Das verwunschene Schloß (1918)

During the First World War and the following years, Hella Moja was one of the most popular stars of German silent cinema. There was even a Hella Moja serial and in 1918 she founded her own film company. One of her films for the Decla that year was Das verwunschene Schloß/The haunted castle (Otto Rippert, 1918). Her co-star was Carl Auen, who often appeared in silent films as the handsome gentleman, officer or nobleman.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 546/1. Photo: Decla. Hella Moja as Veronika in Das verwunschene Schloß/The Haunted Castle (Otto Rippert, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 546/2. Photo: Decla. On the right, Hella Moja as Veronika, Carl Auen as Gontard, and Lina Paulsen as Ursula in Das verwunschene Schloß (Otto Rippert, 1918).

Changing his own child in the cradle with the count's daughter

Das verwunschene Schloß/The haunted castle (Otto Rippert, 1918) was produced by Erich Pommer for Decla-Film-Ges. Holz & Co. in Berlin, and was written by Julius Sternheim. Count von Groningen (Max Ruhbeck) left his castle twenty years ago. Since then, the castle is considered haunted.

Shortly before his flight, the count has given his newborn child in custody to the administrator and farmer Grödner (Werner Krauss). Perfid Grödner exchanges his own child Gisela with the count's daughter Veronika in the cradle, hoping to get possession of the castle in this way.

Gisela, now called Veronika (Hella Moja), and Veronika, now called Gisela (Erra Bognar), grow up like sisters in the manor. One day the two girls meet a travelling singer named Gontard (Carl Auen) during a walk. He quickly takes a liking to Veronika. At the same time as Gontard's appearance, a new bailiff (Magnus Stifter) appears in town. He is sent to find out what the story of the haunted stories at Groningen Castle is about.

The following evening there is a village ball, where Veronika, Gisela, and Gontard are present too. While the villager Franz (Joseph Coenen) hits on Gisela, Gontard and Veronika notice a cone of light emerging from the supposedly uninhabited castle.

The village community is alerted and people go to Grödner to ask for the key to the castle gate, but he cannot be tracked. The bailiff rightly assumes that Grödner has selfishly organised this haunt to keep strangers away from the castle, but the official lacks the evidence to pin him down and imprison him for gross mischief.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 546/3. Photo: Decla. On the right, Hella Moja as Veronika and Carl Auen as Gontard in Das verwunschene Schloß (Otto Rippert, 1918). The couple on the left are Erra Bognar (Gisela) and Joseph Coenen (Franz).


German postcard in the Film Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 546/4. Photoc: Decla. Hella Moja as Veronika, Lina Paulsen as Ursula, and Carl Auen as Gontard in Das verwunschene Schloß (Otto Rippert, 1918).

A cypher, hidden in a medallion to open an iron door

Veronika and Gontard are getting closer. The young man discovers a medallion on her neck, which he once gave to a girl whom he had fished out of a lake shortly before. Now old Ursula (Lina Paulsen), once the nurse of the count's daughter, recognises the nephew of the old count in Gontard.

Ursula asks him to get the castle key from Grödner and take possession of the castle. The latter not only sees his plot fail to grab the castle but also realises that his baby swap from twenty years ago threatens to be exposed. He has a fit of rage.

Gontard becomes suspicious and rummages through documents that eventually substantiate his suspicion that the manager had once replaced the babies. This is a blessing for Franz, he thought that his "Gisela" was the count's daughter, whom he could impossibly marry because of the class difference.

Gontard and Franz decide to put a stop to the villainous Gördner. Both sneak into the castle and wait for the culprit's return to organise his nightly light games. In fact, the steward appears and a fight follows. Dying, the villain admits the former baby exchange. Using a cypher hidden in Veronika's medallion, the two men manage to open a locked iron door, behind which Gördner has locked Veronika and the wet nurse. Now Gontard can finally marry the wrong Veronika, who is actually Countess Gisela.

Neue Kino-Rundschau reviewed the film on 27 July 1918: "This romantic film takes us to the land of fairy tales. Hella Moja once again conquers us with her acting. In the scene in which the poor peasant girl transforms into the rich countess, she plays so naturally that she must necessarily appear pleasant and convincing to the viewer. The other actors also fulfil their roles to the full. The extremely exciting plot, in which especially the splendidly executed crowd scenes reveal the work of the expert director, keeps our interest up to the last minute. The charming rural milieu and the good photography are further assets of the picture."


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 546/5. Photo: Decla. Hella Moja as Veronika in Das verwunschene Schloß (Otto Rippert, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 546/6. Photo: Decla. Hella Moja as Veronika and Carl Auen as Gontard in Das verwunschene Schloß/The haunted castle (Otto Rippert, 1918).

Sources: Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.