Original subtitles

Nurses and attendants.

Don't follow the false doctrine that's told everywhere now,

even by the doctors at Charité.

The fact that one believed he'd found some bacilli...

...didn't get us a step closer to healing diseases.

The body has to heal itself...

...with good nursing and the help of God.

It seems the demon of so-called progress has settled in the women's ward.

A tidying hand is needed.

That's why Sister Therese is taking over management.

Nursing mustn't know rest, frustration, or disgust.

If you wash the sick, remove excretions, watch them at night, or scour the floor,

every job is equally important.

Even our savior humbly carried his cross.

And never forget what Charité means.

Charity!

Right then. Get to work!

Special edition! Special edition!

The Crown Prince had an operation in San Remo.

-Thanks. -Thank you.

Special edition!

PART ONE CHARITY

Hello.

-The name? -Weidemann.

Don't look at it.

-Stop pushing! -Get in line.

Please.

Didn't you hear me?

Come with me.

What are you doing?

Dr. Ehrlich!

What's your name?

Make way!

-Ida. -Ida!

Ida what? Do you have a surname?

Careful.

She has fever and pain in the left abdomen.

I suspect an acute appendicitis.

Call the porters. she needs surgery.

I'm sure the girl has no money.

Direct payer or insured? Direct payers are 3 Marks a day.

She has an appendicitis. We'll use her for teaching purposes.

Bergmann will operate.

-The Professor isn't even here. -Dr. Behring can also do it.

-Not Dr. Beh... -Pardon?

-Not Dr. Behring. -He'll take care of you.

Porters!

Behring, it's an emergency.

I've no time.

But the patient seems to know you.

She insisted on not being treated by you.

I've more important things to do. A meeting with Professor Koch.

But Professor von Bergmann isn't there and it's acute appendicitis.

How could you resist?

No matter how revolutionary this new operation method is,

I won't risk my career with Professor Koch for it.

And Von Bergmann just arrived.

With the imperial carriage? That means he's returned

from San Remo with the Crown Prince's larynx sample.

He won't have time to operate.

-Where's assistant nurse, Stine? -I don't know.

Stop!

Unknown patient, about 18 years old, high fever.

Write down: Lenze, Ida Lenze.

What are you staring at?

Take her to theater.

I'll demonstrate an appendectomy.

An operation on a patient in this state?

She'll die anyway. You want to kill her faster?

Let me worry about that!

You want to take out her caecum.

No proof that it heals the bowel.

Cold wraps are far more effective.

Respecting your superficial knowledge,

only the appendage of the caecum is inflamed.

It must be removed for the patient to recover.

If it isn't too late and the inflammation got to the abdominal cavity.

So, hurry up!

-Are you finally ready? -Almost.

Gentlemen!

Let's never forget how much easier operations have become with chloroform.

In the military there were operations without anesthesia.

Professor Von Bergmann and I only did a few of these operations.

We were first in Berlin,

and the survival rate of our patients was encouraging.

Tischendorf, don't sleep! Retractors!

The appendix is cut off at the bridge to the caecum.

The remaining stump is sewn with a purse-string suture.

Hold the retractors correctly.

Seems civilian Tischendorf doesn't like blood.

Only an appendectomy can save you from an appendicitis.

This patient also has high fever.

20% is the highest survival rate.

If she survives the next 24 hours and the fever drops,

she might have a chance.

Here.

The corpus delicti.

Tischendorf, you sissy.

He'll call you names now, you cannon fodder.

But there are better things.

-Really? -Yes.

The empire's destiny is on our mind.

Does anyone care about exclusive news

that concern Prince Frederick's health?

Une Section du larynx.

Laryngectomy.

The French show the German heir to the throne

in such a compromising state.

Lese majesty. From where, Minckwitz?

Von Minckwitz.

Aristocratic snot.

Never mind lese majesty, they're all curious.

Caretaker Edith? This is my cousin, Mariechen.

What are you doing?

A bed lodger impregnated her. But they already have 6 people to feed.

The father's dead, mother's a prostitute.

Have mercy with the poor baby.

Somebody has to abort it.

Stine, a doctor goes to prison for that.

Don't ask anyone here, or you'll be dismissed.

You should ask around the students.

