THE FLYING CLASSROOM
A Christmas story is not easy to write in the middle of the summer.
There are flowers in the meadow.
The quaking grass is bowing down respectfully,
before who knows whom.
And me? It's 38 degrees and I'm describing the famous snowball fight
in Kirchberg last December, between the grammar school pupils
and the secondary school pupils.
In 39-degree heat!
Now and then I look up at the Zugspitze Mountain
to get a more wintry feeling, but not even the distant snow helps today.
Anyway, Edward seems to be heading on home already.
Edward likes me to take him home. We go the same way.
He's not staying at my hotel, but with the farmer around the corner.
Edward is still a pretty little calf, but the farmer told me recently
that he'll surely grow up to be a big ox.
So, that afternoon I walked to Kirchberg.
Kirchberg lies 600m above sea level, has 20,000 inhabitants
and two upper schools.
High above the lanes and marketplaces, above the river and the bridge,
a fort rises high against the sky.
It recently celebrated its 750th birthday,
and so it calmly and wisely observes the youngsters milling about
at its feet.
Young boys with wet, tousled hair return after a swim.
The church choir has been practising hymns for Sunday mass.
Sixth-formers are out walking with their dance lesson partners,
and taking them to the cafe.
Ah! There are two of the heroes of my Christmas story.
The big one, Matthias Selbmann, or Matz, wants to be a boxing champ.
The small one is Uli von Simmern.
It's curfew time now. Only sixth formers may stay in town,
and those who live at home, rather than up at the school.
This school is a boarding school, a school-home ... a live-in school.
It is noted down who is late. Rules are rules. Also in school.
Yet names are seldom noted down because on the other side of the park
there is a wall, and whoever's good at gym ...
Whoever's good at gym
can stay out of trouble.
The gym classes at this school are said to be quite excellent.
Without the little gymnasts and tall boxers, the streets are not the same.
They're poorer now,
quieter and more serious, in a word: more grown-up.
Well, grown-ups are people too.
This young woman, for instance, will appear in my story again.
In our story.
It was last December and it had been snowing for days.
Christmas trees had been bought, and presents too.
In church, the choir was practising pious, festive songs from olden times.
And in winter too, sixth-formers were taking their ladies to the cafe.
Hey, Uli, I'm getting a punching bag
for Christmas. I'll start training after the holidays.
My knuckles will be as hard as steel. - Hey, Matz,
do you know your role? - I hope so. Maybe Johnny will become a poet.
The play is really great.
Time is money, gentlemen. We have to go to the barber's. - That's right!
Come on, Matz! - I can never eat up in peace.
Who's playing the blond girl? Who's the lucky boy? - Me, Mr. Krüger.
Come here.
Right.
Wow! You look like your own sister. - Uli doesn't have a sister!
Take a look ... - You can't look like a sister that you don't have.
Eating cake makes you strong and clever!
Uli as a girl! - Kreuzkamm! How's Daddy, Prof. Kreuzkamm,
our indefatigable German teacher?
At lunch he asked me whether we had an essay for homework.
''No,'' I said. And he said:
''Outrageous! I'll have to take your German teacher to task!''
This Professor Kreuzkamm is a piece of work!
Soon he'll forget his own son's name. - I wouldn't put it past him. - What?
I wouldn't put it past him!
How much for the thing for 2 days? - Thing? It's a work of art. 5 marks.
What? Then we'll use wigs of straw. - He thinks we're millionaires.
Alright, half-price. On one condition. - What condition?
You all have to get a shave here.
What? - I thought you said ''a shave''.
In a few years, when it's worthwhile.
A brilliant businessman!
Okay, we'll collect the wigs before the party. - Goodbye.
I'm here to get razor blades for my father. A packet ...
A packet of Punktal Blue for Professor Kreuzkamm. I know.
My father in person! - So it is. - Hello, Professor!
What are you doing here? - Buying razor blades.
The boy has nothing between his ears! - But you sent me here yourself.
That's no excuse. -Alright, let's forget it.
The cheek!
Some were on the sports ground, practising their ice hockey skills.
While others had stayed up in school, writing letters,
doing their homework, or working on presents,
like these two fourth-graders.
Johnny, who wrote the Christmas play, was conjuring a ship in a bottle.
His father was a merchant captain on an ocean line,
so he'd surely have use for a new steamship.
