01x02 - Die Mitte der Welt - 1929-1933

[bunniefuu]

This is the Simon family
from Schabbach.

On the right there,
grinning at the camera...

...that's Mathias.

That's his wife Katharina...

...and their three children,
Eduard, Pauline and Paul.

It's 1919,
and they are smiling at the camera...

...because they don't know yet
what is going to happen.

This is our village in 1919.

They are just unveiling
the w*r memorial.

The whole village turned out.

The teacher conducted
the school choir.

They were all dressed up.

There you can see the memorial
under its cover.

And in the other picture...

...Edward is just about
to pull the mechanism...

...to unveil the memorial.

He pulled the cloth down...

...and everybody stood
around the memorial and were amazed.

There they are,
in their Sunday best.

Even though it was raining,
they all took their hats off.

That's Eduard in close-up.

He worried the life out
of his mother Katharina.

He had lung trouble...

...but he would keep messing about
in the ice-cold Hunsrück streams...

...with the bell ringer and me,
looking for gold.

Fool's gold, that's all we found.

That's Pauline...

...who later on married Gröber...

...clockmaker and jeweller
from Simmern.

That's Wiegand,
the local know-all.

He always had to be in first
with anything new.

First car in the village...

...and before that,
first wireless, first motorbike.

That's Maria, Wiegand's daughter,
a beautiful girl.

She went on to marry Paul.

And they had two kids,
Anton and Ernst.

Down there,
you can see Katharina...

...who was so proud
of her two grandchildren.

Then something strange happened.

Paul started to brood more and more,
like in that photo.

And then, one day he got up and said
he was just going out for a beer...

...and never came back.

The whole village was in turmoil.

Everybody wanted to know
where Paul went.

Maria cried a lot.

Nobody understood why he left,
they'd given him no reason to leave.

Police came and looked for him
for weeks on end.

Those were the good old days...

...when we all went
on a picnic to Baldenau castle...

...and heard music
out of that black horn there...

...wireless music.

THE CENTRE OF THE WORLD

Father's caught a pine marten.

What's that? Your father?

Yes. Come with me.

I'll tell you something.

I just heard the hens
applauding in the hen-house.

Shall we go and see?

I'm sure Paul's still alive.
I'm certain of it.

I knew it.

There was something the matter
with Paul that made him go away.

I felt it.

Our hens are so happy,
they've laid three eggs.

One for Anton, one for Ernst...

...and one for Granny.

Let's go indoors...

...and I'll make Easter eggs,
all yellow.

But, Granny, it's not Easter.

It doesn't matter.

You never know
what will happen.

We'll put them in the water
and they'll go yellow.

Ernst, we'll put that in, too...

...but we don't need anything else.

Have a look.

See...

See, they're going yellow.

You're so silly.

Let me do it.
Children need things like this.

Now, we'll see.

Look how yellow they've become.

Ernst, can you carry them over there?

And now we need some cold water...

...so they'll shine.

My grandma did this
a hundred years ago.

Now, we'll put them here...

...then they'll dry
and afterwards we'll eat them.

Tomorrow, we'll gather bilberries.

Get the bowls and pick berries.

You'll want to eat them in winter.

Anton, are you tired?

Stay sitting, then go to your mother.

It's a long morning
when the children are here.

There are more of them up there.

Ernst, you've been so busy.

I'll put some more in your bucket,
then it will be full.

Now we'll put them
in the big bucket.

Now pick some more.

Look what we've found.

There's blood on them...

...it's gone all brown.

The clothes
of the dead woman Paul found.

Away with them!
They're nothing to do with me!

There's a salamander in them.

Why did you leave the homeland?

Didn't she love you,
the ungrateful wretch?

Did she drive you out, too?

Clear, candid, German eyes.

I can see you were driven out.
Was it poverty? Was it death?

What is the isms?

What isms?

Mammonism,
futurism, Communism...

...symbolism,
expressionism, nihilism...

...scepticism, Socialism, Zionism.