They like to take care of their antics themselves.

-Gentlemen! -Good morning, Professor Virchow!

Student Tischendorf will give you

an exact description of this lung now.

Tuberculosis of the lung.

Both the left and the right lung are infected

and some spots are caseated.

So it was consumption.

But how did that 17-year-old worker die?

You overlooked the tuberculous erosion of the pulmonary artery, here.

So the guy bled to death.

You can sit down again.

But what lead to him getting sick and therefore to his death?

Nothing but his poor living conditions,

his lack of education, his hunger,

his life in a humid backyard flat,

where every bed is rented to two or three lodgers

and 40 people share one privy.

So we mustn't wonder that

every fourth person in Berlin now dies of tuberculosis.

Yes.

Von Minckwitz, Professor.

Don't Professor Koch's research findings prove

that this epidemic is caused by bacilli?

Yes and the earth is probably flat.

Privy Councilor Virchow, let's not delay.

Professor Von Bergman is expecting you now.

He comes from Crown Prince Frederick.

Excuse me, gentlemen. My fatherland needs me. Let's go.

Frederick?

So?

I can't see any cancer cells.

Are you sure you took the sample at the right place?

But his Highness definitely had cancer.

That may be true, but I can only verify what I see.

Really? So, there is no tumor in his larynx?

-The laryngectomy was superfluous? -Virchow, use your common sense.

His Highness almost choked.

And the picture in the newspaper is nonsense.

His Highness was operated on in his bed because the Crown Princess was adamant

for her husband to lie on the table.

You can't operate like that.

What happens if Prince Frederick has laryngeal cancer?

Hopefully he'll renounce the throne. It's for the best.

Honestly, Fritz as the Kaiser is a disaster.

But Frederick's son can't become Emperor.

-Why? -He's hardly older than us.

Wilhelm is 28 and full of energy.

And he's national, that's what counts.

See you, Tischendorf.

Good sir, my cousin Mariechen needs the talents of a gentleman like yourself.

A little procedure that can undo mistakes.

An abortion?

-That's forbidden. -Then I'll kill myself.

I'm not a real doctor yet.

I wouldn't know how.

Here, feel the ill-treated heart in my bosom.

You can do anything with me, if only you get rid of Mariechen's child.

Please excuse me.

Privy Councilor!

There you are, Councilor!

I have to send a telegram to Crown Prince Frederick.

Sure, no problem.

Can you say anything?

With all due respect, the medical secrecy doesn't allow me to say anything.

It would be a blessing if Frederick became the Emperor.

He'd finally push through the necessary reforms.

Plans for a new sewerage and the bill

to restrict child employment are already in my drawer.

Put in a good word for our desolate Charité.

We urgently need to modernize.

What use are our best surgeons

if they operate in candlelight.

The only ones that don't complain are the corpses in my pathology.

We'd need a drawing card like Professor Koch.

-Well. -Then we'd get money.

Bacteriology is the future. Trust me.

I think you're backing the wrong horse.

So far I can't see any practical use of his hygiene institute.

The man is no clinician.

His bacteriology will probably be history in two years.

Come with me.

This is Professor Virchow, head of the Charité's pathological institute.

-Can you hear me? -Loud and clearly.

I'm talking via manager Spinola's device

and would like to send a telegram.

To his Majesty, Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia

in San Remo, Zirio mansion. This is the text:

"The roses bloom.

Virchow."

Did you get that?

Yes, you understood me. Goodbye.

Now you hang up.

Please.

I'd never thought you're one of the 99 fools

in Berlin who'd have such a device.

So far it's hardly been useful.

But I'm convinced of the telephone's future.

I don't think it'll catch on.

People enjoy talking more face to face.

My dear Virchow. Your expression speaks volumes.

Come on.

Medical secrecy aside.

Can we hope for the Prince to recover?

-Give the ball to me. -Here.

Yes, shoot.

Can't I stay with you, Stine? I'm so afraid.

You know that it's forbidden for the caretakers to have visitors at night.

You have to go to your siblings, too.

Chin up! If six people can be fed, a seventh one won't be a problem.

What will happen to me if nobody aborts the child?

Don't do anything stupid.

How many do you think I've seen

who had their kids aborted and crawled here half-dead?

