Movies/Shows in Early Modern Germany
Films and television shows set in pre-20th century (i.e. before 1900) Germanic Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc.). Organized alphabetically.
List activity
964 views
• 10 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
89 titles
- DirectorSven TaddickenStarsRonald ZehrfeldMatthias SchweighöferOliver BröckerEast Fresia 1401: era of feared sea pirates Klaus Störtebeker and Gödeke Michels is coming to an end.12 Paces Without a Head (German: Zwölf Meter ohne Kopf) is a 2009 film set in the North Sea in 1401. The film centers on the German folk hero Klaus Störtebeker, who was a pirate at the time. The title comes from a legend which asserts that when he was captured by the Hanseatic League, he struck a deal with his captors that every one of his men whom he could walk past after being decapitated, would be let go. Störtebeker's body allegedly managed to make twelve paces before collapsing.
- DirectorJosef von BákyStarsHans AlbersWilhelm BendowMichael BohnenThis lavish, impudent, adult fairy tale takes the viewer from 18th-century Braunschweig to St. Petersburg, Constantinople, Venice, and then to the moon using ingenious special effects, stunning location shooting.The film opens at an 18th-century ball, where Baron Hieronymus von Münchhausen is propositioned by a young woman who is engaged to another man. He graciously rejects her advance, and as she leaves, she asks him to turn on the light. The camera follows his hand to a modern light switch, and the young woman drives off in an automobile. The next day, the Baron, out of his costume and in modern dress, regales two of his guests with stories of the famous Baron Münchhausen, to whom his guests think he is distantly related.
- DirectorHerbert MaischStarsValy ArnheimPaul DahlkePeter ElsholtzBiopic on famous architect Andreas Schlüter who built the Berlin Stadtschloss for Frederick I of Prussia during the 18th century. Directed by Herbert Maisch.
- DirectorJames BauerStarsMaly DelschaftWerner PittschauJulia SerdaAnne-Liese of Dessau (German:Die Anne-Liese von Dessau) is a 1925 German silent historical film directed by James Bauer and starring Maly Delschaft, Werner Pittschau and Julia Serda. It portrays the life of Anna Louise Föhse in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsF. Murray AbrahamTom HulceElizabeth BerridgeThe life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsRyan O'NealMarisa BerensonPatrick MageeAn Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.Barry Lyndon is a 1975 British-American period drama film by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray. It stars Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Leonard Rossiter and Hardy Krüger. The film recounts the early exploits and later unraveling of a fictional 18th-century Irish rogue and opportunist who fights in the Seven Years' War in Germany.
- DirectorHelma Sanders-BrahmsStarsMartina GedeckPascal GreggoryMalik ZidiA look at the lives of 19th-century composers Clara and Robert Schumann.Geliebte Clara ("Beloved Clara") is a Franco-German-Hungarian 2008 film, directed by Helma Sanders-Brahms about the pianist Clara Schumann and her marriage with the composer Robert Schumann.
- DirectorWolfgang LiebeneinerStarsEmil JanningsMargarete SchönChristian KayßlerA sequel to 1940's "Bismarck", Bismarck is dismissed by an under-pressure Wilhelm II. Then the treaty with Russia is in peril as the leader is left with the dilemma of who could complete Bismarck's work.Showing the growing estrangement between Emperor Wilhelm II and Reichskanzler Otto von Bismarck, Bismark's dismissal in Berlin in March 1890 and the intrigues by Geheimrat von Holstein from Auswärtiges Amt. Directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner.