Or was it just egoism?

Don't say anything.

I can read it in your sorrowful eyes.

You're also part of that power...

...streaming from our Fatherland...

...to disperse
in this electric chair land.

The Empress Elizabeth's assassin
couldn't be ex*cuted;

no death penalty.

The law
had me put away in my homeland.

That law's unknown here.

Despite
my being buried alive at Verdun.

Do you know we had to cool
our machine-g*ns with urine?

And do you know why?

I'm asking you why.

Because we had no water.

I've lost my food ration card.

Would you like to buy my boots?

I'm sorry.

I haven't much money.

Have you left
a family back home?

I walked and walked.

I wanted to think...

...and my legs
walked by themselves...

...and my head was empty.

I couldn't do anything
but keep on walking.

In this year, Mathias sells
the meadow by the Gold Brook.

With the money,
Eduard is to go to Berlin.

Will his lung be healed
in the capital?

Did you see that?

Of course, a woman on a horse.

What a woman!
What a horse!

Keep loading the piglets
and I'll go and see.

I'm looking for Baldenau Castle,
the Count of Baldenau. Understand?

I come from far away, please.
The Baldenau Castle. The Count.

Here, on the map...

...is it Hunsrück already?

Do you understand?

Wiegand, help me.

I think it's French.
Say it again, Miss.

I'm the mayor.
Please repeat that, yes?

My name is Denise de Gallimasch...

...and I'm riding
from Paris to Berlin.

From Paris today?

Impossible.

My horse isn't lightning.

I wish to get
to the Chateau de Baldenau.

What does show dough mean?

Chaude eau.
It means hot water.

I can help with this.

Me prisoner of w*r in France,
you understand?

Certainly. I found on the map
a castle called Baldenau.

I'd like to spend the night there.
Where can I find the Count?

That's complicated.

Look, Miss.

Baldenau's a ruin.
Danger of collapse.

You can't stay there.
For 1000 years kaput.

Do you know Schinderhannes?

No, unfortunately.

She doesn't know Schinderhannes.
What can be done?

Can't one of you explain?

I'll try.

Schinderhannes...

No. I can't do it, either.

Schinderhannes,
100 years ago, head cut off...

...by the French - no Count.

His cap
is in the museum in Simmern.

Museum, I understand.

What do I do now?
Me and my little horse? Sleep, where?

No problem. I'm the innkeeper.

Guest rooms, chambres.

A room with a bath, please.

She wants a room with a bath.

We'll put a tub in the dance-room.

Make sure she pays well.

She'll fit a tub well.

She'll have her room and bath.

The innkeeper will see to everything.

I'll stable the horse.

I wish you
a pleasant stay in Schabbach.

Good night.

If you ride from Paris to Berlin,
you have to go through Schabbach.

No, she's made a detour.

No, we're right in between.

That's not true.
Schabbach's a bit lower down.

Just pay attention.

Here's Paris and here's Berlin.

Here's Schabbach, right in between.

Draw a line
from the North Pole to the South...

...that goes through Schabbach, too.

We don't realize where we are.

I tell you,
we are the centre of the world.

But, she's not a pretty girl,
not as pretty as Apollonia.

Apollonia's become
a Frenchwoman.

She's got her papers
for French nationality.

The horsewoman's better class,
I could tell. From a French castle...

...with Gobelin carpets on the wall.

- We saw that in France.
- Carpets on the wall?

Yes, carpets on the wall
and mirrors on the floors.

Unbelievable.

A different world.
Apollonia wrote that, too.

Couldn't the woman
have come to Germany a bit later?

With conditions nowadays,
you feel ashamed.

They've dissolved
the Reichstag in Berlin...

...it makes you sick.

The papers
are full of shootings and stabbings.

Still,
we must make a good impression.

On the Frenchwoman?

Why does a young Frenchwoman
want to go to Berlin nowadays?

It's a question
we in Schabbach must ask ourselves.

I know why.

So she can get a change
from all that French asparagus.