Martin was painting a picture of the future called ''In Ten Years''.
The picture was meant to show his parents that he'd earn enough
to rent a carriage and take them to Italy.
Hey, Martin.
The captain isn't my father at all.
He told me 4 years ago that I would have to be told some day,
and that the sooner the better.
Only he and I know about it.
And now you.
When he told me about it a few other things came back to me.
I was three years old at the time, and I was in New York.
A man brought me to a steamship that was sailing to Germany.
He paid my fare
and told me my grandparents would collect me in Bremerhaven.
He hung a sign around my neck.
On it was my name and my grandparents' address.
And then?
When the ship arrived at Bremerhaven 14 days later,
the captain waited with me for my grandparents.
But my grandparents didn't come. They couldn't come.
They didn't exist. The name was false,
the address was false,
and the address in New York was false as well.
Johnny,
I won't even tell my parents.
Come in!
Oh, the handsome Theodor. What's wrong with us today?
Sore throat, Miss Beate. - Sister Beate, Stadler!
Nurses too deserve to be treated with chivalry.
Sit down, you cavalier.
Open your mouth,
stick out your tongue and say ''Ahh''.
Bad, Mr. Stadler, very bad.
I'll give your throat a coating of iodine.
Does it have to be iodine? -Would you prefer hydrochloric acid?
That's the least you deserve for constantly bothering the nurse,
wasting her time, and getting on her nerves. - Liking you
is what drives me here. - Is there a school rule for this drive?
You're so obsessed with the rules when it comes to the smaller pupils.
Stand up!
Out of here! - What's going on, Sister Beate?
Good day, Doctor. - Good day, my dear.
What's wrong with our young humanist today? - It's nothing really.
I believe every word. Let's hope
you never really get sick. No one would believe you.
Afternoon classes are starting. Don't let me keep you.
Sister Beate?
Anything to sign ...? -Yes.
My wife wants to know whether you'll come to Christmas dinner.
Apart from you, we've only invited a nice big carp.
You're very good to me.
It doesn't do to be curious, but I am. What's under this sheet?
A mountain of a cake? - No!
Too bad. That could have led me on to talk about mountains in general,
mining in the mountains, mountain tunnels and the Alps.
Then we would have already broached our subject for today.
We will see how the Alps were formed,
how the face of the Earth influenced the history of peoples,
and we will go with Hannibal to meet the Romans at Piacenza.
May I remove the sheet now? - Not yet, Doctor.
We want to introduce a lesson from the skies.
We've flown over a number of countries with you. Now we come to the Alps.
Yet we can't buy a school plane, a ''flying classroom'',
can't observe the Earth from above, much as we'd like to. Rudi, continue!
Nor could we carry the Alps here.
They are too heavy for fourth-graders. But we made a model of them.
And now you must remove the sheet.
Heavens!
You are jacks-of-all-trades. Well, I never!
Piacenza is there too! - I see it.
We'll add Hannibal's elephants later.
As we are about to embark on our first flight over the Alps,
may I start the propeller? - No, you'll finish chewing first.
What is it this time? - Cake. - Cheesecake? - Apple.
Good? - It's all good when you're hungry.
We cannot start on time because someone's missing. Where's Beethoven?
Martin, fetch him from the music room.
What are we to do with him? He's in there playing again.
Whether for eating, sleeping, teaching or lazing about,
he has to be dragged from the piano. He'll forget to breathe some day.
Playing piano or blind man's bluff?
I don't want to look at the keys. - Isn't that allowed?
Music has nothing to do with the eyes. - But geography class does.
Poor Justus. He makes such an effort with me.
But it's pointless.
Hey, I've finally come up with the main theme for the Christmas play.
The thundering of motors ...
The plane takes off ...
Almost without a sound, it hovers over the landscape ...
Very nice, Ferdinand, but let's go, otherwise you'll be kept back again.
In the 20's, there was a German builder called Taut
who wanted to rebuild the Alps. He found them too bizarre and unorderly.
Explosions were to make their panorama more decorative, and clearer.
He wanted the mountains to be cubes, spheres and pyramids.
An expensive business.
And there are other gigantic projects: Lowering the Mediterranean,
irrigating the Sahara, very cost-intensive dreams.
Such projects aren't viable due to the costs.
But the plans have a purpose, other than beauty: land reclamation.
But rebuilding the Alps? What has geography to do with geometry?
