Familie Buchholz (1944)

Berlin in the imperial era, toward the end of the 19th century. For a long time, Berlin housewife Wilhelmine Buchholz was content with her fulfilling role as a mother of two and a wife. Now she has developed ambitions to make a name for herself as a writer. Her unfinished first novel, “The Buchholz Family,” reflects the world around her, and many of her friends and acquaintances appear in it as well. After taking an initial look at it, Wilhelmine’s publisher, Julius Stinde, is enthusiastic about this vivid family chronicle. In other respects, too, Wilhelmine, the head of the family, is as capable as she is no-nonsense. With great organizational talent, she also “runs” the lives of her husband Carl and their two daughters, Emmi and Betti, almost as a matter of course. Her only real challenge and constant nemesis is Kathinka Bergfeldt, a friend of Wilhelmine’s who is both gossipy and pushy. Emmi and Betti are now of marriageable age, and Wilhelmine Buchholz is very keen to find them well-off and respectable husbands. Dr. Franz Wrenzchen, a physician, and Emmi love each other—a match Wilhelmine initially approves of, until a trivial matter greatly displeases her. Suddenly, she has several objections to Wrenzchen. But Wilhelmine soon finds a worthy opponent in the smart young doctor, who is not in the least willing to let himself be pushed around by the resolute, overprotective mother. Betti’s boyfriend Emil, a good-for-nothing from a respectable family, quickly proves to be a complete failure, however. He is lazy and greedy, and shows no inclination to work on these character flaws. When he feels too much is being asked of him, he leaves Betti and looks around for another bride. Deeply hurt, Betti eventually yields to the attentions of the painter Holle, who has been courting her for some time, and goes out with him. Her mother, Wilhelmine, was deliberately not told, since she does not consider Holle good enough for Betti. On the day of Emmi’s wedding to her doctor, Holle sets off for Italy to perfect his artistic skills there. Wilhelmine Buchholz must, on the one hand, do everything she can to comfort Betti, who seems utterly heartbroken, while on the other, the recent events in her family have given her plenty of material to finish her novel.