German sniper Erwin König on way to Stalingrad (Enemy at the Gates)

In the film Enemy at the Gates the Germans send Erwin König-played by Ed Harris-as the head of the Wehrmacht Sniper School. He is sent to Stalingrad to take on the increasingly aggressive Soviet snipers. König is depicted as a ruthless Bavarian aristocrat pitted against Zaytsev.
Erwin König is a name of an apocryphal Wehrmacht sniper allegedly killed by the Soviet sniper Vasily Zaytsev during the Battle of Stalingrad.
König is mentioned both in Zaytsev's memoirs Notes of a Sniper (a "Major Konings", potentially SS) and William Craig's 1973 non-fiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad. He was portrayed by Ed Harris in the 2001 film Enemy at the Gates.
The alleged duel between Zaytsev and König took place over a period of three days in the ruins of Stalingrad.
In a post-war visit to Berlin,Zaytsev was allegedly confronted by a woman who told him she was König's daughter, with Soviet authorities quickly evacuating Zaytsev to avoid any confrontation.
Zaytsev was immortalised in the 2001 war film Enemy at the Gates, which told the story of this battle through Zaytsev’s eyes. The film culminates in a climatic sniper battle between Zaytsev and Major Erwin König, a German sniper, and the director of a Wehrmacht sniper school.
The Armed Forces Museum of Moscow claims to be in possession of König’s telescopic sight, and Zaytsev indicates in his memoirs that a three-day sniper duel did occur, and that the sniper he killed was the head of a sniper school near Berlin.
The tremendous human cost of the battle is difficult to comprehend. The Axis forces (comprised of German, Italian, Romanian and Hungarian troops) suffered 800,000 casualties, the Soviets more than one million. The battle marked the furthest extent of the German advance into the Soviet Union, and is seen by many historians as a key turning point in the war.

[@Vishonov]

Ed Harris would've been a perfect casting choice as Rommel.

[@Szminsky]

Yes, like 20 years ago. He’s 70 years old now, and he’s not getting any younger, unfortunately.

[@Vishonov]

@@Szminsky meant to write "woul'dve been"

[@Mister_Kourkoutas]

Yeah he’s got those icy blue eyes that make him look like the volkish Germanic archetype.

[@aldosam5317]

Absolutely

[@mcbrians.8508]

i recently saw a footage of rommel eating and drinking with his men on the field sometimes with the british commandos they held in captivity

[@Mister_Kourkoutas]

Anytime someone says “this war will be over by Christmas” you know the situation is truly fucked.

[@ricardospaniard9050]

Yep

[@cashewnuttel9054]

No wonder the germans lost, they've got all their tanks parked in their HQ instead of being in the front lines!

[@borarider669]

@@cashewnuttel9054 they froze to death

[@lastword8783]

@@cashewnuttel9054 Nobody puts all their stuff on the front lines.

[@miguelalejandro4357]

@@cashewnuttel9054 Stalingrad was complete in ruins ! Tanks were useless in the totally destroyed city of Stalingrad

[@AColonDashSix]

I like how they actually made the Major ever so slightly human, he mourns the loss of his son.

[@Perkelenaattori]

Except for that bit where he sees the wounded soldiers in the train and pulls the curtains down. That was actually copied from something that Hitler himself did.

[@roryslaine7896]

@@Perkelenaattori Is that meant to be less human though? He's a soldier and has a job to do. I'd say the pulling of the curtain is because he doesn't want to be reminded of his son, not because he's inhumane. My uncle was a firefighter (which I know is completely different than fighting in Stalingrad) but my cousin died of leukaemia when we were like 8. The last thing he would have needed was somebody to remind of his dead son when he was trying to do his job. I get it's a totally different situation but I imagine that's what that feels like. You don't mind death when you're around it and you could die at any minute yourself, but in your down time you probably don't want to see that. I could be totally wrong. It could just be a smug German officer not wanting to look at his injured subordinates. But in that brief scene I always felt there was more there.

[@alexanderg1935]

@Ceo of racism Probably pointless replying to someone with a tag like yours... but for the record, Hitler was infamous for rarely visiting wounded soldiers (with the exception of some carefully choreographed PR shots), nor did he like viewing the photographs.

[@atilca9734]

@@roryslaine7896 it's probably cause those soilders reminded him of his dead son. He didint want to be reminded of that.

[@lufasumafalu5069]

he is not human ?

