German and Austrian Royalty
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- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsHelmut BergerRomy SchneiderTrevor HowardThe reign of the tormented Ludwig, king of Bavaria, from 1864 to 1886.
- DirectorErnst MarischkaStarsRomy SchneiderKarlheinz BöhmMagda SchneiderIn the first of a trilogy of movies about Elisabeth "Sissi" of Austria, the vibrant young princess catches the eye of her sister's fiancé, Emperor Franz Josef.
- DirectorErnst MarischkaStarsRomy SchneiderKarlheinz BöhmMagda SchneiderThe second in a trilogy of movies about Elisabeth "Sissi" of Austria, the film chronicles the married life of the young empress as she tries to adjust to formal and strict life in the palace and an overbearing mother-in-law.
- DirectorErnst MarischkaStarsRomy SchneiderKarlheinz BöhmMagda SchneiderThe final film in a highly romanticized trilogy about Elisabeth "Sissi" of Austria finds the young empress traveling throughout Europe.
- CreatorNatalie AltmannStarsJacob TierneyTerri HawkesTerrence ScammellThe smart and beautiful Sissi does everything to be with her beloved charming Prince Franz, but many people try to stop the couple from living happily ever after...
- StarsMax von ThunVittoria PucciniOmar SharifA retelling of the tragic love affair between Austrian Archduke Rudolf and Baroness Mary Vetsera.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsOmar SharifCatherine DeneuveJames MasonBased on real life events that led to tragic deaths of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his lover Baroness Mary Vetsera.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsCharles BoyerDanielle DarrieuxMarthe RégnierRudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, is fettered on all sides. He's bored; his father, the emperor, is domineering; his politics are more liberal than his father's, but he knows his views carry no weight. He agrees to marry a princess to sire an heir, then spends his nights as a playboy. In 1888, he meets Marie Vetsera, 17, a baroness's daughter. She is resolute, smitten, and wants nothing in return for her love. The Prime Minister is alarmed; he contrives to have her sent away. Rudolf sinks into dissipation. When she returns, how will the lovers handle the opposition of society and their families? Can Rudolf find a way for them to be together?
- DirectorRudolf JugertStarsRudolf PrackChristiane HörbigerWinnie MarkusThe tragic 1889 Mayerling Incident in which Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, and his lover, Baroness Mary Vetsera, committed suicide.
- DirectorMarie NoëllePeter SehrStarsSabin TambreaSebastian SchipperHannah HerzsprungA dramatic retelling of the life of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, one of the most fascinating monarchs of modern times. From his accession to the throne at age 18 to his passionate support of Richard Wagner and his music; from his ingenuous political commitment to his obsessive construction of extravagant palaces and his gradual withdrawal into a lonely dream world. An epic narrative of breathtaking grandeur.
- DirectorHelmut KäutnerStarsO.W. FischerMarianne KochPaul BildtKing Ludwig II of Bavaria is frustrated, having to accept parliament's will to join Bismarck, rather he his cultured Habsburg friends, in wars. His love-life being as fruitless, he seeks comfort in art. But building fairytale castles and an even grander opera for his musical idol Wagner proves so expensive, his cabinet ends up resorting to formally challenging his mental health, plausible as his beloved brother Otto contracted schizophrenia earlier. Tragedy now lurks in Ludwig's prison-castle.
- DirectorOtto KreislerStarsOlaf FjordThea RosenquistEugen Preiß
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsWilliam DieterleTheodor LoosEugen BurgSecond of two German silents about the life of Bavarian king Ludwig II, a character who would much later also be the center of a film by Luchino Visconti.
- DirectorDonatello DubiniFosco DubiniStarsHelmut BergerMax TidofMichael SchillerIn 1881 Ludwig of Bavaria goes on a cruise on a Swiss lake. He takes with him a famous actor, Josef Kainz, to act out the scenes from a story which took place on the lake, at the actual locations.
- DirectorHans-Jürgen SyberbergStarsHarry BaerIngrid CavenHanna KöhlerThe story of the legendary King Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845-1886), his opera interest and friendship with theatre personalities such as Richard Wagner and Joseph Kainz, and at the same time a reflection of the German 1800s.