- DirectorWolfgang SchleifStarsHans QuestIlse SteppatAlexander EngelA biography of Johann Friedrich Böttger, who in 1709 invented the first white porcelain in Europe. The apprentice apothecary and assistant to a "gold producer" fled from the Prussian King - into Saxony. But there he finds King Frederick August the Strong after him: the young man is told to produce gold for the king, and is thus brought to a fortress and equipped with everything he would need for the task. Naturally, Böttger has known for a while that actual gold production is a myth and instead experiments with porcelain; it should be as white as it is in China, he figures. Once he finally succeeds in surprising the King with the "white gold," he vainly hopes for freedom... a tragic error.Die blauen Schwerter is an East German film. It was released in 1949, and is set in the early 18th century.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsMatt DamonHeath LedgerMonica BellucciWill and Jake Grimm are traveling con-artists who encounter a genuine fairy-tale curse which requires true courage instead of their usual bogus exorcisms.The Brothers Grimm is a 2005 adventure fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam. The film stars Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, and Lena Headey in an exaggerated and fictitious portrait of the Brothers Grimm as traveling con-artists in French-occupied Germany, during the early 19th century. However, the brothers eventually encounter a genuine fairy tale curse which requires real courage instead of their usual bogus exorcisms.
- DirectorKarl RitterStarsMathias WiemanCarsta LöckAndrews EngelmannDuring the 18th century's Seven-Year War, a group of young Prussian army cadets are captured by Russian soldiers. After enduring brutal treatment, the cadets come up with a plan to escape their captors and make their way back to their lines.Cadets (German: Kadetten) is a 1939 German historical war film directed by Karl Ritter and starring Mathias Wieman, Carsta Löck and Andrews Engelmann. The film is set in 1760, against the backdrop of the Austro-Russian Raid on Berlin during the Seven Years' War. It depicts a group of Prussian cadets holding off superior Russian forces.
- CreatorSabine Thor-WiedemannJakob HeinChristine OttoStarsAlicia von RittbergMala EmdeNina GummichThe series describes the accomplishments of several famous German physicians and scientists at the prestigious Charité hospital in Berlin during its history.
- DirectorCarl FroelichWalter SupperArzén von CserépyStarsOtto GebührOlga TschechowaElga BrinkThe story of the rise to power of King Frederick II (aka "Frederick the Great") of Prussia of his military campaigns to make Prussia a major power in Europe.Der Choral von Leuthen (The Hymn of Leuthen) was a 1933 German film depicting Frederick the Great, directed by Carl Froelich. The film was loosely based on the novel Fridericus by Walter von Molo. It presented Frederick as an inspired leader.
- DirectorFritz KortnerMarcel OphülsStarsKrista KellerFriedhelm PtokThomas HoltzmannClavigo is a 1970s television movie directed by Marcel Ophüls, based on the play Clavigo by Goethe. The movie is the film version of a play staged and directed by Fritz Kortner. This play premiered 1969 im Deutschen Schauspielhaus, Hamburg, Germany. It was first acclaimed at the Berliner Theatertreffen 1970. The story is set in the 1760s.
- DirectorJerzy AntczakStarsJadwiga BaranskaMariusz DmochowskiStanislaw Jasiukiewicz"The Countess Cosel" is based on the true story of the beautiful Anna Constantia von Brockdorff, a German noblewoman who became mistress of Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony in 1704. Against the backdrop of life at Augustus' court the movie follows the arrival at Dresden of 24-year-old Anna Constantia von Brockdorff, who is an inordinately beautiful and scrupulously devout young married woman; her romance with the king and her "ten year reign" as his mistress - a role she consents to in the belief that she has won the king's love and commitment; and finally, her heartbreak, disillusion and struggle against him. The conflict between Anna and the king arises from the fact that Anna takes seriously not only the relationship, but the written promise of marriage which she manages to secure from him during their courtship. Neither the relationship nor the contract is held in much esteem by Augustus, who replaces her, as he has always done, with another mistress, as soon as she loses for him the charm of novelty. Her valiant refusal to return the marriage promissory note upon request enrages him and delivers her to her miserable fate.Hrabina Cosel (The Countess Cosel) is a 1968 Polish film directed by Jerzy Antczak. The film is based on Józef Ignacy Kraszewski’s novel Hrabina Cosel, a historical romance set in the court of Augustus the Strong, the first of the two Saxon kings of Poland, at the turn of the 17th to 18th century.