[@kebab1842]

2:33 when he says "he always managed to lead us to victory" and start the music is very deep. you have the feeling that something will go wrong, something disturbing and horrible is about to happen. gives the idea of ​​what happened, how many deaths there were and the devastating defeat that will lead to the fall of the reich

[@florinivan6907]

I would have rewritten this scene. Instead of meeting Paulus an army general he would be meeting a colonel. He would say 'I'm honestly surprised they sent you for this. After months of requests and being ignored they finally remembered we have a battle here.' It would have emphasised that in the grand scheme of things a couple of snipers no matter how good don't matter as much in a war of millions.

[@spaman7716]

Not only that, but there were several different operations going on simultaneously in the Wehrmacht, so for High Command in Berlin to send a sniper for something so specific would be huge and something that at least got the soldiers talking. But I much rather would have seen what you are describing.

[@MrCarcass1978]

Brilliant point there! I agree. This scene feels a bit forced, the alternative you suggested would have conveyed a better sense of the actual strategic and tactical situation and struggles of the 6th Army.

[@OvidiuCotrus-yz1ih]

Florin Ivan Russia

[@genemed]

For about 2m50s there is absolutely no talk. Only facial expression, poshness of his cabin compared to other cabins, cigarette with golden filters, calm and content movements, etc. Wow, amazing performance by Ed Harris..

[@lufasumafalu5069]

they forgot their lines

[@miguelalejandro4357]

Prussian ….

[@ABAddonfromHeLL]

@@lufasumafalu5069 that’s actually quite cool tho, “you don’t f*ck around with the quiet guy”

[@antitroll890]

He's one of the best actors ever

[@jorgegl3306]

They should have put alpacino

[@Youtuber34744]

Those Wehrmacht uniform are so stylish and good looking...

[@edinscot56789]

Yeah, Hugo Boss designed them: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Boss_(businessman)

[@M1tjakaramazov]

Actually at this point the generals had no trust in Hitler's visions, and hated how it was impossible to talk sense into him. To his unfortunate advantage Hitler had an unfathomable memory of military history, so whenever his generals tried to convince him of the impossibility of some decision, he could bring up some obscure precedent from the past where the tactic he suggested had worked. It made it impossible to argue against him on any level.

[@rokanza2293]

Well he did have a genius level intellect after all

[@Governor2310]

@@rokanza2293 for reciting historical events from a book but not for reading his daily briefs and understanding the gravity of his situation.

[@ivanthemadvandal8435]

Amazing how many of those generals opposed the war....after it was lost

[@Crackshotsteph]

@@ivanthemadvandal8435 Many German Generals opposed Operation Barbarossa due to how big The Soviet Union was, the time frame they were given and the lack of logistics they had to accomplish it. 80 percent of the Wehrmacht were put into that Operation.

[@NoSaysJo]

@@Crackshotsteph nice copium

[@rolfagten857]

The Jeager battalions were generally better trained than the Gebirgsjeagers. Ed Harris has to play for Erwin Rommel one time in his life.

[@panzerivausfg4062]

True, he really looks like him

[@davidgoodenough6450]

Really? Because usually, moutain troops are the toughest and best trained units of their armys.

[@mcbrians.8508]

but they’re so squishy in CoH2. Them Jaegers are used as Recon scouts

[@rolfagten857]

@@mcbrians.8508 Not those Jaeger Meisters again ☺

[@mcbrians.8508]

@@rolfagten857 here kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHfUlGqqZ9FoZ80

[@abominusrex3205]

By the way that uniform fits Ed Harris..I am sure he was a Wehrmacht officer in previous life

[@billlam7756]

That's 1 old ass major lol

[@viejozorro2332]

Fue erwim rommel...

[@billnorman7894]

​@@billlam7756*Old ass Commander Erwin Rommel

[@imtherain]

Love the officers uniform.

[@studybooks3395]

Were designed by Hugo Boss.

[@Psyxic_Crimes]

Makes little men feel powerful.

[@ThePitchblue]

@@Psyxic_Crimes lol yes

[@Psyxic_Crimes]

@Ceo of racism I meant “little” as in their measure of a man, not as in their height, you mental midgit.

[@ThePitchblue]

@Ceo of racism depends on whether you define success through men like Einstein or "men" like Hitler. assuming it's the latter, that type of success is a success of a very little, very frail and weak man. small and deformed in height as much as in spirit and mind.

[@ronnin7623]

Frigging German uniforms...

