Character Relationship Map: Robert Koch, der Bekämpfer des Todes

Characters

• Dr. Robert Koch (played by Emil Jannings) — protagonist

  Robert Koch is the pioneering German microbiologist whose life and work form the subject of this biographical film. The story centers on him as he pursues his scientific career; the provided synopsis...

• Geheimrat Rudolf Virchow (played by Werner Krauss) — supporting

  Rudolf Virchow is a prominent medical authority whose judgment matters to the gathered audience. As Koch prepares to deliver his lecture on tuberculosis, attendees are eager to learn how Virchow will...

• Schwester Else (played by Viktoria von Ballasko) — supporting

  Schwester Else is a nurse who helps arrange Dr. Friedrich Löffler’s transfer to the Charité after he reveals that he has been ill and infected himself. Her practical assistance supports Koch as he res...

• Dr. Georg Gaffky (played by Theodor Loos) — supporting

  Dr. Georg Gaffky arrives as Koch is about to deliver an important lecture on his tuberculosis research. His presence places him among the medical figures gathered to hear Koch’s findings, alongside Pr...

• Frau Göhrke (played by Hilde Körber) — supporting

  Frau Göhrke is the mother of Martha, a child dying of tuberculosis. Grieving and distrustful, she blames doctors and their medicines, while Koch speaks compassionately to her family and explains his b...

• Kochs Patientin Frau Paul (played by Lucie Höflich) — supporting

  Frau Paul is one of Koch’s patients, and she has been drinking spirits that were prescribed for rubbing. Koch gives her a different prescription, responding to her situation with concern and dry humor...

• Prof. Ernst von Bergmann (played by Eduard von Winterstein) — supporting

  Prof. Ernst von Bergmann is one of the prominent medical figures gathered to hear Koch’s important lecture. His presence places him among the professional audience awaiting Koch’s tuberculosis finding...

• Kochs Assistent Dr. Friedrich Löffler (played by Otto Graf) — minor

  Dr. Friedrich Löffler is Koch’s assistant and works with him during the tuberculosis investigation. He stands with Koch against the healers and participates in experiments involving bacilli. Shortly b...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Dr. Robert Koch → Geheimrat Rudolf Virchow (Professional Researcher Awaiting Scientific Judgment) — Virchow's anticipated judgment gives added significance to Koch's lecture, but the excerpt ends before his response is known.

  The audience is eager to learn how Geheimrat Rudolf Virchow will judge Koch's findings.

• Dr. Robert Koch → Prof. Ernst von Bergmann (Professional Scientific Colleagues) — Von Bergmann attends the gathering for Koch's presentation of his findings.

  Prof. Ernst von Bergmann is named among the prominent medical figures who gather for Koch's important lecture.

• Dr. Robert Koch → Dr. Georg Gaffky (Professional Scientific Colleagues) — Gaffky is among the medical figures gathered for Koch's lecture, where Koch's research is to be presented.

  Dr. Georg Gaffky arrives as Koch is about to deliver an important lecture on his findings.

• Dr. Robert Koch → Kochs Patientin Frau Paul (Professional Physician And Patient) — Koch responds to Frau Paul's misuse of her rubbing medicine with a new prescription, showing concern for her care.

  Koch treats Frau Paul after she has been drinking the spirits prescribed for rubbing, and gives her a different prescription.

• Dr. Robert Koch → Schwester Else (Professional Physician And Caregiving Collaborator) — Schwester Else assists Koch in getting Löffler to the Charité shortly before Koch's lecture is due to begin.

  When Koch arranges for the ill Löffler to be taken to the Charité, Schwester Else helps.

• Dr. Robert Koch → Kochs Assistent Dr. Friedrich Löffler (Professional Mentor And Assistant) — Löffler works as Koch's assistant, and Koch takes responsibility for arranging his care when his illness threatens both his health and the upcoming lecture.

  Löffler assists Koch's research and later reveals that he has been ill for weeks and infected himself. Koch arranges for him to be taken to the Charit...

• Dr. Robert Koch → Frau Göhrke (Professional Compassionate Physician And Grieving Mother) — Koch rejects the family's supernatural explanation while responding compassionately to Frau Göhrke's grief and insisting on a medical understanding of the illness.

  Koch speaks compassionately to Frau Göhrke and explains that tuberculosis is a physical disease, although he cannot save her dying child.

Story Analysis

Koch pursues a physical explanation for tuberculosis while confronting grief, research obstacles, infection risks, and the uncertain judgment awaiting his lecture.

Plot Progression

1. Grief and a Medical Vow — Koch encounters a family facing a child's tuberculosis and refuses to accept a supernatural explanation. Although he cannot save the child, the experience strengthens his resolve to find the disease's...
2. Research Against Obstacles — Koch works to make the suspected organism visible, but disputed expenses and delayed supplies impede his experiments. He continues treating patients, including Frau Paul, whose prescription he changes...
3. Risk in the Laboratory — Koch tests whether tuberculosis can spread through breathing and warns colleagues to take precautions. The risks become immediate when Löffler reveals that he is ill and has infected himself.
4. An Unfinished Lecture — Koch arranges for Löffler to be taken to the Charité while his lecture approaches. Medical figures gather, and the audience awaits Virchow's judgment, but the excerpt ends before the lecture's recepti...