Based on a novel that is itself based on the true story of Otto and Elise Hampel, on whom "Otto and Annna Quangel" are based.
The book that Anna Quangel looks at while cleaning, that she and her husband gave their son for Christmas 1938, was written by H. Barkhausen and is titled "Lehrbuch der Elektronen-Röhren und ihre technischen Anwendungen - 4.Band: Gleichrichter und Empfänger" (Textbook on Electronic Valves and Tubes and how to use them Vol. 4: Rectifiers and Receivers). It was published in Leipzig in 1937 by the Hirzel Verlag publishing house.
A copy of "Das vergessene Dorf" by Theodor Kröger can be seen on the Quangels' bookshelves.
In 2001, shortly before her death, a journalist asked Hildegard Knef to give him a list of her five favorite movies. This one was on it.