She tipped a whole bottle
of lilac bath salts into the tub.

Smell.

Kath, come here and smell this.

From the Frenchwoman.

Kath, just smell it.

It smells of the big city.

That's how
I've always imagined it.

My dear Eduard.

When you see the woman
who brings this letter, flee!

She has the evil eye.

Here in Schabbach, where she took
a bath, we saw that at once.

And don't help her...

...off her horse.

Your mother

I woke and heard you go out.

Maria, she's not here.

It's four in the morning
and she's gone already.

What do we make of that?

Don't worry.
It's a long way to Berlin.

She'll latch
on to my Eduard in Berlin.

Come, Mother,
Berlin's a big place.

Eduard's ill
and can't defend himself.

And now,
I've written the letter for nothing.

Eduard in Berlin
is like a needle in a haystack.

You can't find it.

Eduard will get well. You'll see.

- Everything all right?
- Yes.

If you must have a cognac, too,
come in.

- Who was that?
- Our caretaker.

I always knew
he'd drink himself to death.

- Is he dead?
- He just drinks too much.

He's not dead.
He'll be back, I guarantee it.

Look how cold I am.
My arms are all gooseflesh.

Come in, you'll catch your death.

My hairs are standing on end.

Are you ill?
You look a bit green.

I've never seen a dead body.

I saw my first when I was six.

My Granny took me to the cemetery...

...and we went to the morgue.

There was someone
in white with a sharp nose.

"Look, Martina," my Granny said,
"I'll look like that one day."

Coming up with me?
Don't be scared.

How she stands it?

I think she's given herself
a second shot of morphine.

And alcohol on top of it.

I'll say one thing for her...

...she's got magnetism
in her skinny body.

She puts
her matchstick legs up on the couch.

Puts her head in the client's lap
and they sit there hypnotized.

We can't let the gent
go home unscathed, can we?

Did you sleep,
or did you have a bad dream?

Well, look at that.

Jasmine is awake.
Usually, she just sleeps.

She's even found a client.

Well, children,
you two are happy now, aren't you?

You really look alike
around the eyes.

But, Jasmine,
you must open yours.

Jasmine, how is the circulation?

Well, how about trying Martina?

You won't get Jasmine
on her feet tonight.

Actually, I was only taking a walk.

Then we can take a walk together.

But she's had a bad dream.

She always has bad dreams.
Makes no difference to her.

Come on, big boy,
we'll take our leave for now.

We'll go up the spiral staircase...

...into our Seventh Heaven.

I'll go to the lav'
while you get undressed.

What's your name?

Eduard Simon.

Eddie, you're still not undressed.

I think I prefer not to undress.

You needn't be ashamed with me,
I'm stark naked, too.

I've got something here.

Show me. Let me have a look.

I'm sorry.

What have they done to you?

I'm one of Dr. Sauerbruch's patients.

You must be a big shot.

Besides, I've got
an artificial pneumothorax.

I thought so
when you were down by the door.

I've got a scar, too.
You don't see it at first sight.

I nearly didn't recover.
Almost heard the angels singing.

See that mark? I can't see it
without twisting my head.

A Russian emigré stubbed
a cigarette out on me...

...the sod.

Is that thorax dangerous?

Not any more. I've been here
three months and I'm almost cured.

How long will you stay in Berlin?

Until spring.

By then, you'll have had
your shirt off. Come here.

Let me smell you.

You smell good.

- Where is your home?
- In the Rhineland.

What sort of work do you do?

With my illness,
I'm not allowed to work.

You were lucky.

Nowadays, everyone is looking
for work, except you.

Where are you from?

I'm from Glauchau, in Saxony.

Eddie, shall we see
what else you've got?

How did you land up here?

The way you land up anywhere.

Let me feel your scar.

You were frightened...

...when you saw the caretaker,
weren't you?

Well, once, I almost died myself.

Never mind.

What with the queues
at soup kitchens...

...no jobs, one government
stupider than the other...

...even a normal man
can't get it up in such misery.

