Die Seelen im Feuer (2014)

Germany, 1630: The Holy Roman Empire is in turmoil amid the Thirty Years’ War. Superstition prevails among the people, while the secular and religious authorities rule with an iron hand. At this time, the young physician Cornelius Weinmann is conducting scientific studies in progressive Vienna, a city shaped by the Baroque and by scholarship. When Cornelius receives word that his father is dying, he travels to his hometown of Bamberg, a backward small town suffering under a harsh ecclesiastical ruler. Soon after Cornelius arrives, his father dies in his presence. Grief-stricken, Cornelius despises the town where he grew up. But shortly after arriving, he encounters his childhood friend Johanna Wolf again. She works as a healer in Bamberg and runs an apothecary. Cornelius rediscovers his love for her, but Johanna shows no interest in him in that way and sees him only as a friend. A little later, Cornelius is summoned to the palace of Prince-Bishop Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim because of his medical expertise. The bishop suffers from kidney stones, and Cornelius performs an operation. The closeness this brings him to the bishop’s household soon draws Cornelius into the city’s power struggles between Mayor Junius and the councilors on one side and the despotic bishop on the other. When the superstitious testimony of a young person leads to the arrest of several women suspected of witchcraft, Bishop Fuchs von Dornheim and his henchman, the heartless inquisitor Herrenberger, begin a witch hunt in Bamberg. Innocent women fall into the hands of the Inquisition, where they are tortured and executed. Fuchs von Dornheim, who does not pursue the trials out of personal conviction, soon exploits the general hysteria as a way to remove Junius and his supporters from the city council. The outspoken councilors end up in Herrenberger’s torture chambers. Cornelius Weinmann, who as a physician is tasked with examining suspected individuals for witches’ marks, soon discovers the intrigue at work, but can do nothing about it. When he has to watch Johanna fall into Herrenberger’s hands and face accusation as a witch, he can no longer stand by and do nothing. He flees the city and returns to Vienna to ask Emperor Ferdinand to put a stop to Bishop Dornheim and his henchmen. The emperor, having little interest in the matter, promptly has Cornelius arrested and orders that he be handed over to Dornheim. However, the vigorous help of a courtier whose child Cornelius had saved from death keeps the young physician from being handed over. The witch hysteria is brought to an end. Johanna is freed and now hears Cornelius confess his love for her. At the moment of crisis, Bishop Dornheim shifts the blame onto his subordinate, Auxiliary Bishop Friedrich Förner. In the closing credits, Dornheim leaves Bamberg in his splendid carriage.