So may one only change Nature if mankind benefits from it?
That's the only excuse.
Excuse, you say? So you're saying that everything Man has done
since he tamed animals, cleared forests, drained swamps, built ships,
grafted fruit trees, has not been laudable, but at best excusable?
Well? - I don't know.
Sebastian? - I don't know.
Lucky for me: I don't know either.
An afternoon like any other, an evening like any other.
Except that the shortest evening of the year is due, and Christmas Eve.
And at this very time, things sometimes get a little unholy.
But what can one do?
Who did that? The scoundrel
had better own up. I'll kill him! I'll feed his body to the birds.
Don't catch cold, Matz? - No reply?
God help Germany! -Justus is coming.
Something's up here.
When boys are so quiet there's just been a row. Out with it!
It was nothing much, Doctor, just a bit of a lark.
Nothing more? - No.
Good night, you rascals.
Good night, Doctor!
A fine lark!
Everything locked, Mr. Brettschneider? House, annex, kitchen, storerooms?
Thank you. No, I don't need anything. Sleep well.
The next afternoon our fourth-graders took a German dictation
which Professor Kreuzkamm had prepared
with very much love and diligence.
After lunch everyone met at the gym to rehearse Johnny's play,
''The Flying Classroom''.
These stuck-up twits.
Please stop, we want to rehearse. - We need the gym too.
Stop! We're allowed in here till 2, you know that. - The cheek of it!
Should I sock the big lug one? - No, don't.
Martin will take care of it.
You have to obey the rules too, no matter how old you are.
Complain to Justus about me, but I insist you leave the gym at once.
You just wait, sonny.
Well done. - Let's rehearse the fifth scene again, ''Peter in Heaven''.
It's forbidden to take photos here. We have no time for such things.
Explore where you find something to explore. The unexplodable ...
Wrong again! - Some people never learn.
He should make that slip on the night as well. Everyone would laugh.
Matz is allowed to slip up, but not Peter.
You know what's happened? - No, how could we?
The secondary school pupils ambushed me and Kreuzkamm.
They took Kreuzkamm away, and the dictation copybooks
that he was taking to his father.
The copybooks? A good idea that! - Are there enough of us?
We've no time to lose. - Over the wall to the Non-Smoker!
No one knew who he was or where he came from.
He lived like a hermit.
On account of the carriage they called him the ''Non-Smoker''.
You two wait here, the train is full.
It's time for another big punch-up. I propose
that they release Kreuzkamm and hold onto the copybooks.
At least mine.
I'd gladly swap places with you if I got your bad grades
but your courage too. - What nonsense.
There's no doubting that I'm dumb. I will be as long as I live.
I don't care if carousel is written with one ''r'' ... or with 6 of them.
I don't need orthography to box.
But if you're a scaredy cat, you can always change that.
That's what you think! Every time I'm determined not to run away.
Totally! But when the time comes, I run away. It's horrible!
You have to do something to impress the other fellow.
Something great. So they'll think, ''What a chap that Uli is!''
Max, take that beard off, won't you?
So I still have that old mattress on? That's just like me.
Fridolin should first find out whether Kreuzkamm is at home yet.
They may have let him go.
If not, tell the maid about it so that the Professor won't find out.
Then come to Försterei Street. -We'll be waiting. - There, my boy.
If Rudi isn't free yet, we'll go after Egerland. - We'll show him!
Take him hostage. - See you later. Make sure you're there! - For sure!
Goodbye, and thanks very much. - You're welcome.
So tell me, why do secondary pupils want to arrest a professor's son
and confiscate your scientific texts?
It's a fight between the schools, not between the pupils.
A prehistoric feud. - We recently relieved them of a flag.
A pirates' flag. - With a death's head on it.
They phoned and complained to Justus, our tutor.
He told us, ''Give it back, or else you can't say hello to me for 2 weeks.''
A strange threat! Did it work? - Like a dream.
The next day, they found the flag in their school yard.
Only it was a bit torn. - A bit very torn.
Now they have our copybooks and Rudi. - Be off to your prehistoric battle.
Maybe I'll come and bandage the wounded.
Round about 17, Försterei Street. It'll be me that's crying for help.
I like your Justus more and more. - Doctor Bökh is a great fellow.
What's his name? - Dr Johannes Bökh. - Johannes ...