Things will change.

Then you'll come back
and it will be fine.

Thank God there are still men...

...capable of intellectual
conversation with a woman.

Herr Simon is getting treatment
from Professor Sauerbruch.

The things you hear,
the things they're doing in medicine.

What people need today
is medicine for the mind.

I don't know you, sir,
but I must admit you're right.

And what you perhaps don't know...

...we National Socialists...

...have had that medicine
available for fourteen years.

I hope
there's a deaths' head on the label.

You can count on that.

A deadly medicine
for all the Culture Bolsheviks...

...and parasites on the state...

...and a cure for everyone
who has kept their faith...

...deep down.

Can I help you?

I haven't welcomed you yet.
I'm the madam, Lucie.

Every citizen is the equal
of every other.

Class superiority is unknown.

Our leader Adolf Hitler
is a man of the people.

I can't listen to this.

Every evening for three months,
nothing but politics.

We had an exclusive clientele.

Some weekends,
the entire broadcasting staff.

All educated people,
never a word about politics.

And two famous actors were here.

Promise
not to tell anyone their names.

Surprised, eh?

Our National Socialist goal...

...the new German state...

...we've planned,
worked and suffered for.

I just wanted to go for a walk.

What line of business are you in?

A bit of agriculture, machinery...
broadly speaking, of course.

Oh, the countryside.

If my old mother were sitting here,
she could tell you...

...I've been mad
about the country since childhood.

Then you must be a really big
landed proprietor, eh?

Where are your estates?

I'll show you something...

...as you obviously
don't read the papers.

Look here.

Eisenach, 24th October, 1932.

Hitler drove on to Weimar.

I'll read you
what he said on behalf of us all.

We'll deal ruthlessly
with anyone whose opinions differ.

That's what he said.

I've grown an elephant hide,
a double one, Herr Simon.

Feel it.

Have you read all those books?

I took over the flat as it stood.

Books create a terrific impression.

There is so much going on in Berlin.

Theatres, concerts...

...though I don't know
much about that.

I could give you a few tips.

But that lot, rats and blow-flies.

In a word, plebs!

God, I'm hungry. Are you, too?

The best thing I've heard tonight.
I'll go and get something.

Knuckle of pork and liver...
we're not having that.

Martina, Saxony potato cakes
are a bit much for 2.30 a.m.

You'll each get two rissoles
with rolls, and that's it.

Don't forget the strong mustard,
madam.

Will you come with me, Herr Simon?

And for God's sake, not a word
about politics until I'm back.

Marga, give the guests
a drink on the house.

Alone at last. May I call you Eduard?

You're lying there in front of me
like an open book...

...that I can read.

You need someone to look after you.

I suppose
your mother did that at home.

The world is a wicked place.

Weren't you lucky to bump into me?

And I just intended to take a walk.

And look what you walked into.

You've really got me on heat.

Have you got a tap here?

Look at this.

Are you living in such a tiny room?

If your father only knew.

They're still waiting
for their rissoles.

SlMMERN
30th JANUARY 1933

Adolf Hitler. Reich Chancellor.
Bread and work for the German people.

Neither learned anything at school.

And Fritz there
with his fine boots...

...all duffers in uniform.

I'm going out for a look.

I love you.

Pauline, what's the matter.

I want to be with you. Hold me tight.

You're all excited.

Things are getting better
and we must stick together.

Everybody feels it.

Every day, it's getting better...

...they feel that in Schabbach, too.

Be glad, Robert.

I thought that
while I was dismantling the clock.

I felt as if there had been
lovely weather for years.

And in the clock mechanism,
suddenly everything looked bright.

It's true. Something's coming.

Customers laugh nowadays
and they're always in a hurry.

It's taken a long time.

We'll soon get on
and grow rich with our efforts.

It's taken a long time.

Papa, look, it's us.

- Mother, look.
- Oh, it's you.

But I baked a cake.

A car, I can't believe it.

You haven't gone into debt for it?