- DirectorE.W. EmoStarsPaul HörbigerMichael BohnenAuguste PünkösdyBeloved Augustin (German: Der liebe Augustin) is a 1940 historical film directed by E.W. Emo and starring Paul Hörbiger, Michael Bohnen and Hilde Weissner. The story is set in Vienna, Austria in the 1680s.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsKeith CarradineHarvey KeitelAlbert FinneyFrance, 1801. Due to a minor perceived slight, mild-mannered Lieutenant d'Hubert is forced into a duel with hot-headed irrational Lieutenant Feraud. The disagreement ultimately results in scores of duels spanning several years.A 1977 British historical film set in early 19th century Germany, following the conflict between Lieutenant Gabriel Feraud and Lieutenant Armand d'Hubert as they duel across Germany during the Napoleonic Wars.
- DirectorKarl-Heinz StrouxStarsHorst CasparHeidemarie HatheyerPaul KlingerThe infatuated young Werther (Horst Caspar) meets in a village at a festivity the beautiful Lotte (Heidemarie Hatheyer) and falls in love with her. But Lotte is already engaged. Werther realizes that his love is hopeless and leaves. When he returns, Lotte is yet married but unhappy. Again their love flames up, which leads to a very deep despair of Werther. Finally he chooses suicide.Encounter with Werther (German:Begegnung mit Werther) is a 1949 West German drama film directed by Karl-Heinz Stroux and starring Horst Caspar, Heidemarie Hatheyer and Paul Klinger. The book was set around the writing of the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsBruno S.Walter LadengastBrigitte MiraA young man named Kaspar Hauser suddenly appears in Nuremberg in 1828, barely able to talk or walk, and bearing a strange note.The film follows Kaspar Hauser, who lived the first seventeen years of his life chained in a tiny cellar with only a toy horse to occupy his time, devoid of all human contact except for a man, wearing a black overcoat and top hat, who feeds him. One day, in 1828, the same man takes Hauser out of his cell, teaches him a few phrases, and how to walk, before leaving him in the town of Nuremberg. Hauser becomes the subject of much curiosity, and is exhibited in a circus before being rescued by Professor Georg Friedrich Daumer, who patiently attempts to transform him.
- Die Entscheidung des Tilman Riemenschneider is a 1954 East German television film written by Hermann Rodigast about the medieval wood carver Tilman Riemenschneider.
- CreatorJohn ElliotStarsMichael HordernCharles KayBarry FosterThe collapse of three great European dynasties: the Romanovs, the Habsburgs, and the Hohenzollerns.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGösta EkmanEmil JanningsCamilla HornThe demon Mephisto wagers with God that he can corrupt a mortal man's soul.
- DirectorAleksandr SokurovStarsJohannes ZeilerAnton AdasinskyIsolda DychaukA despairing scholar sells his soul to Satan in exchange for one night with a beautiful young woman.Faust is a 2011 Russian film directed by Alexander Sokurov. Set in the 19th century, it is a free interpretation of the Faust legend and its respective literary adaptations by both Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as well as Thomas Mann. The dialogue is in German. The film won the Golden Lion at the 68th Venice International Film Festival. At the 2012 Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards the film was awarded the prizes for Best Film, Best Director (Alexander Sokurov), Best Script (Yuri Arabov) and Best Male Supporting Actor (Anton Adasinsky).
- DirectorGustav UcickyStarsOtto GebührRenate MüllerHans RehmannThe story of the rise to power of King Frederick II (aka Frederick the Great) of Prussia and his military campaigns to make Prussia a major power in Europe.The Flute Concert of Sanssouci (German: Das Flötenkonzert von Sans-souci) is a 1930 German drama film directed by Gustav Ucicky and starring Otto Gebühr.[1] It was part of the popular cycle of Prussian films.
- DirectorHans SchweikartStarsKäthe GoldEwald BalserFita BenkhoffThe Girl from Barnhelm (German:Das Fräulein von Barnhelm) is a 1940 German historical comedy film directed by Hans Schweikart and starring Käthe Gold, Ewald Balser and Fita Benkhoff. It is an adaptation of the 1767 play Minna von Barnhelm by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.