Good luck then, boys.
What's up? - The secondary pupils have Rudi. Are you coming? - Sure. Boys!
In 15 minutes in Försterei Street. - Okay.
Advance carefully, or they'll see what we're up to.
What's new? - Kreuzkamm isn't home yet.
The maid will tell the professor he's with us. - So this is serious.
I'm off to number 17 to atomize Egerland!
That's no use. We have to find out where Kreuzkamm and the books are.
I could go as a negotiator. - Good idea. Go!
I'll be right back.
Where are you going? - The baker's. If I don't eat, I can't fight later.
I'm going to take a look around.
Hello, can I speak with your son?
One wants the key to the cellar, to put his sledge in,
the next a washing line! Madness! - Is he on his own?
Do you want to put your sledge away? - No, I came on horseback.
I see.
What's this all about? - I'm here as a negotiator. - What do you want?
We want the release of pupil Kreuzkamm and the books.
And what do you offer in return? Nothing. We'll free him, if need be.
First you have to find him. That'll take time, my friend!
I forbid any such familiarities. I'm not your friend.
Your condition? - A letter in which you apologize for the flag
and ask that we release the prisoner and the copybooks. - Otherwise?
We burn the copybooks, and Kreuzkamm will grow old here.
He gets his ears boxed 6 times every 10 minutes. For your information.
The condition is unacceptable.
Then your visit is over.
We'll meet again at Philippi's. - Count on it!
Let's go!
Let's go, boys! Egerland's gang is over at the yard.
Our gang is waiting at the corner. - Storm the yard before they attack!
Do you know where Kreuzkamm is? - In Egerland's cellar. - He knows it.
Two of their gang are watching him. - Let's go sort them out. - Now wait!
You can't go starting street battles here in Kirchberg.
That's right. The directors will find out. There'll be a scandal.
And just before Christmas. It's true, Matz! It's not for my sake.
What would you suggest?
You request your opponent to meet you on the square below the castle.
No one will bother you there. You arrange a duel.
Why have all of you fight? It's enough for two to box.
Words of gold! - If our man wins, they have to hand Kreuzkamm over.
The copybooks too? - Apart from yours!
And if we lose? - Have you lost your mind?
I just have to eat a roll first. - Many thanks for the advice.
Bring the enemy to the square under the castle. We'll go on ahead.
Sometimes it's a good thing that there are grown-ups.
Don't forget that when you're grown-up yourself.
Be careful, Matz!
Let him have it! - Watch out!
Does it hurt? - Not a bit. Have you still got that half roll?
My gang doesn't want to give you the prisoner.
You can't break your word!
They refuse to follow orders. - I should have made mincemeat
of that Wawerka. - All I can do is agree to be your hostage.
Bravo, my boy! But your offer is senseless. How many more boys
are to be taken prisoner? - Tell them we attack in 2 minutes.
Our last fight. One can't fight liars, only despise them.
The battle starts here in 2 minutes. Sebastian is the leader.
Fight to hold them off till Matz, Johnny and I are back.
Can't I come too? - No, Uli, three are enough. We'll hurry.
Good luck, you rogues! - Thanks!
No attacking, just defend.
Why not att ...
Just wait, you crooks!
You should be ashamed! - That's not what we're here for.
I'll show my gratitude when I'm free. - You'll rot first.
In an hour they'll know where I am.
Then you've still a few punches to look forward to.
You get 6 every 10 minutes, that makes 36 an hour.
Applied mathematics! - Maybe your friends will be early.
Hopefully.
Then we should give him half a dozen now.
As a kind of advance.
One ... two ...
Three!
I've been here 2 hours, with 6 slaps every 10 minutes.
In 120 minutes, 12 times 6 slaps. How many is that? - That's 72. Ow!
36 each! - Pay them back, Rudi! - My wrists are too sore.
I'll give them 2 each, that'll be about the same.
Where are the copybooks?
There in the corner.
I can't see them. - Look a bit closer.
Holy smoke! How they've changed.
Your father will be delighted. - Kreuzkamm,
run straight home. - And remember, you were having dinner with Fridolin.
So be filled up!
Tell your father I'll give him the copybooks tomorrow.
Okay, I'll be off. Cheerio! - Goodbye.
We'd better go. - I'll just quickly deal my quota of punches. There!
Where's Uli?