People are buying more watches
and jewellery than ever before.

- lsn't that right?
- Things are looking up.

We're hoping to buy
Kahn's flat upstairs...

...so we have the whole house.

You know, the Jew living upstairs...

We think he'll sell.

Things aren't so rosy for the Jews.

I'm expecting.

A car and a house...

...and a baby, too; all at once.

You're only young once, Mother.

You're right, Pauline.

Robert says we should enjoy life.

Who knows what may come?

I'll tell you what's coming today.

Dear Mother...

...I've been lucky enough
to find a wife...

...you'll be proud of.

Born in Berlin,
she's naturally proud of stature...

...and elegant in posture.

She's got a brain, too.

Lucie is from the best
metropolitan circles.

She has wealth and a car...

...in which we shall arrive
to see you on Sunday, 9th April.

Please welcome her
into the family circle...

...for marriage
has cured my ill-health.

Isn't it wonderful
that we live in times...

...in which one's origin
no longer matters...

...and where everything
is starting to get better?

Love from your Eduard.

Today is the 9th of April.

When I heard your car, I thought
it was Eduard and his new wife.

Beautiful.

The Rhineland is the nicest country
I know. That's true, Eduard.

My mother and l
aren't on speaking terms now.

We were on holiday once at Usedom.
That was nice, too.

But not as nice as this.

Your home must be
like summer holidays all year long.

Lucie, strictly speaking,
the Rhine...

These are only
the Hunsrück foothills.

It goes up higher.

And the lovely vineyards there.

Yes, vineyards all around.

But up there, the wind blows.

We're used to it,
but it's too cold for grapes.

It's often much too cold
up there in the Hunsrück.

Or, rather, far too cold altogether.

So what's planned
on your father's estates?

Estates... well...

We have to import a lot of fertilizer
because of the soil.

We get saltpetre
from Chile and guano from Peru.

You know guano?
It's bird droppings.

A hundred years old, lying
about on South American islands.

And they dig it out with cranes,
like brown coal.

Know what I mean?

I can picture myself on the veranda,
watching the farm workers...

...working for us.

I didn't say anything
about farm workers.

I must explain all this to you.

In our Hunsrück dialect...

...we don't mean
what you understand by 'estate'...

...it doesn't mean anything big.

We haven't big words.
Know what I mean?

I'll show you.

We'll drive around the district.

But now we should get going
or we won't get home till dark.

We Hunsrück people are very proud...

...that our people are
all over the world, even in Brazil...

...and in Australia, and the Ruhr,
and in America, too.

Stop, Lucie,
I must show you something.

It all started here, Lucie.

Gold. Where did you find it?

I don't know if it's gold.
I washed it out of the brook.

Up to my knees in water,
not knowing I had a high temperature.

Without that, I'd never have come
to Berlin and met you.

That's nice.

And we wouldn't be here.

I wanted to show you things before
we drive into the village.

- How about these for your mother?
- Maybe.

My home ground, Lucie.

Here we used to play
cops and robbers.

We built huts
with branches and old potato sacks.

Over there,
where it's so dark in the bushes.

Know what's growing on these trees?

Those are wild cherries.

They turn jet black.

You've never tasted real cherries
until you taste them.

All those are sloe bushes.

Sloes are so sharp,
you can't eat them.

We call them Hunsrück grapes,
because it's so cold here.

See Baldenau tower?

My grandfather hacked at it
for twenty years, to get inside.

Walls five metres thick.

He wanted to find
the Schinderhannes' treasure.

Guess what he found, a staircase
that goes to the very top.

And here I heard the wireless,
a Baldenau.

With my brother Paul,
only we don't know where he is now.

Lucie, I know every stone here.

Eduard, I love your home.

Lucie, the woods.

You're Anton, aren't you?

Open the door.

Lucie picked the flowers for you,
in the meadow near Baldenau.

Won't you sit down?

The journey must have tired you.

You can't buy such bread
at the baker's.

Mother makes it.
We have a bake house opposite.

