Stream”Charité” on Netflix.

Synopsis: Penniless Ida(Alicia von Rittberg) is operated on as a patient at the Charité hospital and then has to work off her treatment costs as an auxiliary attendant under the bigoted regiment of deaconess Martha (Ramona Kunze-Libnow). In the process, she discovers her great passion for medicine. At a time when women had hardly any right to higher education, she is an unusually free and rebellious spirit, unwaveringly pursuing her path to a self-determined life. She meets outstanding physicians such as Rudolf Virchow(Ernst Stötzner) and the researchers and later Nobel Prize winners Robert Koch (Justus von Dohnány), Emil von Behring(Matthias Koeberlin) and Paul Ehrlich(Christoph Bach), who write medical history in strong competition with each other.

The screenplays were written by Grimme Award winner Dorothee Schön (“Frau Böhm sagt Nein”, “Der letzte schöne Tag”) together with doctor and medical journalist Dr. Sabine Thor-Wiedemann. There is a close dialog with Prof. Dr. med. Karl M. Einhäupl, Chairman of the Board of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Prof. Dr. Thomas Schnalke, Director of the Berlin Medical History Museum of the Charité, was available as a consultant for the extensive research. The creative team around Sönke Wortmann (“Deutschland. Ein Sommermärchen”, “Das Wunder von Bern”) includes cameraman Holly Fink (“Mogadishu”, “Romy”), production designer Bernd Lepel (“Der Untergang”, “Der Baader Meinhof Komplex”, “Borgia”) and costume designer Esther Waltz (“Die Päpstin”, “Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer”). Jeanette Latzelsberger (“The Tower”, “Buddenbrooks”) is responsible for the make-up.

“Charité” is a production of UFA FICTION on behalf of the ARD Gemeinschaftsredaktion Serien im Hauptabendprogramm and ARD Degeto for Das Erste. The editors are Jana Brandt (MDR) and Johanna Kraus (MDR). The producers are Benjamin Benedict, Markus Brunnemann, Nico Hofmann and Sebastian Werninger, executive producer is Henriette Lippold (UFA FICTION). The co-producer is MIA Film / Michal Pokorný.

Additional material on the season can be found on the Charité theme page of DasErste.de.

Anni (Mala Emde) is studying medicine at the Charité during the Second World War and is convinced of the Nazis’ racial ideology. She is happily expecting a child by the respected pediatrician Dr. Artur Waldhausen (Artjom Gilz). However, when the baby of the “Aryan model couple” of all people does not develop normally after birth, Anni and Artur have to make difficult decisions. Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Sauerbruch (Ulrich Noethen) performs spectacular operations, assisted by his much younger wife Margot (Luise Wolfram) and the conscripted Frenchman Dr. Adolphe Jung (Hans Löw). Sauerbruch is repeatedly asked for help, for example by his former colleague Karl Bonhoeffer (Thomas Neumann), whose son-in-law Hans von Dohnanyi is to find protection from Nazi justice at the Charité. At the same time, the head of psychiatry, Max de Crinis (Lukas Miko), is pushing ahead with the euthanasia program. The closer the war approaches Berlin, the more dramatic the situation at the Charité becomes. Zero hour is awaited with fear and hope.

The content:

Berlin, summer 1961: The young doctor Dr. Ella Wendt (Nina Gummich) arrives at the Charité in Berlin from the provinces. The hospital is facing major problems at the time, with more and more doctors and nursing staff moving to the West – the Charité is in danger of being drained of staff. Dr. Ella Wendt hopes to advance her research into early cancer detection at the Charité and seeks contact with Prof. Otto Prokop (Philipp Hochmair), who enjoys an outstanding reputation as a serologist. Prokop’s real hobbyhorse, however, is forensic medicine. His autopsies contribute to the clarification of criminal cases, the results of which he compiles in an atlas of forensic medicine. The first wall deaths are also on his desk.

Ella can only do her research after work because her work on the internal medicine ward is demanding. She manages the day-to-day running of the clinic together with her former fellow student Dr. Alexander Nowack (Max Wagner). But political events shake their mutual trust. Especially when Ella becomes increasingly involved with the surgeon Dr. Curt Bruncken (Franz Hartwig), who fascinates her with his desire for freedom and his rebellious nature.

In contrast, the passionate pediatrician Ingeborg Rapoport (Nina Kunzendorf) is a staunch supporter of the socialist idea. As a specialist in infant medicine, Rapoport develops a visionary approach to reducing infant mortality. She repeatedly clashes with the conservative gynecologist Prof. Helmut Kraatz (Uwe Ochsenknecht).

Filming took place in the Czech Republic from November 2019 to the beginning of March 2020. The series was broadcast in January 2021 on Ersten.

Berlin, midsummer 2049: temperatures are almost inhumanly high, a new healthcare reform is dividing society and causing solidarity between people to dwindle. The Charité continues to be the stronghold of medical excellence and research, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. The new season of the successful ARD series in collaboration with ARTE and produced by UFA Fiction does not focus on a historical context as usual, but looks to the future. Based on scripts by Tanja Bubbel and Rebecca Martin, and supported by expert medical advice, the series takes a look into the future of the renowned Charité hospital and rethinks medical practice. The six episodes focus on the microbiome and its breakdown.

The content:

Synopsis: Top researcher Maral Safadi (Sesede Terziyan) returns from Boston to her old workplace with her wife, gynecologist Julia Kowalczyk (Angelina Häntsch): from now on, she heads the Institute of Microbiology at Berlin’s Charité hospital. The very first case of an unknown bacterium will challenge her research. In 2049, the Charité’s “mercy” is threatened by a new healthcare reform. Health insurance companies create a score for each person and use it to collect data on health and life expectancy, which becomes the basis for treatment. Society is divided and there are also supporters and opponents of the reform at Charité. Maral Safadi’s mother Seda (Adriana Altaras), a surgeon at the hospital, wants to fight against the injustice of the new healthcare reform and secretly founds a “shadow clinic” where patients with poor scores can also be treated. Gradually, she gains more allies among the staff, such as head nurse Marlene Hirt (Gina Haller) and her assistant Lou Melnik (Joshua Seelenbinder). While Maral works towards another breakthrough in her microbiome research, the fight for justice is going on underground. The reform also becomes a personal ordeal between mother and daughter. Until a hacker attack paralyzes the Charité and reminds everyone what they live and work for: the well-being of all patients.

Filming for the new season took place in Portugal in 2023 under the direction of Esther Bialas.