Matz, Johnny, Sebastian, Uli and I will turn ourselves in at the gate.
Over the wall with the rest of you!
What happened? - I ran off again. Wawerka went for me.
Him of all people! - I wanted to trip him up.
But when I saw his face ... - He has got a horrible mug!
I can't carry on like this. - Come on. The war is over,
I'm hungry, and lovely Theodor will be waiting for us.
Here come the dear little kiddies. Sneaked into the cinema, heh? Any good?
The leading man looked like you, only not so handsome.
Cut out the bull. -You're involved again, of course.
I can't see why brats like you get stipends. - Don't give up,
you're still young. -You'll come with me.
Here are the truants, Doctor.
How does the relevant clause in the school rules go, Uli?
''It is forbidden to leave the school outside the permitted hours.''
Are there exceptions? - If a member of the teaching body allows it.
Who allowed you to go to town? - No one, Doctor.
We left, without permission. - I gave them orders to follow me.
I know how you love responsibility. - We had to go to town.
Why didn't you ask me for permission? - You might have said no,
and then we would have gone anyway. - Against my orders? - Yes. - Sadly.
This is outrageous, Doctor.
I don't remember having asked for your opinion.
Why did you have to go to town?
The secondary school boys had taken Kreuzkamm and our copybooks prisoner.
Did you free him? - We did!
Was anyone injured? - No, don't worry.
But the copybooks ... - What about them?
They were burnt before the prisoner's eyes.
Martin has the ashes in his hanky. - And I'll donate an urn.
What'll we do now?
Professor Kreuzkamm has our grades in his notebook.
We'll apologise, and then we'll have to repeat
today's dictation. - If my colleague will be satisfied with that.
I approve of your actions. As far as was possible,
you behaved in exemplary fashion. But why didn't you ask me?
Do you have so little trust in me? If so, I ought to be punished.
But dear Mr. Justus. Er ... Dear Doctor,
you know how much we ...
I thought about asking you, but it seemed wrong to me.
Not because of trust. - If you had said no,
we would have gone anyway. And if you'd said yes,
and something happened, parents and staff would have blamed you.
That's how it was.
So you didn't ask me, merely to spare me any bother.
Do you expect me to thank you? Don't expect any such thing.
You're thieves! Little pickpockets.
I'll not let my responsibility for you be taken from me. Not even by you.
You'll get your longed-for punishment: one hour's detention.
Does that uphold the school rules? - Of course, Doctor.
Detention in my room tonight, after dinner.
Do the rules set down the time and place of the punishment? - No, Doctor.
I'm reassured. Do you accept the punishment? - Yes.
Tuck in. That's part of the punishment.
Thank you, Sister Beate. - You're welcome.
Have a pleasant detention. - Thank you.
Sixth-former Stadler will stay and supervise the punishment.
I'll tell you a story and you will listen.
This is our shared punishment. Well,
more than 20 years ago, there were fourth-formers here already.
And sixth-formers.
There was also a tutor. He lived in this very room.
Our story is about one of the fourth-formers who slept in your beds,
ate at your table, and sat in your classroom, twenty years ago.
He was a good, hard-working boy.
He abhorred injustice, like Martin,
he fought his corner when he had to, like Matz,
he sometimes sat in the dormitory at night and was homesick, like Uli,
he read terribly clever books, like Sebastian,
and like Johnny, he dreamed of one day becoming a poet.
Then his mother became very ill and she was brought to the hospital here.
Next day, the boy stole out of school, ran across town to the hospital,
sat down at his mother's bed, held her feverish hands,
and promised to come the next day, when he had permission to go out.
A sixth-former met him at the gate and asked him where he had been.
The boy would have rather bitten off his tongue, than tell the truth.
The sixth-former deprived him of his leave for the next day.
The next day he ran off all the same.
His mother was waiting for him. She was worse than the day before.
The sixth-former took the boy to his tutor. Here, into this room.
The tutor was a strict man. The boy remained silent.
So he was confined to the school for a period of 4 weeks.
The next day he was gone again. When he returned
he was taken to the principal, who gave him 2 hours' detention.
Next morning, he went to reprimand the boy who was in detention,
but a different boy was there.
He had let himself be locked up so his friend could see his mother.
Yes, they were two friends.
They stayed together afterwards too, studied together, lived together.
Nor did their friendship end when one of them married.
Then the woman had a baby.
