Bernd - Operation Germanenkind (2025)

Bernd has been considered mentally retarded since birth. Now an adult, he is nevertheless taken into director Georg’s theater group. Together they work on a play, including a rehearsal scene in the woods where Bernd encounters people in animal costumes. After he tells his parents about it, they think he is crazy and turn to Dr. Hagemann, who proposes a Germanic treatment (a reference to Dr. Hamer and his Germanic New Medicine) to turn Bernd into a good German boy. When the father, however, cannot get a word out because of how absurd the situation is, an uproar breaks out among the actors, and the father, Alexander, insults Bernd. After a crisis meeting, Alexander has to apologize to Bernd, who humiliates him in front of the whole group. Once everyone has calmed down again, they travel by coach to the island of Usedom, to Peenemünde, to prepare for the premiere. On the bus, Jörg reads the Indigo guidebook, and Bernd sees a dark-skinned man in an imperial-era uniform in a driveway. At the Baltic Sea beach, Bernd runs into the water and nearly drowns. The group can only reluctantly forgive Bernd in their anger, but they reassure one another of their inclusive attitude. The group then visits the Peenemünde Historical and Technical Museum, where V-2 rockets were researched during the Nazi era. Bernd watches a Nazi propaganda film there and seems changed afterward. During rehearsals, the soldier appears again and shows Bernd an oil painting in the basement depicting a screaming girl, whom he introduces as Ute. During rehearsals, Georg has Tanja appear increasingly scantily clad, which visibly arouses him. That evening, Jörg is seen naked, performing a ritual of the Indigo cult. The next morning, Bernd also identifies himself to Jörg as an Indigo. When Bernd sneaks away that evening, the soldier takes him to the beach, where they meet Ute. There they convert a young man in a suit, who lets Bernd ride on his back. The soldier calls him a sleeper. The dress rehearsal takes place in Peenemünde’s turbine hall, after which Bernd accompanies the soldier to a village in the hills. The people there wear early-20th-century clothing and seem happy. When Bernd appears, they dance in a ring around him. The next morning, Georg makes a move on Tanja, and the two have passionate sex. Meanwhile, Bernd marches into the town center in an SS uniform and gives a speech over a megaphone, spouting nationalist slogans. Although he is ignored, the group takes him back to their lodgings. There, they strip the clothes from his body, until Georg slaps Bernd for his slogans. The other members then also begin punching him and kicking him while he is on the ground. The next day, Bernd is collected by his outraged carer, but the soldier intercepts him in the woods. At the airport, the celebrities Konrad and Sylke arrive, and Bernd is also back. That evening, the play Operation Germanic Child begins with a formal opening. Toward the end, Bernd is insulted by his parents, who are now in uniform. But Bernd launches into a fiery nationalist speech. At the same time, the soldier stands on a flat-roofed building and waves signal flares to activate the sleepers nearby. Bernd ends his speech with the words “Now, people, rise up, and let the storm break loose,” and kills Georg with an axe. At first, the audience still applauds, believing it is part of the performance. But when panic breaks out, the armed sleepers storm the hall and carry out a massacre. Finally, Bernd stands on the roof of the hall and delivers a fervent speech.