Accidents will happen.

How nice Mother looks.

Normally, she only wears
that dress to church.

Maria, your Anton is growing up.

Curd, Lucie. Mother makes it herself.

The earthenware bowl.

She makes it in that.

The car outside, is it yours?

You're doing well, you and Pauline?

Robert, I'm really glad.

Lucie and l,
we so looked forward to seeing you...

...all the way from Berlin.

Didn't we, Lucie?

Just be quiet, Eduard, and sit down.

Mathias, they're here.

We've seen the Berlin car.
Hurry home.

We'll go ahead.

Three months ago,
we wouldn't have thought it possible.

A new era has begun.

We can see it and we're doing it all
with our own strength.

I'm from Schabbach,
so is he, and his wife, too.

Wilfried, take note,
I must tell Eduard...

...to get his car
Schabbach number plates.

By the way, on Friday week...

...it's Adolf Hitler's first birthday
as Chancellor.

Remember that.

The scar goes from back to front.

On 20th April,
there will be celebrations here...

...like never before.

It's one thing after another.

I'm offering flags so cheap...

...it will be dearer
to make your own.

Hindenburg's
own personal physician...

...stood by my bed,
shook my hand and said...

..."Death was in this room,
but we two have beaten him."

- And you're better, Eduard?
- Well, look at me.

Your wife is a beauty. I must admit.

And from the best circles,
remember that.

Did you experience
the capital's excitements?

Were you close to events?

Then tell us about it.

Actually, you read about it more.

You didn't see the Führer?

Not personally, no.

You didn't see
the national revolution?

Well, yes, on 30th January...

...it was suddenly
very light in my room.

That must have been
the torchlight procession.

But then I slept.

So, you slept.

Not really asleep,
but I was tired.

You can't get out of Berlin easily.

They have checkpoints...

...whether you're on a train,
or in a car, like us.

We were checked.

We were waiting
in the queue at Halensee.

And who was three cars
in front of us?

Max Schmeling and Anny Ondra.

We read about them in the paper.

They're such
a happily married couple.

The cop tipped his cap
and Schmeling showed him his pass.

Anny Ondra was wearing
an ivory-coloured trouser suit...

...gathered at the waist, like this,
but not flashy...

...no, very respectable.

They were treated just like us...

...like everyone else.

Mathias, we've eaten.
Come and eat.

First, I'll wash my hands.

Wash yours, too, if you like;
I have dung on mine.

Good country air. I like the smell.

If she likes the smell, embrace
your daughter-in-law properly.

Mathias, three cars
outside the front door.

The things they still want,
and everything on tick.

I feel that the whole world
is living on tick.

Come on, wife, sleep.

One day,
we'll have to pay for all this.

Quiet, Lucie;
the whole house is listening.

Forget everything here, Eduard.

We're not in Berlin, here.

This is Berlin now. The district
has been waiting for you.

If you want it to, the district
will soon listen only to you.

I've noticed that.

I just had an idea.

Gauleiter Simon in Koblenz;
aren't you related to him?

What makes you think that?

Simon is Simon,
and Koblenz isn't far from here.

In the country, you're all related.

No, we aren't related to him,
definitely not.

Leave it to me,
I know what I'm doing.

My name is Simon now, too.

You can't just go and see him.

Listen, Eduard.

In two years,
we'll own a villa, I swear it.

In Schabbach?

Why not? Or the next biggest village.

This place is still virgin territory.

Nothing has happened here...

...but when I make something happen,
you'll see.

You really scare me.

No, you scared me on the way here.

But now, I'm quite happy.

Put your hand on my heart.

Six cylinders.

Some car, eh?

The things you can do, father-in-law.

I touched a cow like this once,
on holiday.

Off on a long journey, Kath?

Yes, to my brother Hans
and his wife...

...to Bochum, in the Ruhr.

Tomorrow is his birthday
and I haven't seen him in ages.

Is Hans's birthday really
the same day as the Führer's?