[@Mr.Hyde_23]

Pretty sweet huh?

[@lordchancellorhatton1910]

the best

[@M1tjakaramazov]

I bet secretly most Hollywood actors would like to play a German officer once in their lives just so they'd have an excuse to wear one...

[@borarider669]

Yeah amazing uniforms they had 👌🏻

[@matthewcaughey8898]

@@borarider669 thank Hugo boss and the M1918 field tunic

[@williamdiedrich3729]

I really like how the actor portraying General (later Field Marshal) Paulus has the twitch in his left eye. Very historically accurate.

[@jmwoods190]

The same actor who played Werner Haase(the physician overseeing the deaths of Hitler & Eva Braun) in Downfall!

[@jmwoods190]

In case nobody noticed, the actor who played Gen. Paulus, Matthias Habich, is also the same actor who played Werner Haase(the physician who saw Hitler & Evan Braun's suicide) in Downfall!

[@mohdibrahim706]

Ed Harris looks so classy in this film wearing German uniforms

[@ramal5708]

Back in the time when the German WWII Army salutes normally unlike in late 44 and the 45 with Heil salute

[@Kommandant4298-ui8jw]

That was due to a decree ordered by Hitler on 24th July 1944 - four days after the July 20 Bomb Plot (Operation: VALKYRIE) - in which the Nazi salute was made mandatory throughout the whole Wehrmacht and to also reswear their loyalty oath to Hitler due to the fact that so many members of the Kreisau Circle were from the Wehrmacht - both active and retired/discharged.

[@apm9151]

“I’ll fix it, so he is the one who finds me”

[@josephadams4500]

Terrible hollywood never made an accurate movie of rommel, with ed harrison playing his part, terrible. 1:18-1:22 there was your rommel

[@Phukugoooglification]

1:44 Ed Harris really bring that uniform out and makes it shine.

[@randomobserver8168]

This was a good movie and Ed Harris did a great job. War of the Rats was a superb book.

[@jermunitz3020]

They definitely won the war of best uniforms.

[@vojtechhavranek1176]

Thanks for providing the interesting historical context in the video description!

[@calvinsuu1949]

The Prussian spirit of militancy is live and strong

[@Basedlocation]

Not in 2022 :/

[@danielbrissenden2555]

Damn, but I would love to try one of Konig's gorgeous cigarettes!

[@cashewnuttel9054]

No! You'll give your self cancer, and if you don't have insurance, the tax payers will have to pay for it.

[@borarider669]

I wonder which brand he smokes ?

[@thomasblampain1530]

WE feel a sort of sadness in the role of Major Koenig.

[@KrustyKrabPizza85]

Just realized the actor playing the General also stars in the movie 'Downfall'.

[@kirumitojo6611]

Who ? Friedrich Paulus ?

[@WhySoSerious551]

Eva Braun

[@LeeRenthlei]

No he didn't.

[@cripplehawk]

He actually played the sickly Doctor Werner Haase in Downfall.

[@zacharycook2674]

Funny that they have general Paulus with a knight's iron cross when he only received his the day before his surrender of Stalingrad from Hitler trying to keep him fighting the battle to the end.

[@stephenmacdonald4443]

The best army in the world reduced to house to house fighting . What a waste

[@piero4706]

Is it me or the music sounds very similar to Avatar?

[@ImagineWagonss]

lol so true!

[@xsparik]

Both Avatar and EATG Composed by James Horner.

[@viejozorro2332]

Este actor deberia interpretar a ERWIN ROMMEL antes de que acabe su carrera, es muy parecido...

[@kevinwong8693]

Ed Harris was born to play any role of a man of authority.

[@donharrington8950]

I got followed by crows walking to the gas station to get cigarettes

[@MegaSina777]

Germans were so cool 😎

[@talkaboutwacky]

His uniform looks so awesome. My goodness the Germans from the bottom up knew how to dress.

[@Phukugoooglification]

Their tailors were Jewish.

[@UbikKaotikOrkestra]

Amazing movie, love it so much.

[@mohdjunedgouri9445]

Bald man should be Vladimir Putin

[@wooning5356]

Travelling to Stalingrad with style....

[@YogiPriaRidlatama]

GERMAN BADASS UNIFORMS 🔥🔥🔥

[@officeandbusiness8056]

necesito comprarme esa cigarrera.... si comprarme esa cigarrera

[@xsparik]

Does anyone know what cigarette lighter is he using? Probably Imperator?

