The second half of the first series of Black Forest Clinic (Die Schwarzwaldklinik, 1985-1989), the German cult medical drama, is available since May on French Region 2 DVD from Koba Films as "La clinique de la Forêt-Noire - Saison 2".
Die Schwarzwaldklinik originated from an idea by TV producer Wolfgang Rademann, the creative force behind the lighthearted ZDF series Das Traumschiff ("The Dream Ship") for Polyphon Film- und Fernseh GmbH. This German answer to The Love Boat (1977-1986), which premiered in November 1981, still exists today. For two years Rademann tried to convince the channel to air something in the vein of the Czechoslovak medical drama Nemocnice na kraji mesta (1978-1981), shown in both East and West Germany under the title Das Krankenhaus am Rande der Stadt. Produced by Polyphon, Die Schwarzwaldklinik finally started filming during summer 1984 in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald. Crime drama scriptwriter Herbert Lichtenfeld (Tatort) wrote all the episodes.
Veteran movie and television director Alfred Vohrer helmed the 90-minute pilot (Die Heimkehr) and 11 episodes of the first series. His impressive filmography includes numerous Edgar Wallace movies and some Winnetou films but also several episodes of producer Helmut Ringelmann's hits Derrick and Der Alte. Experienced TV helmer Hans-Jürgen Togel took over from Vohrer until the end of Die Schwarzwaldklinik in 1989. A competent ensemble cast is headed by stage, movie and TV actor Klausjürgen Wussow as Professor Klaus Brinkmann and Gaby Dohm as Christa Mehnert, a nurse who marries Klaus and studies to become a doctor. Dr. Udo Brinkmann (2), Prof. Brinkmann's impetuous and womanizing son, is played by Sascha Hehn, one of the regulars of Das Traumschiff.
Brinkmann has a rival in the person of Dr. Vollmers, Christa's teacher. Udo enjoys his new life as a family man with his wife Katarina and her daughter. Klaus worries that one of his assistants isn't made for medicine. The personnel of the Schwarzwaldklinik is
confronted with all sort of patients and situations: a stuntman has an accident during a car scene, a couple learns that life is literally priceless and Pr. Klaus Brinkmann himself has a heart attack. The head nurse even meets a lion! Karin Hart (Käti), Evelyn Hamann (Carsta Michaelis), Christian Kohlund (Vollmers), Ilona Grübel (Dr. Katarina Gessner-Brinkmann), Karl Walter Diess (Dr. Schäfer), Franz Rudnick (Dr. Wolter), Holger Petzold (Dr. Rens), Eva Maria Bauer (Head nurse Hildegard), Barbara Wussow (Klausjürgen Wussow's daughter) as Nurse Elke, and Jochen Schroder as the sympathetic Nurse Mischa are amongst the other Series 1 regulars.
Familiar faces pop up in this first series: Werner Kreindl (Soko 5113), Christiane Krüger (Arsene Lupin joue et perd, Star Maidens), Rainer Hunold (later in Ein Fall für Zweï, Dr. Sommerfeld – Neues vom Bülowbogen and Der Staatsanwalt), Alexander Wussow (3), Rolf Schimpf (later Leo Kress in Der Alte), Manfred Zapatka, Roswitha Schreiner, Karin Baal, Eberhard Feik (Schimanski), Sigmar Solbach (the future Dr. Stefan Frank), etc. Launched in October 1985, Die Schwarzwaldklinik quickly became highly popular and attracted up to 28 million viewers. It ended in March 1989 after 70 episodes (pilot included). Sold in 38 countries, the series was shown in France on M6 in 1987 as La clinique de la Forêt-Noire, and in the UK on Channel 4 (dubbed) in 1988 under the title Black Forest Clinic.
The characters of Black Forest Clinic reappeared in a 1991 Christmas crossover between several ZDF series. In 2005, the German pubcaster aired a 20th birthday special titled Die Schwarzwaldklinik - Die nächste Generation. It was followed the same year by Die Schwarzwaldklinik - Neue Zeiten. Both TV movies were helmed by Hans-Jürgen Togel. The exterior of the "Black Forest Clinic" is actually The Carlsbau, a building which houses a health clinic in Glottertal. The outside of the beautiful "Villa Brinkmann" is the Hüsli local history museum in Grafenhausen-Rothaus. Film and TV composer Martin Böttcher (the Winnetou movies) was hired for the music and wrote a main theme but he was replaced by Hans Hammerschmid, who composed the famous Hallo - Dr.B. and the rest of the soundtrack. Böttcher's theme served as the intro of ZDF's Forsthaus Falkenau (1988-2013).
Those two DVD sets of the first series from Koba Films are an excellent opportunity to revisit (or to discover) a true German television classic. "La clinique de la Forêt-Noire - Saison 2" contains a 90-minute version of the episode Der Versäger + the rest of Series 1, in French only.
(2) "Hugues" in the French dubbing.
(3) Son of Klausjürgen Wussow. In 2005 he played Dr. Benjamin Brinkmann in the two TV specials.
