Theodor Storm

Walpurgis Night

Lovesick, a young maiden summons heavens and hell for aid, but only the devil hears her.

Der Schimmelreiter

German-Polish adaptation of Theodor Storm's novella.

Am grauen Strand, am grauen Meer

An adaptation of Theodor Storm's novella "Hans and Heinz Kirch".

The Rainmaker

The Germanic pagan deity, The Rainmaker, has fallen asleep, causing widespread drought and poverty. A young couple, Andreas and Maren must trick an old goblin into leading them to the magic garden of The Rainmaker and wake her up.

John Glückstadt

Adapted from the novel Die Döppelgänger by Theodor Storm, this black-and-white drama tells the tragic story of a war veteran who, in 1860, returns to his home in Schleswig Holstein after serving a term for robbery. There he finds nothing but hardship and rejection, save from the town's mayor and a young servant girl, whom he marries. Ridiculed and abused, with practically no work, he turns to drink and one night accidentally kills his wife. The child of their marriage is taken away from him, and at this point he is left with the options of becoming a robber, starving to death, or emigrating.

Was die Schwalbe sang

After high school the lover's Ursula and Gerhard paths part: she stays in the small town, while he attends university in Hamburg to become a composer. While she remains faithful to their love, he forgets more and more about her when he becomes successful as song writer for the famous singer Dahl. Disappointed, Ursula turns to Gerhard's former friend Peter.

Pole Poppenspäler

On his travels, Paul, a journeyman from northern Germany, runs into a childhood friend, Lisei, a puppeteer's daughter. They fall in love and get married. Together with Lisei's father, the young couple moves to Paul's hometown. Although Paul himself is accepted - even respected - by the stuck-up and snooty citizens, the young woman is rejected by the town dwellers, who are imbued with class arrogance. Paul stands up for his wife but the scorn and abuse heaped on her weigh heavily upon him.

Immensee

A man and a woman struggle to stifle their love for each other, even after he moves away to travel the world and she marries a suitor.

The Little Haverman

A mother tells her demanding little boy a story to make him fall asleep.

Serenade

The violin virtuoso Ferdinand Lohner is lonely and depressed after the death of his wife. But then he gets to know the much younger Irene and forgets all about his dead wife, marrying the young tart soon after. Irene moves into the house in the mountains, where Ferdinand, his son Heinz and his former mother-in-law Mrs. Leuthoff live. The bitter Mrs. Leuthoff makes life difficult for Irene, since she had no way of preventing Ferdinand from re-marrying after her daughter bit the dust. When Ferdinand conveniently goes out on tour once again, Irene has to sit at home with the bitter woman. One day, Irene’s cousin Gustl comes on a visit and Mrs. Leuthoff takes the opportunity to “accidentally” let slip to Ferdinand, that his current wife is a whore. As if living with your current mother-in-law isn’t enough to deal with!

The Rider on the White Horse

Freely adapted from Theodor Storm's novella of the same name.

The Chronicles of the Gray House

Hinrich, the son of a feudal German landowner, falls in love with the beautiful daughter of one of his father's serfs despite opposition from both families. But when he actually offers marriage to her, this is going too far. The return of his brother Detlev, with an unscrupulous aristocratic bride of his own and a rival claim to their father's estates, proves to be the trigger for tragedy.