Go home now.

Careful!

-Very good. -Thanks.

-Thanks. -Professor Koch? Am I intruding?

Ehrlich! Come in!

What have you got there?

My latest vital stain. Look at this.

-Indophenol blue. -And Alizarin blue.

Indophenol blue is in organs with high oxygen saturation

and alizarin blue in others.

This means colors don't form the same everywhere.

Certain colors can visualize certain organs.

If that finding could be used in medicine,

the effect would only develop in the diseased organ and nowhere else.

That... That's brilliant.

When did you find out?

After work, at home.

Professor Gerhardt, thinks this is humbug.

Come to my laboratory and work there.

Are you serious?

I'm hardly making progress with my cure for tuberculosis.

Now that the congress is getting closer, I could do with your support.

It would be like Christmas and Hanukah on the same day.

May I take that as a yes? I'm glad we have a deal.

I've got one more question.

Why is the press allowed to print that lese majesty?

The medicinal imagination of the press is quite adventurous.

They even said that all His Highness' teeth had to be removed

to reach his throat.

That's not by a doctor, not even by an English one.

I won't laugh.

Where do these indiscretions

about the Crown Prince's health come from?

I'd bet my shirt on the discretion of Bramann.

He had to do the laryngectomy before I even arrived in San Remo.

All the time he had a loaded revolver with him

for suicide if it went wrong.

Maybe done similar.

Let's hope the Crown Prince will recover soon,

and influence the empire's history.

Well...

Dr. Ehrlich.

-Behring! -What are you doing here?

Where's Professor Koch?

He just left.

You could at least be honest and admit

you spoiled my meeting with Koch to get promotion yourself.

You imposed that appendicitis patient.

Even I can't magic up an emergency to get on your nerves.

Yes, please?

Dr. Emil Behring, staff surgeon

and physician with the Graf Werder.

I'm currently a surgeon.

Professor Koch wanted a meeting.

Which you missed. Give me that.

But when will he... I mean...

Prof. Koch has applicants everywhere.

Yes, but no one like me.

It's time, Miss Freiberg.

Thanks.

Any time.

Master Graef? You're painting Professor Koch?

I adore that man.

Wait a sec.

Here.

A plate with a picture of him.

Excuse me, but from an artistic point of view that is rather poor.

Tell me, what's the Privy Councilor like?

What am I supposed to say?

He's thoughtful, almost melancholic.

The classic portrait of a hero seems a bit misplaced for that.

But he is a hero.

I read about how he returned from India

and discovered the cause of cholera.

From swampy, humid, cholera-ridden countries, you've returned home.

Now you may breed bacilli

and enjoy the fruits of your journey for a long time.

But fame and thankfulness shall reach you, father of bacilli, Koch.

Is that from your new play?

Master Graef, do you think

Professor Koch could be interested in my music?

Please don't...

Almost 42 degrees?

She won't die, right?

Please don't...

Restlessness is a sign of pain. Give her opium.

So? Could you find a student for Mariechen?

We women always solve it on our own.

Could you lend me your sewing scissors, Edith?

Look, Prince Frederick with his whole family.

For five pfennigs? The whole monarchy isn't worth that.

Edith.

The public doesn't care if it's Fritz, Wilhelm, or Waldemar.

The emperor can go to hell.

You could end up in prison.

The light should be off by now.

And Stine? Your cousin Marie has been admitted.

Mariechen, what have you done?

-What's wrong with her? -Lower leg fracture on both legs.

-She fell out of the window. -Impossible.

You didn't...

The children asked for you, Miss Ida.

I miss them as well.

You should recover as soon as possible.

I heard that the principalities already thought about employing a new nanny.

Why? Tell them that I'll get to work again tomorrow.

You can't leave tomorrow.

Sister Therese, please. I have to.

Miss Lenze just escaped death.

Tell your employers that.

And if he wants her to leave the Charité soon, he shall pay her medical costs.

Well, I just wanted to say...

I have to get back now.

Could you please give me my clothes, so I can leave? Tomorrow?

-Otherwise I'll lose my job. -Me too, Miss Lenze.

Everything will be fine. Trust in God.

Good morning.

Dr. Behring's sent me.

