred Engel escapes death thanks to his friends.[4](https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html) A noted set piece departs from Western convention: Brinkley's henchmen are put to flight not by the cavalry but by well-disposed indigenous fighters.[6](https://www.dhm.de/zeughauskino/vorfuehrung/default-title-14462/)\n\n## Production\n\nProducer Horst Wendlandt, whose [Edgar Wallace](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgar-wallace) crime films were already box-office hits, saw Karl May's novels about Winnetou and Old Shatterhand as his next commercial prospect. Fidelity to the books interested him less than modern action for a young audience; the screenplay by Harald G. Petersson was assembled from several of May's Wild West stories.[4](https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html) The film rights contract for the novel and the Winnetou trilogy was signed in January 1962 between the parties Barthel, Philipsen, and Joachim Schmid of the Bamberg publisher family Schmid for the Karl-May-Verlag.[7](https://christophhartung.de/index.php?page=harald-reinl-der-schatz-im-silbersee-lex-barker-pierre-brice)\n\n**Casting.** For Old Shatterhand, Wendlandt chose the American Lex Barker, known for playing Tarzan, who received 120,000 marks for the role. The 23-year-old Götz George was engaged as co-star for 40,000 marks. Finding a convincing Winnetou took longer: at the 1962 Berlinale closing ball Wendlandt noticed the Frenchman Pierre Brice at a neighboring table, and after protracted negotiations persuaded him to take the laconic, dialogue-light role of the Apache chief.[4](https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html) The supporting cast included [Herbert Lom](https://www.edgepedia.org/herbert-lom) as the villainous Colonel Brinkley, Karin Dor as Ellen Patterson, Marianne Hoppe as Mrs. Butler, Eddi Arent as Lord Castlepool, and Ralf Wolter as Sam Hawkens.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89)\n\n**Locations and crew.** With a budget of 3.5 million D-Mark the film was the most expensive West German postwar production to that point, and it was shot in Croatia between 6 August and 6 October 1962.[4](https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html) • [2](https://www.rialtofilm.de/silbers.htm) Cinematographer Ernst W. Kalinke captured dynamic [CinemaScope](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinemascope) panoramas of the Yugoslav landscape, and Martin Böttcher composed the score, which one critic after the premiere credited with half the film's success.[6](https://www.dhm.de/zeughauskino/vorfuehrung/default-title-14462/) • [8](https://www.filmdienst.de/film/details/28234/der-schatz-im-silbersee) The German censor (FSK) passed the film on 7 December 1962 for audiences aged 12 and up; later home-video releases were rated from age 6.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89) • [9](https://www.spio-fsk.de/?FGID=5161&Vers=1&seitid=2737&tid=469)\n\n## Reception and box office\n\nThe premiere on 12 December 1962 in [Stuttgart](https://www.edgepedia.org/stuttgart) became a triumph; the crowd was so large that Pierre Brice escaped the theater only in a borrowed police uniform.[4](https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html) With box-office takings of 6.4 million D-Mark the film became the most successful film in Germany of 1962, and it was the top-grossing film of the 1962/63 season in German cinemas.[4](https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html) • [2](https://www.rialtofilm.de/silbers.htm) filmportal.de records it as the commercially most successful German film of 1963, and it received the Goldene Leinwand and a Bambi in 1964.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89) • [2](https://www.rialtofilm.de/silbers.htm) The German film review board (Filmbewertungsstelle) initially refused the highest rating, but this did not stop the film's popular success.[10](https://www.dhm.de/assets/Zeughauskino/Bilder/Programmarchiv/Programmhefte/2012/ZHK_Prog_2012_1_Jan-M%C3%A4rz.pdf)\n\nCritics noted that the film did not attempt to copy American Western formulas. Rather, Reinl and his team invented their own Wild West in the Croatian landscape, with dynamic scope cinematography and Böttcher's epic themes; the Deutsches Historisches Museum's program called the result the beginning of popular-cinema history.[6](https://www.dhm.de/zeughauskino/vorfuehrung/default-title-14462/) The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote in January 1963 that Reinl, in the Yugoslav substitute landscape with an international cast, had succeeded in catching up with his Hollywood Western colleagues.[11](https://www.dhm.de/archiv/kino/karl_may.html)\n\n## Significance\n\nThe film's success set off the Karl-May film wave of the 1960s. Within a short time numerous further adaptations followed, produced above all by Rialto Film under Wendlandt and by Artur Brauner's CCC Filmkunst, including *Winnetou I–III* (1963–1965).