[@israelmasiasflores-qs1hu]

Rommel zorro del desierto 1891 - 1944 libro mi lucha ❤

[@kamalsingh7085]

Epic scene of major koning closing the window and lighting ciggaratte

[@deghihderaman3572]

Best hidup zaman ni. Undang2 rokok tak diwartakan lagi.

[@loisONEILL-r5n]

John Larry Anielwiscz Demjanjuk Pravda True 😮😊😅

[@dextamac1221]

General paulus

[@rioamazoco]

What a crap. No "König", no "Sniper School". Just Zaytsev's lies. Sniping was a detested job for privates in the Wehrmacht.

[@hansluger.8539]

Awesome role and great actor Is Ed Harris..

[@jermaine2396]

My dad doest care about me

[@fanjixie28]

I hope someone will tell me about the brand of cigarettes!?

[@borarider669]

You find it yet ?

[@fanjixie28]

@@borarider669 not yet, did you know?

[@elchino7813]

this man is perfect to cast erwin rommel the famous german general i wonder why they didn't make a film about erwin rommel and cast ed harris

[@jeffreyb8770]

I heard his name was Heinz Thorvald, and he was fat.

[@glenknapke6771]

16 Yrs. Alt Budweiser beer bottle quite a distance w spotter Kev K Lithuanian & Italian pals Northern Michigan near Big Rapids Ferris University

[@jackmehoffe9372]

Sobranie white Russian cigarette

[@M1tjakaramazov]

Sobranie was an English brand, they just made the cigarettes "Russian style" to stand out. Some of them are now prodced in the Ukraine, but unlikely that was the case back then.

[@jackmehoffe9372]

@@M1tjakaramazov I was just saying. I managed to get a pack of black Russians. Very nice ciggies

[@borarider669]

@@jackmehoffe9372 is that the one major könig smokes ?

[@jackmehoffe9372]

@@borarider669 he's on white Russians

[@borarider669]

@@jackmehoffe9372 thanks

[@waynez8136]

same BGM that James used in movie Avatar when human army attacked aliens

[@Steven.K8]

Did they salute in the wrong way ?

[@Legend21for]

No that's a standard military salute they did the nazi salute after Hitler assassination attempt so it's mandatory

[@Steven.K8]

@@Legend21for so all other movies are wrong? Why did the nazi changed their salute after an attempt on Hitler’s life ? When did they change it exactly ? I think there are many attempts to kill hitler, which attempt prompted them to change their salute ? Can’t wait to learn history

[@Legend21for]

@@Steven.K8 during 1944, after Operation Valkyrie failed

[@Steven.K8]

@@Legend21for and the reason for changing the salute ?

[@Legend21for]

@@Steven.K8 To show that their still loyal to Hitler

[@EngPheniks]

It's beautiful to know that regular soldiers of the Wehrmacht also gave the normal military salute. I was expecting here the standard Nazi salute of raising up high the right hand.

[@jmoney1309]

Most Wermacht personnel were against the "heil Hitler" salute and gave the regular salute until July 1944 when Hitler made it mandatory after the assassination attempt on his life

[@vivekshivdasani9521]

I to have a silver cigarette case just like that one

[@LoudaroundLincoln]

Why do people always try and make the battle of Stalingrad about the egos of a couple of dictators? There where sound military reasons for trying to take the city. Other than its industry, it was an obstacle for getting to the Caucasus oil fields. The Germans get over the Caucasus mountains and what then? With enough men and resources they could perhaps reach the Middle East and the Iranian and Iraqi oil fields. The British in Egypt and Libya then have to really worry.

[@tonymanero5544]

The 6th Army was unprepared for Winter warfare and short of food and supplies. 300,000 troops couldn’t be fed, equipment frozen and short of fuel or burning fuel to keep from freezing, and no ammo. Luftwaffe air dropped supplies were pitiful. A request to fall back to a more defensible position was denied. So when the Soviets attacked with fresh troops, they quickly pierced the German lines and ended up at von Paulus’ HQ building, and at that basis, he and his staff presented themselves as prisoners (or shooting at the Soviets meant they were going to drop artillery or tank fire on the place or at least fire back).

[@donharrington8950]

If I'm gonna be damned then I'd rather be damned with you meatloaf

[@hestunugroho4523]

Love you very much sniper. God bless you very much always and forever Erwin Conig general sniper.

[@thanosrabbit]

Can someone please tell me what Ciggs the german uses??