He wants to show your recovery to Professor Von Bergmann personally.

Dr. Behring was here?

You were lucky he operated on you.

Only Bergmann and him can do this new procedure.

I can't remember anything.

Sister?

We did an appendectomy.

You removed my caecum.

How do you know?

I'm the daughter of a Doctor.

Well, your father should have sent you a little earlier.

My father's dead.

Sorry for being tactless.

Georg Tischendorf.

I had the honor to assist during your operation.

Good you're improving.

Private talk with the patients isn't proper.

What's she doing here?

The poor soul tried one sin with another.

Miss Lenze.

To be honest, I didn't dare to hope I could present you alive again.

Thanks, Tischendorf.

Your chances were around 20%.

So I owe you now?

Or should I say we're quits?

Don't worry, I'll leave the Charité tomorrow.

Maybe you want to take a look at the corpus delicti that almost took your life.

How exactly is the surgery performed?

How do you close the wound after the appendix has been removed?

How do you stop the bleeding?

Well... You have strange interests for a woman.

Good morning, gentlemen.

What have we got, Dr. Behring?

18-year-old patient. Inflammation of the appendix vermicularis.

Quite challenging, due to the risk of perforation.

Post-operative healing?

Complicated.

Her temperature was near 41 degrees Celsius for 36 hours.

It went down into the sub-febrile area.

Quick and spontaneous return.

Well done colleague.

Gentlemen!

Unfortunately, too few colleagues master the appendectomy.

Some even doubt it being useful.

That way they leave the patient to the natural and mostly deadly process.

But we at the Charité will give the progress its break.

You can sit down again, Privy Councilor.

Thanks, Master Graef.

So?

How's your research going?

Well, Graef...

When I discovered the tuberculosis six years ago

I thought it would be easy to find a cure.

But even after hundreds of tests, I still have nothing.

I feel like a charlatan.

With a consumptive disease, you chose a powerful enemy.

My nymph's father died of it as well.

Who is that?

Hedwig Freiberg. A new young actress.

I can't remember the last time I went to theater.

My wife's not fond of that.

Miss Freiberg might be right then.

About what?

That I should give you this ticket.

She sends her regards.

Thanks.

Look at that.

I've a bed all for myself.

Our youngest, little Berta.

She's so glad she still has her big sister.

They need you. And Stine loves you as well.

I probably have a guardian angel. He'll help with the baby as well.

Alright! Visiting time will end in five minutes.

Five minutes.

Miss Lenze? Could you please follow me?

Why are you doing this to me?

You shouldn't leave yet.

Hurry up and you can leave the house with the visitors.

Stop there, Miss Lenze.

Who gave you your clothes?

I did, Matron Mother. Miss Lenze wants to go home.

I didn't know patients discharge themselves.

Have you checked whether the medical costs have been paid?

Not yet, Matron Mother.

-Holy Simplicity. -I can assure you

that the Zülows will pay my fee.

The money has already been sent.

If they didn't, I'll return tomorrow.

No, you'll stay until the money's here.

I'll send a message.

And we'll talk later.

♪ For eight groats, the mother ♪

♪ Is standing in the courtyard ♪

♪ To men and women alike ♪

♪ She gives a chamber Light and a bed ♪

♪ In Berlin, in Berlin ♪

♪ Where women cost money ♪

♪ In Berlin, in Berlin ♪

♪ Where women cost money ♪

♪ From time to time, after three days ♪

♪ She often feels regret ♪

♪ I don't feel too good after all that ♪

♪ Maybe I even got a souvenir ♪

♪ In Berlin, in Berlin ♪

♪ Let the evil men move on ♪

♪ In Berlin, in Berlin ♪

♪ Let the evil men move on ♪

See you tomorrow.

-Good night. -Good night.

Councilor Robert Koch.

It really is you.

I didn't dare you'd accept my invitation.

What an honor.

Congratulations, Miss Freiberg.

Great performance. I'm overwhelmed. I...

I've got a present for you.

Master Graef told me that you're interested in my work?

Yes.

Bacteriological investigations on different materials used as lingerie?

That sounds almost indecent, Councilor.

No, it's thoughts concerning hygiene.

I love hygiene.

What are you doing?

I'm reading.