- DirectorRolf RafféStarsOskar BayrerFerdinand BonnKarl GuttenbergerThe fateful last days in the life of King Ludwig II of Bavaria.
- DirectorJeff TudorStarsMara GaleazziEdward Watson
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsEdwige FeuillèreJohn LodgeAimé ClariondIn the late 1800's, Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, falls for Sophie Chotek, a Czech countess. He's already a problem to the Crown because of his political ideas; this love affair with someone not of royal blood breeches protocol. The Crown allows the union only after the couple agrees to a morganatic marriage. The emperor further neutralizes Franz by making him inspector general of the army, sending him afield for months at a time. In June of 1914, fearing for his safety, Sophie seeks permission to accompany Franz to Sarajevo; protocol dictates that no army troops attend Franz while she is present. An assassin strikes. Their deaths spark World War I.
- DirectorJean DelannoyStarsJean MaraisDominique BlancharClaude FarellOn the morning of January 30, 1889, the Archduke Rodolphe de Habsbourg and his mistress Marie Vetsera were found dead. The remains of Rodolphe are discreetly repatriated to Hofburg, while that of Mary is hastily thrown into the depths of a tomb.
- CreatorJohn ElliotStarsMichael HordernCharles KayBarry FosterThe collapse of three great European dynasties: the Romanovs, the Habsburgs, and the Hohenzollerns.
- StarsClemens KienastCristiana CapotondiDavid RottAustrian Emperor Franz Joseph falls in love with young Elisabeth. It's love at first sight but Franz Joseph's mother Sophie doesn't approve of the relationship.
- DirectorJean-Daniel VerhaegheStarsArielle DombasleStéphane AudranDidier BezaceThe last three days in the life of Elizabeth of Austria before her assassination
- 2007–7.8 (7)TV EpisodeStarsStéphane BernJean des CarsHortense DufourAbout the life, love, glory and ultimately unhappiness of Sissi, the empress of Austria.
- StarsStéphane Bern
- DirectorDavid JankowskiStarsStéphane BernAbout Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 is generally seen as the event marking the outbreak of Word War One.
- DirectorAntoine De MeauxStarsStéphane BernDominique AlibertGeneviève Bührer-ThierryAbout Charlemagne, the first ruler of the Holy Roman Empire in the 8th and early 9th century.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsMartine CarolPeter UstinovAnton WalbrookWhen she is reduced to appearing in a circus, a notorious beauty thinks back on her past loves.
- StarsChristian BrendelAnny DupereyLino CapolicchioYoung Charlemagns is placed on the Frankish throne in the middle of the 8th Century A.D. Despite having many powerful enemies he slowly unites the nations of Western Europe and rebuilds civilization on the ruins of the Roman Empire.
- DirectorWolfgang LiebeneinerStarsRuth LeuwerikDieter BorscheBernhard WickiThe life of Luise de Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of Frederick Wilhelm II of Prussia, and her opposition to Napoleon during the Napoleonic Wars.
- 1999–TV Episode
- DirectorChristian TwenteRobert WiezorekStarsAndré KaczmarczykHans MittermüllerHans-Michael KörnerKing Ludwig II mounted the Bavarian throne at 19 at his father's death. His political ambition was to maintain Bavaria as truly sovereign member of the German League of 39 states established after the Vienna Congress. To resist the aggressive Prussian expansion of chancellor Bismarck, he had to side with Habsburg Austria, but was defeated on the battle field and reduced to a Prussian protectorate and forced to join the war against Napoleon III's France, which lead to the Prussian Hohenzollern dynasty being declared German emperors. Ludwig withdrew in wild plans, as an absolutist island realm on Tenerife, and a crushingly expensive fantasy world of staged luxury, championed by castles such as Neuschwanstein and the Wagner theatre, soon running up a huge debt guaranteed by the treasury. The government ended up interning him as mentally incapacitated. His castle lake drowning, aged 40, with his psychiatrist, possibly a suicide related to his gay frustration, remains the stuff of legends.
