3 Films & TV Shows Set In Germany During The 16th Century
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The Death of the White Stallion
🇩🇪 Germany The 16th CenturyThis somewhat superficial historical drama is about the 1525 Peasants' War in Germany when the lower classes rebelled against oppressive conditions imposed by the clergy and nobility and then committed many acts (including atrocities) that did not morally set them far apart from the people they were fighting. It was a time of upheaval: Martin Luther (1483-1556) had broken away from the Catholic Church, calling for reform, and Anabaptists in Germany, like Thomas Munzer fought on the side of the peasants (opposed by Luther). This complex age and its political and religious turmoil are summed up in a story about an attack on a small monastery whose monks used a forged document to confiscate some land from the peasants. When their wrong-doing is revealed by the monk who forged the document in the first place, the peasants attack.
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Jörg Ratgeb - Maler
🇩🇪 Germany The 16th CenturyThe painter Joerge Ratgeb was a contemporary of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). Based on the evidence in paintings discovered to be Ratgeb's work, and on fragments of the historical record, he is believed to have been one of the rare craftsmen who supported the Peasant's War (1524-26). This East German film recounts his efforts as an ancient ally in struggles prefiguring the rise of communism and workers' movements. In the film, set in 1517, Ratgeb (a resident of Herrenberg) has been asked by the peasant's group to paint a flag for them for their coming protests, but he refuses, claiming he is an artist, not a politician. During a trip to visit Albrecht Dürer, who is his artistic hero, he has occasion to see the oppression of the peasants and serfs and comes to believe that something must be done.
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Thomas Müntzer
🇩🇪 Germany The 16th CenturyIn 1523, young Thomas Müntzer arrives with his wife Ottilie in the Thuringian village Allstedt to assume the rectorate. As a follower of Luther′s teachings, he finds in the Bible not only reasons for clerical, but also for secular reforms. But when Luther turns away from the rural population after a discord with Müntzer, it is Müntzer who becomes the peoples′ spokesman. He is forced to go to Southern Germany, where he convenes with revolting farmers. But his way leads him back to Thuringia. In 1525, he and Heinrich Pfeiffer form the centre of the Thuringian peasant uprising in Mühlhausen, but their success is diminished by the fact that peasants and craftsmen don′t seem to be able to work together. In Frankenhausen, Müntzer becomes the leader of a peasants′ army that is set to fighting the ruler′s army – and sustains a devastating loss. Müntzer is arrested and sentenced to death by decapitation for his insurgency.