What is the noble lady reading?

What, if I may ask?

Robert Koch gave it to me. Personally.

-Councilor Koch? -He was at the theater.

He wanted to see me on stage.

I can imagine what he wanted.

It's about hygiene. I think that's a very interesting topic.

Mum, don't look at me like that. You should read this.

Did you know that contact with old clothes and rags can transmit diseases?

It's all in there.

Okay, listen.

The Potsdam report by the government also says

that rags carried pox in two cases.

Others say that scarlet fever and diphtheria emerged from rags.

Is my cloth no good anymore?

Nonsense, mum.

You turned every rag into a beautiful evening dress.

Take care!

Such stories never end well.

He really likes me, mum.

Gentlemen!

When Berlin, Germany, and France's cathedral

ring at the same time as the castle's bells,

one of the royals must have died.

Who? The Emperor or the Crown Prince?

The Emperor's dead.

May he rest in peace.

Long live our new Emperor Frederick.

-God Almighty. -God Almighty.

We thank you for sending us illnesses as tests to purify us.

Don't just heal our bodies, but our souls.

...but our souls.

We ask you to help us endure the pain.

We need a Doctor for Mariechen.

Did she drink the alcoholic liniment?

Stine!

Stine!

It's impossible. You don't die from a broken leg.

So, my colleague. What was the cause of death?

I'd assume a lung embolism with heart failure.

I'd like to confirm Dr. Ehrlich's assumption.

The reason for a pulmonary embolism is usually

a leg-vein thrombosis.

In this case it was probably caused

by the immobilization after the lower leg fracture.

Excuse me.

It's unusual that the patient slurred before her death.

She would have been alive if I hadn't injected her.

An abortion? You?

With your surgical skill, she'd be just as dead now.

Gentlemen, I can show you a rarity now.

It really is a leg-vein thrombosis,

but due to a congenital defect of the cardiac septum,

the thrombus didn't get to the lungs, but the brain.

The resulting stroke explains why the patient slurred before her death.

Well, you won't see that again in the future.

Gentlemen, senior physician Ehrlich will leave us.

He'll become a rising star at the Robert Koch Institute.

Nothing's been decided yet.

And here's an interesting secondary finding.

A uterus gravid.

Which of you wants to dissect this embryo for our pathologic collection?

Careful!

I told patients that they have tuberculosis a thousand times,

but now that I myself am affected

I feel like an outcast.

Are you sure that it's tuberculosis?

With the amount you smoke, you have good reason to cough.

Breathing at the top of the lung are weaker,

the bloody sputum, the loss of weight.

We mustn't fool ourselves.

What shall we do now?

I have to get treatment.

Egypt would be best.

The climate is good for the healing process.

Some of my patients cured their tuberculosis entirely there.

I'll go with you.

-In your state? -We're doing fine.

And the girls?

They can stay with my parents.

I'll send mum a telegram.

Yes, fine.

Thanks.

Careful.

Your medical bills still haven't been paid.

The Zülows refused to pay you and sent the message that you're dismissed.

Our messenger was also given your report

and possessions with best wishes for the future.

So, you will have to settle your debt of 137.10 Marks

by working here as assistant nurse. You'll get third class rations

and work from 4:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day

and two night shifts per week. Sunday, time off from three till six.

But you're only allowed to go out with my permission.

Visitors prohibited.

Sister Therese, show her the bedroom and give her the uniform.

Miss Lenze is under your supervision, don't betray me again.

Turn her into a useful assistant nurse.

Hello, Doctor.

The school children only get one free loaf of bread a year.

On the Emperor's birthday.

Couldn't God wait a little longer?

Surely those two weeks weren't important.

The kids will have to wait for Emperor Frederick's birthday.

No, that's in October.

I'm afraid God won't wait until then again.

Whatever.

Miss Lenze.

I thought you'd been dismissed?

You'll have to cope with me a bit longer.

I must work my debts.

I'm sorry for that.

But after a while you'll realize that a hospital is quite interesting.

Maybe for you, but I'm an assistant nurse now.

If you hadn't failed me, I wouldn't be in this situation.

After all you saved my life,

so we're quits once and for all, Dr. Behring.

Subtitle translation by Ben Evans