- DirectorChristian TwenteCarsten GutschmidtMartin Carazo MendezStarsJens SchäferHans MittermüllerStefan WeinfurterCharlemagne, son of a new dynasty started as ministers of the former Merovingian kings of the Franks, turned his people's realm into a Germanic empire, a Catholic rebirth of western Rome's, politically rivaling Byzantium, in alliance with the papacy. The Carolingian renaissance, a cultural restoration, was a huge success, ultimately founding a capital in Aachen. A major 'internal' obstacle was the resistance of heathen tribes, the largest of which were the Saxons. Their greatest leader, Widukind, was ultimately pressed to baptism rather then continue bloody oppression to impose conversion. The German people was thus forged, although major tribal realms would persist as duchies/electorates.
- DirectorChristian FeyerabendDaniel SichStarsMichael PinkOlaf B. RaderStefan WeinfurterFrederick II Hohenstaufen was an enlightened, tolerant, yet absolute king in the Neopolitan realm of the two Sicilies where he studied nature and science from Moors in self-designed castles. Having succeed as German king, he embarked on election as Holy Roman emperor but tired of the quarrelsome electors' endless mistrusting meddling, basically retiring to Italy. Pope Innocent IV condemned the hedonistic falconer fiercely for consorting with infidels, even after he successfully led the Sixth crusade and negotiated without great bloodshed the return of Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem with the sultan's emir (general).
- DirectorChristian TwenteRobert WiezorekStarsChristoph JacobiHans MittermüllerBernd SchneidmüllerFuture Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV lost his father in the Hundred Years War on the loosing French side at the battle of Crécy. The heir of the house of Luxemburg made Prague in his rich home kingdom of Bohemia his splendid capital after gaining the imperial election and surviving rival elector Louis the Bavarian's bid in a civil war. Even worse was the arrival in his reign of the Black Death, which killed one to two third of many city and regional populations in and around the empire, with grim side effects such as pogroms, which mainly wiped out debts to Jewish moneylenders. Charles established a negotiated method for the imperial election, enshrined in a Golden Bulla.
- DirectorCarsten GutschmidtRobert WiezorekStarsJirí MachácekHans MittermüllerOlaf B. RaderAugust the strong, so called on account of his physical strength and virility in bed, was the most famous and ambitious elector of Saxony, a quiet and wealthy part of pre-united Germany. He had many children from numerous mistresses, one of which tried to blackmail her way to the throne only to end up imprisoned even after his death. August was fashionably proud of his growing weight. He bought his election as king of Poland-Lithuania, a Catholic country so he converted, to his people's horror and wrecking his marriage. His political ambitions were crushed as anti-Swedish ally of the loosing Prussian-Russian side in the Nordic Wars, which spilled into partially wrecked Saxony. Yet he regained the throne and spent even more, partially profits from Maissen's novel porcelain, on a lavish Versailles-style capital, Dresden, arts and spoiling courtiers and aristocracy in general. Despite his treasury drain and political failure, his cultural legacy remains among Germany's grandest.
- DirectorChristian TwenteStephan KoesterRobert WiezorekStarsDavid C. BunnersHans MittermüllerGerd AlthoffCharlemagne, king of the Franconian tribe, founded the Holy Roman Empire, but is disintegrated by dividing succession without creating a nation, hence he's revered equally by Germany and France (East - viz. West Francia). Father of the medieval German nation, till then little more then a linguistic grouping of the Franconian, Saxon, Bavarian and Swabian (alias Allemannen) tribes (and duchies, the real political entities) was the Saxon duke Otto I, crowned king by the archbishop of Mainz (Mayence) in 961. His authority rested upon the successful defense of Germany, and all Western Europe, against the Magyar (Hungarian) invaders, with whom his brother, the Swabian duke, had allied himself in rivalry for the succession, in the decisive battle on the Lachfeld, mythically ascribed to a Holy Lance, part of the German insignia, actually Carolingian but associated with the Passion of Christ. Later Otto turned to Italy, where he was crowned Roman Emperor by the pope, thus defining the Holy Rman Empire of the German Nation, and the German people got its name, after the Ancient Teutonic tribe. To gain Byzantinian recognition, Otto wed his son Otto II with princess Theophane.