The baby died.
And the woman died.
The day after the funeral, the man disappeared.
And his friend never heard from him again.
The boy whose mother was sick resolved that very day,
to become a tutor in this school, so that the boys would have someone
in whom they could confide anything that weighed on their hearts.
Do you know his name?
His name was Johannes Bökh.
Now off to bed with you.
Good night. - Thank you. Good night.
Good night, Mr. Stadler. - Good night, Doctor. And thank you.
For what? - For my punishment.
Everything locked, Mr. Brettschneider? House, annex, kitchen, storerooms?
Thank you. No, I don't need anything. Sleep well.
Christmas was another day nearer, but the fourth-graders,
their top pupil in particular, were feeling quite uneasy.
Professor Kreuzkamm would be appearing any moment.
The matter of the copybooks was looming large
and with the professor, one sometimes didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Any news? - Yes, unfortunately.
The secondary pupils stole our copybooks and burned them.
Did you ask them to?
Morning. - Morning, Professor.
What's this supposed to be? - That's our copybooks.
I see. Barely recognisable.
That's my father!
To whom did I entrust the copybooks yesterday?
Me!
Couldn't you have protected them?
It's usual to fight for one's most treasured possessions.
About 20 boys ambushed Fridolin and I.
Before they burnt the copybooks,
I was tied up. - For how long?
Until 4 o'clock. - Didn't your parents notice anything?
No ...
Fine parents you have.
Weren't you missed at dinner?
They thought I was dining at another boy's house.
Send your father my regards, and tell him to look after you better.
I'll pass the message on to him.
What is the bin doing up there under the ceiling? No, no,
it can stay there now. We'll come back to that.
There are many individuals, who regularly every morning
do 20 knee-bends at an open window. It strengthens the muscles.
There are others, you for instance,
who start every German lesson by spelling a few foreign words.
It strengthens the memory.
Which means that the memory is the muscle of the brain.
Indeed, Mr. Frank. Will you please perform the first knee-bend?
How do you spell
the word ''Vertiko''?
V-E-R-
T-I-K-O.
And the word ''Gramophon'', Uli?
Today, please, Mr. von Simmern ...
or do I have to send you a written request?
G-R-A-M ...
Are you off your heads?
What are you doing in that silly swing? Get down here quick!
I can't.
Why didn't you prevent that? - There were too many of them.
Open your essay books.
The dictation books have gone up in flames.
''All of the nonsense that happens, here and everywhere else,
is not the fault of the doers,
but the fault of those who do not resist them ...''
He gave them a dictation that made their pens smoke:
foreign words, tricky punctuation. It was enough to break one's heart.
For half an hour the fourth-graders sweated blood.
When the professor left, our young friends were like
a football team that had lost about 10-0 on home ground.
Suddenly, Uli got up.
Quiet!
You think I'm a coward. And that makes me sick.
So I'm challenging you all to be at the ice-rink at 3 o'clock.
The ice-rink at 3 o'clock! Don't forget!
What are you planning, kiddo? - You'll see.
After lunch and after the post had been handed out, Martin and Johnny
invited their tutor to take a little walk with them.
How's your play going? - We're satisfied with it.
The dress rehearsal is in two days. - I can't wait.
But where are you two taking me?
We have a suspicion about something. - But we could be wrong.
Then drag me onwards. No blindfolding? - No.
That's a nice bit of climbing you've organised for me.
Someone lives there!
What was the profession of the man you told us about? - He was a doctor.
What's up, Martin?
Johannes!
Robert!
My good fellow! To have you back again!
Did you see the two of them? - I feel like Santa Claus.
You dropped your letter. - From my mother.
I haven't read it yet. It'll be the money for my fare home.
It's 3 already!
What was that about 3 o'clock?
3 o'clock ... - The ice-rink at 3!
Uli, don't!
Tell Sister Beate! Where's Justus?
At the Non-Smoker's. Go get them. The Non-Smoker's a doctor.
It's bad enough, but not very bad. His right leg is broken,
some bruising, a light concussion. Chin up, boys,
he'll be better again in 4 weeks.
Now, can you tell me where he got this idiotic idea?
Everyone said he was a coward. He even said it himself.
And I stupidly told him to do something to impress them.
Well, he succeeded.
Now I'll call his parents and tell them he'll be here for Christmas.
Pull yourselves together now.