[5](https://www.3sat.de/film/spielfilm/der-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html) • [12](https://www.goethe.de/prj/geg/de/thm/flm/27212657.html) Scholars of the Eurowestern credit the film with kicking off a Europe-wide wave of Westerns produced by European studios for European audiences.[13](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=osu1682084257474459&disposition=inline) The pairing of Pierre Brice as a morally elevated \"noble savage\" and [Lex Barker](https://www.edgepedia.org/lex-barker) as a German mediator between cultures found enormous appeal in postwar [West Germany](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-germany) and shaped the West German image of the West, even as the New German Film movement that arose with the Oberhausen Manifesto of 1962 stripped the genre of cultural prestige within a few years.[12](https://www.goethe.de/prj/geg/de/thm/flm/27212657.html)\n\nThe film has remained in circulation. A digitized version of 101 minutes was re-released in German cinemas on 14 December 2022, and a Blu-ray mediabook followed from LEONINE; the German dubbing record lists 21 speaking roles for the Ultra-Film Synchron studio in Berlin.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89) • [14](https://www.filmportal.de/node/24871/availability) • [15](https://www.synchronkartei.de/film/2824) The source novel also inspired other adaptations, including the DEFA puppet-animated film *Die Spur führt zum Silbersee* (1985–1989, premiere 1990).[16](https://www.defa-stiftung.de/en/films/film-search/die-spur-fuehrt-zum-silbersee/)\n\n## Versions\n\nThe original theatrical version ran 111 minutes (3027 m); Rialto's own records give 110 minutes, later cut to 106 minutes, and the 2022 digital restoration runs 101 minutes.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89) • [2](https://www.rialtofilm.de/silbers.htm) Foreign titles include *Le trésor du lac d'argent* (French) and *Blago u srebrnom jezeru* (Yugoslav).[1](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Der Schatz im Silbersee, filmportal.de (Deutsches Filminstitut)](https://www.filmportal.de/film/der-schatz-im-silbersee_6d6757dfa66a4e418d85cd27f5fd8f89)\n2. [\"Der Schatz im Silbersee\", Rialto Film GmbH](https://www.rialtofilm.de/silbers.htm)\n3. [Karl May: Der Schatz im Silbersee, Die Hörspielforscher](https://hoerspielforscher.de/artikel/karl_may/europa_silbersee.php?ep=2§=production)\n4. [Stichtag, 12. Dezember 1962: \"Der Schatz im Silbersee\" wird uraufgeführt, WDR](https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html)\n5. [Der Schatz im Silbersee, 3sat-Mediathek](https://www.3sat.de/film/spielfilm/der-schatz-im-silbersee-100.html)\n6. [Der Schatz im Silbersee, Zeughauskino, Deutsches Historisches Museum](https://www.dhm.de/zeughauskino/vorfuehrung/default-title-14462/)\n7. [Christoph Hartung über den Film \"Der Schatz im Silbersee\"](https://christophhartung.de/index.php?page=harald-reinl-der-schatz-im-silbersee-lex-barker-pierre-brice)\n8. [Der Schatz im Silbersee, Filmdienst](https://www.filmdienst.de/film/details/28234/der-schatz-im-silbersee)\n9. [FSK-Freigabebegründungen: Der Schatz im Silbersee, SPIO](https://www.spio-fsk.de/?FGID=5161&Vers=1&seitid=2737&tid=469)\n10. [Europas Western, Zeughauskino Programmheft 2012/1, Deutsches Historisches Museum](https://www.dhm.de/assets/Zeughauskino/Bilder/Programmarchiv/Programmhefte/2012/ZHK_Prog_2012_1_Jan-M%C3%A4rz.pdf)\n11. [Karl May im Kino, Deutsches Historisches Museum](https://www.dhm.de/archiv/kino/karl_may.html)\n12. [Von Helden und Anti-Helden, Goethe-Institut](https://www.goethe.de/prj/geg/de/thm/flm/27212657.html)\n13. [The Indianerfilm: Cinematic and Literary Roots, OhioLINK ETD](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=osu1682084257474459&disposition=inline)\n14. [Verfügbarkeit: Der Schatz im Silbersee, filmportal.de](https://www.filmportal.de/node/24871/availability)\n15. [Deutsche Synchronkartei: Der Schatz im Silbersee](https://www.synchronkartei.de/film/2824)\n16. [Filmdetails: Die Spur führt zum Silbersee, DEFA-Stiftung](https://www.defa-stiftung.de/en/films/film-search/die-spur-fuehrt-zum-silbersee/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Westerns before 1980 › Released 1961 to 1979*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/der-schatz-im-silbersee", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/der-schatz-im-silbersee.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Der Schatz im Silbersee\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/der-schatz-im-silbersee. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Der Schatz im Silbersee](https://www.edgepedia.org/der-schatz-im-silbersee)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/der-schatz-im-silbersee](https://www.edgepedia.org/der-schatz-im-silbersee). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Der Schatz im Silbersee\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/der-schatz-im-silbersee. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Der Schatz im Silbersee is Harald Reinl's 1962 Karl May Western with Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand and Pierre Brice as Winnetou, the first and most successful Karl-May film, grossing 6.4 million DM." }