- DirectorChristian TwenteStephan KoesterRobert WiezorekStarsMickey HardtHans MittermüllerStefan WeinfurterGerman king Henry IV, future emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, was orphaned young and traumatized during his mother's regency and his own kidnapping till majority by the imperial bishops and princes. When the reformist monk Hldebrandt became pope Gregory IV, declared only the Holy Chair superior by divine right to all earthly monarchs and denied them the investiture (right to install bishops, traditionally the emperor-loyal counterweight to feudal dynasties), Henry started a power struggle. Excommunicated, Henry had to beg readmission to the church at Canossa castle, but once that was obtained, suppressed the rebellious imperial princes and bishops in war. Later he even installed an anti-pope, who crowned Henry Holy Roman emperor, while Gregory died in exile and a compromise allowed the monarchs to install the bishops concerning all temporal privileges of their sees.
- DirectorChristian TwenteStephan KoesterRobert WiezorekStarsBernd GnannHans MittermüllerStefan WeinfurterFrederic I Barbarossa, whose (Hohen) Staufian dynasty's 'home duchies' were in the Southwest, successfully unestablished himself as German king when his cousin duke Henry the Lion, of the northern main duchy Saxony's Welfian dynasty, helped him subdue Italy -horribly sacking mighty Milan, which held out last- and the pope crowned him Roman Emperor in 1155. Frederic's grand dynastic wedding to the Burgundian duke's daughter was followed by a dispute over a papal address using 'beneficium', which can mean either favor or feudal grant, to which he responded proclaiming the empire itself Holy, held from God directly. Henry's loyalty was rewarded with the Bavarian duchy, while he extended the empire east by subduing Slavic heathens, but later his de facto rival power and refusal to enter another campaign to subdue the Italian cities lead to a confrontation and Henry's undoing. Frederic's glory ended as drowned crusader.
- DirectorOlaf GötzStephan KoesterErica von MoellerStarsYasmina DjaballahUlrich WiggersHans MittermüllerFrederic II the Great of Prussia and the contemporary Habsburg imperial couple, archduchess Maria Theresia and husband Francis, rivaled for preeminence in the German heartland of the empire. Frederic modeled his capital Berlin on Versailles, Vienna was Europe's grandest royal city. Frederic's superior army, an immense burden on his small population, performed superbly in great wars, mainly over Silesia and Saxony. Still, they were excessive risks, possibly the result of a most frustrated youth as sensitive, culture-hungry crown prince abused by a brutish father who even executed his best friend. The rivalry was key in European alliances. Maria Theresia had to be bailed out by her Hungarian nobility.
- DirectorRicarda SchlosshanStarsBenjamin MorikAndrei RuncanuUdo SchenkGerman emperor Wilhelm (William) II dreams of a colonial empire rivaling the other great European powers' overseas territories, but is simply too late. Still he and his government manage to build a fast-growing, modern, rich homeland with a strong army and a rising navy. His and French emperor Napoleon III's vanity play a part, like Bismarck's system of balancing alliances, in the outbreak of the Great War, the first nightmare worthy to be called a 'world war', ignited in the Balkanic powder keg by his Austrian major ally's escalating conflicting with Serbia and its Russian protector. Instead of the intended fast victory, it bogged down in the trenches nightmare and brought down empires and dynasties, including Hohenstaufen's own, after his generals took over political control.
- DirectorPeter SchamoniStarsMario AdorfDonald ArthurArthur BraussDocumentary about the last German emperor Wilhelm II, who was also the first German film star.
- 1994–TV EpisodeDirectorMichael GregorStarsNedin FloraHorst SternKlaus Piontek
- 1994–TV Episode
- DirectorLuise Wagner-RoosStarsBruno F. ApitzFlorentine WeissKatharina AbtThe legendary Saxon elector Friedrich August I 'the Strong' ruled since his elder brother's early death in 1694. His private cabinet chief, Count von Fleming, left records on the Saxon "sultan's" Machiavellian power play and court life. A crucial part of this was buying the votes of the Polish people to become its king, after converting strictly Lutheran Saxony to Catholicism, against his Prussian wife. This required a tax reform, after breaking the estates' power by uncovering corruption. He won little real power, but imperial trappings and glory. August turned his 'provincial' capital Dresden into the Versailles on the Elbe. A war against Sweden with Russia was nearly fatal.
