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| “ | I'm a father. My baby was born today. In Frankfurt. Five hours ago. His name is Max. We were in here drinking, celebrating. They're the ones that came in shooting and killing. It's not my fault! | „ |
| ~ Wilhelm tells Aldo what happened in the tavern. |
Wilhelm is a minor antagonist in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds.
He was a young master-sergeant in the Wehrmacht, celebrating his son’s birth in a tavern that becomes a focal point in the film’s fourth chapter. A fan of German actress Bridget Von Hammersmark, he was portrayed as an inebriated and patriotic soldier who asked constant questions of the imposter German soldiers (actually spies from the Basterds) which led to Gestapo Major Dietier Hellstrom joining their table.
He was portrayed by Alexander Fehling.
Biography[]
Wilhelm is introduced in Chapter Four – Operation Kino as a 28-year-old Wehrmacht sergeant celebrating the birth of his baby boy, Maximilian, in a tavern in the French village of Nadine. Joined by four of his mates, Wilhelm is drunk and in very high spirits. Also at the tavern is famous German actress and undercover British ally Bridget von Hammersmark, who joins the nearby soldiers in a game of “Who Am I?”
When the disguised Basterds—Lt. Archie Hicox, Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz, and Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki—arrive at the tavern for a formal rendezvous with von Hammersmark, Wilhelm and his friends quickly stand to salute the supposed officers. Later on, a heavily intoxicated Wilhelm approaches the Basterds’ table to request an autograph from von Hammersmark. Proud of his new fatherhood, he tells everyone he’ll hang this treasured autograph in his son’s bedroom and praises Bridget as the greatest actress in the world.
However, Wilhelm sits closer and becomes increasingly intrusive. As he first toasts, he drunkenly spills beer on Hicox's arm, who brushes it off, to avoid drawing unwanted attention. He asks Bridget why she’s in France and won’t leave their table until Hicox, with a suspicious accent, orders him away. Wilhelm then questioned Hicox where his accent is from and a back and forth began before the interaction drew attention from the alluring Dietier Hellstrom. Though Hellstrom let Wilhelm be hauled away by friends, the confrontation contributes to Hellstrom’s eventual discovery that the Basterds are impostors.
When a gunfight finally erupts between the Basterds and the Germans, Wilhelm rapidly grabs an MP40 and opens fire, killing most of those in the tavern, one of them ironically a German soldier.. The only survivors are Wilhelm himself, Bridget (badly injured), and the Basterds upstairs.
As Aldo Raine and the remaining Basterds prepare to descend into the shot up tavern, Wilhelm shouts from below, demanding to know who they are. Aldo responds, "We're Americans!" and Wilhelm angrily identifies himself as German. Aldo tries to negotiate a truce: he’ll take Bridget and leave if Wilhelm drops his gun. Bridget pleads with Wilhelm to think of his newborn son. Eventually, Wilhelm lowers his weapon and allows Aldo to enter—but before anything can be resolved, he shouts at the Basterds to take "that f***ing traitor away" (Bridget) and she repeatedly shoots him dead with Hicox’s discarded pistol.
Later, Wilhelm's bloodied signed napkin becomes a crucial clue for Colonel Hans Landa, who uses it to expose von Hammersmark’s betrayal—leading to her eventual death.
Personality[]
Wilhelm is portrayed as a loyal, passionate non commissioned officer—young, nationalistic, and devoted to his family. His pride in fatherhood makes him sympathetic, but his behavior quickly becomes reckless and boorish due to his heavy consumption of alcohol. He's pushy, emotional, and unable to read the tension in the room caused by questioning "German" officers, contributing to a drastic chain of events. He is also shown to be a ladies man as he tells a French girl (same one he accidentally shoots) to come over and play the game with them at their table. In light of this though, he still calls Bridget a "wh*re" in German when keeping her as a hostage.
Despite not being inherently evil, Wilhelm is still a cog in the Nazi war machine, ready to kill for the Reich and defend his homeland against traitors, even if they are actresses he once loved. His actions show a man torn between his new role as a father and his loyalty to his country—ultimately choosing the latter, but there's no way to tell if he could have ever survived the finality of the tavern shootout. He also lashes out at von Hammersmark with verbal abuse and threats, calling her a traitor and nearly jeopardizing her civilized hostage situation. Though he hesitates for his son’s sake, it's too little, too late, as he becomes another victim of the Basterds total war.
Trivia[]
- In Quentin Tarantino's original script, Wilhelm survived being shot and ends up in a hospital. There, he reveals to Hans Landa that von Hammersmark was a spy.
- Wilhelm is also a recipient of the infantry assault badge and the 2nd class Iron cross which implies he was a very esteemed infantry soldier and has seen intense frontline combat and earned his place in the military through steadfast action.
- Von Hammersmark’s decision to shoot Wilhelm was not out of cruelty, but self-preservation—she feared he would expose her true identity if left alive, and he insulted her as a traitor as well.
- Wilhelm’s final contribution to the plot is posthumous: the autograph napkin he received from von Hammersmark becomes the smoking gun that leads to her downfall.
