In 1812, during the French period, large parts of Germany are occupied by the troops of Napoleon. Several paramilitary Freikorps units battle the French forces, among them the Black Brunswickers led by the 'Black Duke' Frederick William of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. After the War of the Fifth Coalition, the Black Hussars are pursued by Napoleon throughout the country, but frequently take refuge with the noble-minded German people.

The Baltic captain Terje Wiggen works as a pilot on the island of Muhu. When the mate of the ship “Carola” calls in sick, he jumps at the chance of reviving his life as a sailor. WWI breaks soon after the departure. By and by the ship’s company gets worn down by dead calm. On account of the plague-ridden captain, Wiggen disposes of the contaminated water reserve. Discontent among the crew rises until they take the sole lifeboat and leave their mate behind. Wiggen unsuccessfully tries to bring the ship under control. At the last minute he is rescued off the Japanese coast. At his return he promises to never leave his wife and child again. But the German Imperial Navy begins to blockade the waterways of the island. Wiggen paddles to Sweden with the intention of smuggling provisions for his family. On his way back he is detained by a German captain. After five years of imprisonment he returns to Muhu once more. Wiggen is hellbent on vengeance. (Deutsche Kinemathek)

A farm boy betrothed to a socialite falls in love with his maid - an impoverished girl from the marsh.

In the very old-fashioned town of Ostend suddenly 13 suitcases are delivered to the Grand Hotel, with a note, that O.F. will be here soon and needs 6 rooms. This event, probably the biggest in 300 years, starts a small wave of modernisation, yet everybody is wondering who O.F. is.

1865. Katharina goes to a ball in Moscow. There she meets again Tchaikowsky, her first and only love. The young, who is now married to wealthy Michael Iwanowitsch Murakin, a man she does not love, has not forgotten Piotr Illich, the (not yet) famous composer. Both are still in love with each other but Piotr is engaged to Nastassia, a dancer, while for her part Katharina cannot leave her husband. Tchaikowky's first love then decides to sacrifice her happiness to the success of the composer, sponsoring him in secret. Something Piotr will learn only years after. When Katharina finds herself free at last it is too late: Tchaikowsky is dying of cholera and she only has time to close his eyes.

Country Dr. Robert Koch is desperate: a tuberculosis epidemic is decimating the children in his district and no one is able to do anything about it. Every fourth child is already sick and the parents must helplessly watch as their young ones die. Now Koch is undertaking to find the cause of the tuberculosis --- something he has already been working on for years --- which has been causing this plague of illness. His work is made more difficult by envy; for example, that of his teacher, who was wounded defending his honor. But his greatest obstacle is the famous Berliner scientist and Reichstag deputy, Privy Councilor Rudolf Virchow: He is extraordinarily skeptical of Koch's theory, that the cause for tuberculosis is a bacteria.

While vacationing in Puerto Rico, a young Swedish woman falls in love with and marries a powerful local landowner. Ten years later, their marriage has turned sour; meanwhile, two Swedish doctors have arrived on the island to investigate a mysterious fever.

Silent epic on the final years of Frederick II.

Silent epic on the final years of Frederick II.

A crazed scientist murders his wife, walls her up, then flees. A reporter sets out to track him down. Remake of Unheimliche Geschichten (Richard Oswald, 1919).