A broken leg is less of a tragedy than if Uli spent his whole life
afraid that no one would ever take him seriously.
That evening, there was much debate about Uli's feat of courage.
Only Martin had other worries.
''My Dear Boy, This will be a very sad letter.
I don't know how to begin.
Just think, my good child,
I'm unable to send you the fare to come home.
Since father lost his job we've been struggling. When I think
of you spending Christmas at school, I feel quite ill.''
Listen, Stöcker,
you have to play Uli's part. - Great! Who am I playing?
A girl with blond plaits. - A girl?
Martin, is something wrong?
Are you asleep already?
Just a few words, gentlemen. Uli's condition
is satisfactory.
It was luck that his experiment ended in an accident rather than a tragedy.
I ask you to exercise both bravery and its opposite
as inconspicuously as possible.
Broken bones constitute evidence that I, as tutor, refuse to admit.
End of subject. I'm going out now to drink a glass of beer.
Sixth-former Stadler will stand in for me. Behave yourselves,
otherwise I can't go out in future. Good night. - Good night.
Good night, everyone.
Enjoy it gentlemen.
Don't you want to try living a normal life again?
Why? I'm perfectly satisfied living in my train carriage.
I don't need much money.
And I'm already looking forward to the spring and my lovely flowers.
I've never been able to think and read as much as in these last years,
which you see as lost years.
The tragedy I lived through had its purpose after all.
There has to be a place for strange characters like me,
only I should have been a gardener, not a doctor. But it's too late now.
There were times you were ambitious.
Do you think ambition is such a great virtue?
If only more people remembered the important things in life.
Money, status and fame are just childish things, nothing but toys.
Real grown-ups don't need such things.
Am I right? - It's a good thing not everyone thinks like you.
It's a pity that so few do.
Robert, you're stubborn as a mule. - I think I've heard that before.
Because I told you the same thing 25 years ago. - Exactly.
Cheers, Johannes. - Cheers, Robert.
Afterwards, they wandered through the old streets.
It was a stroll through a thousand memories.
The post box is still there. - It'll outlive us.
It has an iron constitution. - Would you swap places with it?
No. Post boxes have no soul. - That's right. Come on, old boy.
The following afternoon was the last before the trip home for Christmas.
No wonder everyone was so busy. Some boys were already bringing
their suitcases to the station. Martin merely posted his present
for his parents.
Martin, where are you going? - I'm just off to the post office.
What do you want there? - To ask them when New Year's is.
Don't forget the dress rehearsal. - I don't forget things, Johnny.
You won't forget that I'm your friend?
What are the others saying?
You've really earned their respect. - Really?
If you promised me a million dollars
I wouldn't jump from that ladder. - No?
Not a chance!
Good thing there's no church next to the ice-rink. You would have jumped
from that too.
Look,
there's a bar of chocolate. From the principal himself. Eat it!
I'm not hungry.
Eat it. Right now.
Otherwise I'll get worked up, and the Non-Smoker told me not to.
I really don't like to do this.
I had a glass of beer with Johannes last night. - Very sensible.
Maybe it was 6 or 7 glasses. - That's not so sensible.
Being sensible is a funny business.
It's like with angels and elves. Everyone talks about them,
but no one's ever seen them.
You really live in a train carriage?
On my journey through life, it was suddenly unhitched.
I complained to the officials. - And?
They told me my ticket had expired.
So I was kept back. - Kept back like Ferdinand,
our fourth-grader pianist. - And like him, I'm being lectured to.
By the tutor yesterday,
and by you today. - You should expect that in the school of life
and in a grammar school. - Many thanks, teacher.
He's never going to stop! - That daydreamer!
He's turning it into a piano concerto.
Let me at him.
Quiet, settle down,
Justus is coming!
Good morning.
Good morning, Sir! - What is it today? Speak up!
Geography, Doctor. - Right, geography. Listen now:
The State, being so very generous, has given a fabulous present to us.
What do you see outside, on the square?
A masterpiece of modern aviation.
We shall fly over land and sea, our oyster all the world shall be.
We shall sail between clouds, moon and stars,
over mountains and valleys, near and far. From now on,
we learn with our eyes. - Wonderful! Let the adventure begin.
I can't wait to get in. - To Italy? What bliss!
I won't be needing this.
Let's get started. We'll climb aboard!
Ladies first ... Do be polite.