- DirectorNina SteinhauserStarsMarion Mitterhammer
- DirectorOswald DöpkeStarsGerd BöckmannHans HesslingAlf Marholm
- DirectorPhil JutziStarsOtto GebührHans MierendorffWalter Kynast
- DirectorPhil JutziStarsTheodor LoosKarl MeixnerHans Schneider
- DirectorWalter EdwinStarsBarry O'MooreMary FullerCharles SuttonThe story opens in Frederick's youth. His father, Frederick William, was a rough, burly man, fond of outdoor sport, a hearty eater and a heavy drinker. Because his son was frail and delicate and more interested in intellectual matters than in sport and hearty living, Frederick William hated him. He forced Frederick to drink and smoke, and on one occasion when the boy defied him on the subject of a favorite flute, attempted to strangle his son with a window-cord. From these joyless days we shift to the tragic death of the old king, hastened by the receipt of an insulting message from the Austrian emperor. With his dying breath, Frederick William besought his son to avenge him. Frederick heaped coals of fire on the head of his dead father by laying Austria waste in the terrible Seven Years' War. Amalie, Frederick's sister, fell in love with Baron Trenck at first sight, and their love that started in the palace garden at Sans Souci lasted all their lives. But if it started with roses and moonlight, it ended with ashes and rue, for years later Trenck was imprisoned by Frederick on a charge of high treason. Amalie pleaded for her lover, but in vain. The king was obdurate. "Even as you have taken from me the only thing I loved," cried the poor princess, "so may God deal with you, brother." Frederick did not have long to wait for the fulfillment of his sister's prayer. The discovery that Voltaire, the great French philosopher, whom the king had honored with his friendship, was playing traitor, nearly broke Frederick's heart. A tremendously dramatic scene shows the king reviewing his army for the last time, and raising his trembling hand to the salute as the flag passes. Last of all, the great king, lonely for all his greatness, is talking to two little peasant children in the grounds before his palace.
- DirectorJohannes MeyerStarsOtto GebührHilde KörberLil DagoverIn 18th century Europe, King Friedrich II of Prussia leads his army through the seven-years-war with neighboring states, and after numerous near defeats, eventually brings a victorious army back to Berlin.
- DirectorGeorg JacobyStarsMarika RökkWolf Albach-RettyMaria EisEmperor Joseph II escapes the intrigues of his court. In Transylvania Baroness Christine mistakes his adjutant Kleber for the emperor and falls for him. Her love letter leads to her being summoned as a suitable bride for the real emperor.
- 1999–TV EpisodeDirectorDirk OttoStarsIsabelle GerwigSascha GluthMilena Jung
- DirectorRenzo MartinelliStarsRutger HauerRaz DeganF. Murray AbrahamGerman Emperor Barbarossa will stop at nothing to conquer and build his empire. But a young man from Milan, along with his army of 900 men known as the Company of Death, is prepared to challenge the Emperor.
- DirectorRudolf NussgruberStarsGert FröbePeter FrickeGünter Strack
- DirectorAndreas ProchaskaKurt MündlStarsFlorian TeichtmeisterHeino FerchMelika ForoutanOn June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is in Sarajevo with his wife, Sophie. While through the city by car, they are victims of an attack and die. This is the trigger of the First World War.
- DirectorAndreas ProchaskaKurt MündlStarsFlorian TeichtmeisterHeino FerchMelika ForoutanOn June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is in Sarajevo with his wife, Sophie. While through the city by car, they are victims of an attack and die. This is the trigger of the First World War.
- DirectorDavid LeveauxStarsLily JamesJai CourtneyChristopher PlummerA German soldier tries to determine if the Dutch resistance has planted a spy to infiltrate the home of Kaiser Wilhelm in Holland during the onset of World War II, but falls for a young Jewish Dutch woman during his investigation.