I never knew anyone
with a birthday on 20th April.

Our Hans will be sixty tomorrow.

When he was born,
Hitler didn't exist.

Going away
when we're celebrating here?

You'll miss everything.

My brother is closer to me
than the Führer.

- Not so loud.
- Well, it's true.

Maria, mind the bilberries
on the stove don't burn.

I'm going now.

I offered to drive her to Koblenz...

...but she said
she didn't want me to.

You don't know Mother.

She's been walking
to the station for thirty years.

Does she come from the Ruhr?

No. All the villagers have relatives
in the Ruhr, ask anyone.

Where the farms couldn't
support all the children...

...lots went off to the mines.

There are people from the Hunsrück
in the Saar, too.

And the one that stayed
was made the village idiot.

Quiet, you idiot.

Fasten that at the top.
Don't fall asleep there.

Hitler is a Columbus.

Is he going to America?

No, we mean he's a man of vision.

Wilfried, help them.

It's too high, let it down a bit.

Suppose the Gauleiter sees that,
damn it.

Mummy, the bright lights.

Lovely, Richard, is that electric?

Yes, that's electric.

- lt's as bright as day.
- lt's wonderful.

Electricity does that.

Richard, isn't that lovely?

Daddy, is that the new era?

Yes, that's the new era.

Richard, it's so beautiful.

Look, that's the chemical industry.

That will help us.

Black pudding and liver sausage.

Yellow plums,
damsons and bilberries.

Happy birthday.

Sixty years, what a long time.

Fritz is the only one
earning anything?

At the moment.

I knew it, Hans, believe me.

Maria, believe me.

I knew something was wrong up here.

Three weeks ago,
I woke up one night and I knew it.

It always happens to me.

But I had the wrong idea in my head.

I thought...

...Fritz was having a bad time...

...and there he sits and has a job.

But Auntie Kath...

...why think it was me?

You were always such a Communist,
you couldn't keep your trap shut.

I'm not saying a word.

There's nothing more to be said.

Auntie, look.

You've done that well, Lotti.

Give Father some, too.

But you're doing well
in the country...

...look at you, so plump and healthy.

And all those fine things.

Yes, they're buying cars on tick.
The new era.

You're right about tick, Aunt Kath.

Things go well
as long as it's all on tick.

Let's bide our time and sup tea.
And I've said nothing.

But, Fritz, you must admit
postal charges are down...

...and rents, too.

Food is cheaper...

...and insurance premiums
aren't so high, either.

Everything is getting cheaper.
You'll see.

All show.
In three months, it will be over.

I think you're right, Fritz.
I've often thought like that.

I don't feel it, but I've thought it.

I have some real Mosel brandy.

Walter, you drink first.

Will you drink it uphill?

- What do you mean?
- Don't.

- Drinking uphill.
- Ah, I understand.

He's drinking uphill.

Take your scabby fingers
out of the basket.

Those Hitler rolls are a good idea.

I'm surprised the teacher
thought of it.

It isn't his idea.
They're in numerous localities.

You said that well, Wilfried,
"numerous localities".

The lad talks
as if he were in Berlin.

He's going to Berlin and we'll all
have new respect for him...

...when he's somebody in the SS.

Father, don't joke about it.

Right, Wilfried, national matters
are no subject of jokes.

My God, when I think of Berlin...

You're doing the right thing,
that's a world capital...

...a different atmosphere.

Today more than ever.

And don't forget to look
at every place I told you, will you?

And take a look at my hospital.

Give me a bite, Ernst.

They taste like the rolls
we'd have on the Kaiser's birthday.

That's long ago;
twelve or fifteen years.

That's how long
since we've had a Kaiser.

Long enough.

The Kaiser will never return.

Even if the Crown Prince sits 1,000
times beside our Führer in church.

When I think of Berlin
and the Führer...

...I keep remembering my old mother.

Grandpa, a Hitler roll.

Anton, I think Paul is in America.

Your father is alive.

We two will never stop
believing that.

Promise me?

