Die letzten Menschen (1919)

The film’s story picks up directly after Oswald’s *The Ark*. When Lund’s Comet passed Earth, its tail—with its high carbon monoxide content—temporarily made life on the blue planet impossible and destroyed almost all life. The submarine travelers who have resurfaced are apparently the last people in the world. On their way home aboard the “hijacked” passenger ship Gloria, the survivors decide to found a new human civilization. However, they have only three women as their “foundation.” They choose the Seeheide estate as the site for their new settlement. From then on, they plan to rely on technology and the principle of performance, while strictly observing the eugenic rules developed by the Japanese scholar Keigo Sotume. But new troubles soon threaten to tear the group apart: first, they decide that helmsman Volkert must leave the “New Beginning” project because of his persistent drinking; then submarine builder Walter Fahr leaves of his own accord. He believes that, for genetic reasons—he carries a hereditary disease—he must not marry Helga Pogge, the woman he loves and the daughter of shipowner Ernst Pogge, or have children. One day, a group of Swedes arrives, having survived in a mine; among them are children of both sexes. The survival of the human race therefore seems assured. After many further obstacles and complications, everyone involved is reunited in the end, making hope for a new world seem justified.