15 May 2019

Die Fürstin von Beranien (1918)

In the silent German drama Die Fürstin von Beranien/The Princess of Berania (Ernst Reicher, 1918), heartthrob Bruno Kastner plays a prince who falls for the princess of Berania, played by Stella Harf. But in this story the couple does not live happily ever after...

Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (1918)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2329. Photo: Alba-Film. Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien/The Princess of Berania (Ernst Reicher, 1918).

Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (1918)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2330. Photo: Alba-Film. Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (Ernst Reicher, 1918).

Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (1918)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2331. Photo: Alba-Film. Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (Ernst Reicher, 1918).

Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (1918)
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2332. Photo: Alba-Film. Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (Ernst Reicher, 1918).

Bruno Kastner and Stella Harf in Die Fürstin von Beranien
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2334. Photo: Alba-Film, Berlin. Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (Ernst Reicher, 1918).

A Last Sidestep


In Die Fürstin von Beranien/The Princess of Berania (Ernst Reicher, 1918), Bruno Kastner starred as prince Heinrich von Waldstein aka Dr. Heinrich von Wald. Director Ernst Reicher's wife, Stella Harf, played the title role, princess Elisabeth Maria von Beranien.

Prince Ernst von Beranien (Leopold von Ledebur) announces his daughter Elisabeth will become crown princess. She asks for a last sidestep, and as a 'common countess', she is granted to take a holiday in the mountains, though escorted by the stern countess Elvira (Frida Richard) and her daughter Kitty.

The princess meets and falls in love with the sympathetic Dr. Heinrich von Wald, but when he proposes to her she flees, as the class difference would never permit such a marriage.

When her father dies, Elisabeth agrees to become the next ruler and must pick a husband of her class, her father's favourite Duke Rudolph (Kurt von Möllendorf). The military party opposes and rather sees her married to prince Von Waldstein. They assault the castle but when the prince and princess meet they recognise each other as the winter sports lovers.

Then the plot takes an unusal, tragic shift. Heinrich is captured but released. During a last farewell of Heinrich at Elisabeth's balcony, the guard misunderstands the situation and shoots him, mortally. After Heinrich's death Elisabeth marries her father's favourite.

Die Fürstin von Beranien premiered in April 1918 at the Berlin cinema Tauentzienpalast. The script was written by Richard Hutter. Sets were designed by future director Manfred Noa, and cinematography was done by Hans Bloch.

Bruno Kastner and Stella Harf in Die Fürstin von Beranien
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 3267. Photo: Alba-Film. Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (Ernst Reicher, 1918).

Stella Harf and Leopold von Ledebur in Die Fürstin von Beranien (1918)
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 3266. Photo: Alba-Film. Stella Harf and Leopold von Ledebur in Die Fürstin von Beranien (Ernst Reicher, 1918).

Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 3256. Photo: Alba-Film. Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (Ernst Reicher, 1918).

Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (1918)
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 3254. Photo: Alba-Film. Stella Harf and Bruno Kastner in Die Fürstin von Beranien (Ernst Reicher, 1918).

Source: Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.

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