[@edwardlik7776]

Abartig, wie er dargestellt wurde. Ich bezweifle solche Verachtung!

[@mohammedragab6505]

Achtung, Durchfahrt Sonderzug 200 Stalingrad.

[@igoramambai7650]

Belos uniformes,belo exército tinham os alemães.

[@SD_91]

Nazis have best uniform.. badass indeed

[@Phukugoooglification]

They had Jewish tailors.

[@desiachar]

chills

[@edwardlik7776]

Kein Sinn die Mützen abzusetzen und schlimmer, kein Grund!

[@Uncas258]

Gott mit Uns!

[@dr.lennartlichtenstein4298]

0:40 = 1:39 = 2:43

[@RJ_MacReady]

He can't even be bothered to look at wounded soldiers. Shows he is an elitist.

[@victordonavon292]

More like he had already lost his son not too long ago, he has a job to do, and he doesn't need the mental disbalance that comes with being reminded too much about the son he lost. So you might want to look in the mirror to see who's the "elitist" one. Hey your diction, not mine.

[@RJ_MacReady]

@@teddiemack8071 No it shows he has no respect for those he views beneath him.

[@RJ_MacReady]

@@teddiemack8071Yes as I said he is an elitist.

[@weazels]

@@teddiemack8071precisely this man is a solider elitists are by definition cowards and incapable

[@otten5666]

@@RJ_MacReady Some people are hunters and some are nurses.

[@ridwanhusainishraq]

Lack of sharpshooter and cruel russian winter led to failure to sieze stalingrad

[@dannycassinellibarac9993]

Lots of mediocre who never decide anything on their lives and then go envying everything and everyone around. Don't take responsibility of themselves and blame all but themselves. Like little childs in elderly body's. Both, the German and the Russian, both were great. Each one with its own background. Both were great. Outcome is decided in seconds and depend on many factors. Like collective timing and personal timing. Larger forces opening path for this earthly puppet walking this planet.

[@sroevukasroevuka]

And stalin returned the favor to berlin.

[@Alamj618]

2:37 i think the little movement of the head of the major is totally disagree. He lost her son, he doesn’t trust hitler anymore but he can not say that, and he knows that they will not win stalingrad battle….

[@gehteuchnichtsan5650]

German sniper Erwin König . And then start talks english ? Wie wärs wenn ich mitten im Gespräch einfach Deutsch rede ? Wo is da die Logik ?

[@ravenheer]

Erwin König never exist. Its fictional.

[@jewwhovotedfornaziparty]

1:23 i love how they salute each other with the soldier salute instead of the famous salute. because they're the Wehrmacht not SS. They're fighting for the Vaterland with honour,hope and strenght. They're not psychos who trained by the Reich to kill armless and innocent people for insane idologies.

[@tonylewis6995]

To further your military history, the Wehrmacht were also a part of the well oiled slaughtering machine. I direct you to the Crimes of the Wehrmacht, its on youtube, in about 6 parts. They were complicit in the slaughtering of civilians as any other unit in the German Army.

[@tonylewis6995]

Does your name make you big and tough does it ???

[@НиколаЂорђевић-ъ9с]

Yeah, they weren`t SS, they were worse.

[@A1171-w3u]

@@НиколаЂорђевић-ъ9с not true in the slightest, they are both far from innocent, but the SS is far worse, that’s like saying every Soviet corporal is a hardened NKVD executioner

[@A1171-w3u]

@@tonylewis6995 true but a slight grammatical error, the Wehrmacht is the term for the German military as a whole, including the Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy), and Luftwaffe (Air Force), so the German army is part of the Wehrmacht not the other way around, but yes, all branches of the Wehrmacht answered to hitler, carried out his will (begrudgingly or not) whether they liked it or not, and aided the SS in their pursuit of general plan ost, and the Holocaust

[@Hungarianbuttbabyy]

The Germans were so much more civilized. Smarter, all around better culture. The American, and British folk have infinitely more in common with them than the awful Russians. Churchill was a drunk, bankrupt war monger. We made a mistake.

[@jackbrodelle2494]

Hitler made a mistake when he planned to invade Russia. Uk and France would speak German today.

[@arvindghoghari3908]

Ya ,so much civilised ,they give two world war they give 100 million death(ww1 and two Combined)

[@ArnoldTohtFan]

but the majority of our people still haven't figured that out, and I don't think they ever will. the intensity of the brainwashing, and the amount of information that has been kept from them, is simply too great.