Now connect the loudspeaker.

Is the music from America?

No, from Hilversum.

That's the only station
we can get with this set.

Is Hilversum far away?

No, it's in Holland.

From Holland,
people used to go to America.

What are you scheming, you rogue?

We'll read
the wireless book for a while.

The effectiveness
of the valve depends...

...on the quality
of its construction.

When at night we go to sleep,
fourteen angels watch will keep.

Two at my right hand,
two at my left hand...

...two at my head,
two at my feet...

...two to tuck me in,
two to wake me...

...two to guide
my steps to heaven.

Dear God, please let our father
still be alive and well...

...and let him soon
come back home.

Aunt Kath,
wake up, someone's here.

And who are you?

Katharina Simon,
from Schabbach in the Hunsrück.

I'm here on a visit.

Go back to bed, Lilli.

Frau Schirmer,
don't start worrying.

I've known Fritz all his life.

He just went along with them,
like many others.

Nothing will happen to him.

We've had the least bloody
revolution of all time.

He'll be taken to Mülheim...

...to the concentration camp
for re-education.

They'll exorcise that Marxist spirit.

You won't know him
when he returns.

He'll be alert, clear-headed, gladly
participating in our programme.

We need every willing man.

Where would it get us
not to show mercy?

Another thing,
don't believe foreign propaganda.

The food is good, there's lots
of sport and school every day.

Don't hold it against me,
I have to do it.

What time is it?

Half past five.

It almost makes you afraid
to go to bed.

Good day, Kath.
Back home again?

We're home.

It was a long walk, wasn't it?
Wait a second.

Anton gets everything.
I want a uniform like that, too.

You heard what Uncle Eduard said.

You're still too little.

Are you tired too?
My legs hurt.

Let's sit down and have a rest.

You won't get
a uniform until you're ten.

That's true, Ernst.

Here, you can put on my cap.

Pick it up!

Now!

What if the Führer saw?

He sees everything.
There's be the devil to pay.

Eduard, I don't think Anton
is really cut out for all this.

Look how he stands there.

You'll never make a soldier,
will you, Anton?

Look at me.
Was I born for a uniform?

Maria, we've got the movement now...

...and the movement
will care for his education.

Eduard, why do you have to go
with every new fad?

I can see you in Simmern
with patent leather shoes and spats.

The child...
She isn't breathing properly.

Who is this, then?

Lotti from Bochum,
Fritz and Lilli's daughter.

She's feverish, Mother.
She's ill. She must go to bed.

Attention! Heels together,
stomach in, chest out.

You were away so long,
almost three months.

Father doesn't yet know you're back.

People talked of nothing
but where you'd got to.

Things are bad for Hans
and the people in the Ruhr.

Not everyone is prospering.

Is Lotti to stay here now?

I couldn't leave her
in that misery.

We must get the doctor.

If you're looking for the doctor,
his car is there.

Maria, my little Gottfried is dying.

What's wrong with him?

- lt's diphtheria, the doctor says.
- Unfortunately.

Doctor, please come with me.

We've got a little girl
who can't breathe.

- Feverish?
- Yes, and gasping.

Another one.

Get in, Frau Simon.

Anton, don't go home yet,
and don't go to the upper village...

...or you'll catch diphtheria
from the Rothmatzens.

Yes,
I've connected the test lead.

All right my end.

Measure the test current.

I'll measure.

Yes, it's fine.

Down in this house,
a child has died of diphtheria.

Come here,
I want to tell you something.

We get around,
kids are dying everywhere...

...in Morbach, eleven in a week.

I'm keeping my children indoors.

Gargling with vinegar
gets rid of it, I've heard.

I'm not letting
my children out on the streets.

Anton, go and take off that uniform.

Grandmother.

Must Lotti die now, too?

No, she can breathe again.

Will Lotti stay with us?

Yes, Lotti is staying here.

But you're not to put on
that uniform again.

Will you promise me?

Suppose they come and say I must?

We'll say you have a weak heart.