Geliebtes Leben (1953)

Luise von Bolin receives a notice from the Red Cross saying that her husband Carl will arrive at the Friedland camp on July 13, 1947. She then tells her young granddaughter Karin that she will have to go away for a short time. As soon as she takes her seat on the train, her thoughts drift back to the past. Luise grew up in Posen around the turn of the century. The two sons of the neighboring estate’s owner, Baron von Bolin, were her best friends. Carl, the older brother, was impulsive and full of curiosity about the world; he was the complete opposite of his younger brother Joachim, who was exceptionally even-tempered. Joachim chose a career in diplomacy. Carl, to his father Colonel von Bolin’s great delight, instead chose to become an officer. At the time, both young men courted Luise. She liked them both and was unsure which one to choose. The forward Carl won her over, and they married. The couple had three children. When Carl was posted to the colonies again in 1905, this time for three years, he was glad, since the monotonous routine of married life had long ceased to suit him. Three years later, Luise received a letter in which Carl told her that he would stay in Africa to build a life for himself there, and would bring her and the children over later. Unlike Luise, who tried to understand Carl, Colonel von Bolin disapproved of his son’s behavior. He talked with his younger son Joachim about what should happen next. Luise, however, did not agree with the Colonel’s plans to send her to the family estate. She wanted to stand on her own feet and study medicine. Just as the young woman passed her preliminary medical examination in 1911, Carl returned and wanted to take his family with him. Luise was, of course, happy to go with him, but insisted on finishing her medical studies first, which would take another three years. So Carl went back alone. They planned to see each other again within three years at the latest, but things turned out differently. The First World War began in 1914. After the war ended and the Treaty of Versailles was signed, the family had to leave Posen in 1920 and moved to Berlin. Luise had heard nothing from her husband Carl since the outbreak of war. Her work as a doctor enabled her to support herself and her children through the postwar years and inflation. She also cared for her father-in-law, whose eyesight was steadily failing. One evening, while Luise was out with her brother-in-law Joachim, Carl returned. He had been interned. Carl was welcomed by his father, and the two reconciled. Carl’s own sons received him with mixed feelings, while Luise fainted when her husband suddenly appeared before her after such a long time. Once again, he found just the right words to touch Luise’s heart. They started over together and achieved a measure of prosperity. But then Hitler came to power, and Jürgen in particular joined the Nazis. He advised his sister Imke, who was engaged to von Hasselberg, a man disapproved of by the regime, to break off the engagement. Luise made sure her daughter could leave the country with her fiancé, whereupon Luise was arrested. Jürgen refused to comply with his father’s plea to do something for his mother, so his father threw him out of the house. Bolin managed to secure his wife’s release from prison. When he confessed to her that he had thrown Jürgen out, Luise was completely opposed. She continued to keep in touch with her son. Then the Second World War broke out, and Joachim von Bolin was chosen as a victim for a staged assassination attempt in Operation Wotan. It was Jürgen who warned his uncle in time, putting himself in the gravest danger, which led to his death. Luise, who believed her husband was partly to blame, and Carl then fell out, and Carl decided to go to war again to make amends for something. Luise set the letters she received from Carl aside unopened. Benno and Joachim von Bolin also fell. Then came the news that Carl had been taken prisoner. Luise now read Carl’s letters and prayed for her husband’s return. And now, at last, as the train comes to a stop, Luise sees her husband again. They embrace, glad that they still have each other.