We have sandwiches and fuel.
And the wide world is waiting. It's snowing here
while elsewhere, all is blooming. Time to start our flying school!
Spin, propellers! Classroom, take off!
The Flying Classroom, Scene 1
It was a play in 5 scenes.
At the crater of Vesuvius, the teacher explained about the Earth's crust
and assumptions about the inside of the Earth. In rhyme, of course.
Then he produced a cigar and, to the audience's amazement,
he lit it on the fire of the volcano.
This was the key to the 2nd scene.
In the 3rd scene, at the Pyramids of Giza,
he told of the fertile Nile, of the Sphinx,
and of the old, mysterious tombs of the kings.
When the little girl made a cheeky remark,
the Mummy of King Ramses appeared
and lured the utterly helpless child
into his kingdom of the dead,
which was clearly a little on the small side.
Try as they might, they couldn't help her.
The Pharaoh kept the poor thing,
as a lesson to us on how dangerous it is to make jokes
about lost civilizations.
The 4th scene was at the North Pole, where the naked eye could behold
that the Earth's axis is tilted and the poles are flattened.
Matz appeared as a sweaty polar bear,
and was friendly enough to pose for the Kirchberg Daily.
They promised to send him on a copy.
In the last scene, when the elevation controls jammed, they ended up
in Heaven with St. Peter. He didn't want his picture taken.
Explore where you find something to explore. The unexplodable ...
I knew it! Explore where you find something to explore.
The unexplorable you shall leave unexplained.
We have heard that you see all.
We are missing a child. She followed Ramses
and is lost. - I shall get her back. - Really?
Quiet please!
What is past is past, and all tracks are lost on the way.
What is torn asunder remains. Come and be with us today.
There she is! Thank you so much! - It's time to be flying back.
Or we'll be in trouble again! - Goodbye. - Goodbye.
Have a wonderful Christmas time. - Quiet! Stop!
We're back again. - It was a lovely dream to fly.
Though we shall never reach the sky. - The only thing to do is sing.
''O Tannenbaum'' is just the thing.
O Tannenbaum,
How faithful are your leaves.
Not only in the summertime,
But also winter when it snows.
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,
How faithful are your leaves.
That was just wonderful. We thank you with all our hearts.
Especially the author, the stage designer and the actors.
Thank you so much. And of course,
the composer and his musicians.
And who is the charming little girl
who almost got lost in Egypt?
Young Stöcker!
Where did you come from? - I was Vesuvius!
That's it for today. And for tomorrow, I wish all of you
a very happy trip home.
One moment, Sir!
Germany will thank you for this. Visit Uli this afternoon.
His parents don't get here till this evening. - For sure!
Have you seen Martin? - No. - Have you seen him?
I think he wanted to take a later train.
Goodbye!
Happy New Year! - Happy Easter!
Enter!
Johnny! - Am I disturbing you?
Successful playwrights are always welcome here.
What's on your mind? - It's about Martin.
What about him? Did he miss the train? - He isn't leaving.
Well! - He said he was leaving on a later train.
But I don't think he's going at all. - Why do you think that?
Because he's avoiding me.
And why isn't he leaving? - I don't know. You ask him, please.
Alright. Where is he? - In the gym.
Martin!
Are you getting the afternoon train? - I'm not going at all, Doctor.
Well! Don't your parents want you to come home?
Yes, they do. - And don't you want to go?
Yes, I do.
They do, you do, and yet you're staying here?
What's the problem? - I'd rather not say, Doctor.
Haven't you the money for a ticket?
The Körners
are ready to celebrate Christmas.
What do you think he's doing,
in that big, empty school? - It's not that empty.
Johnny is there, and the little prince who broke his leg.
They'll all be sitting by his bed, happy as larks.
Happy as larks!
You don't really believe that. - No,
I don't really believe that.
Will he hold it against his parents for not being good to him?
Don't talk nonsense.
Martin is a child,
but he knows that goodness and money are not the same thing.
''In 10 years''.
Do you think he'll really have such a big, black moustache?
He didn't skimp on the oranges. They weigh about 4 pounds each!
A lot can happen in 10 years.
We've no presents for one another,
so we can wish for all the more.
Happy Christmas.
Martin!
I've got the return fare too!
When I went back to my train carriage yesterday, I had the feeling
someone had paid me a visit.
The fire had been stoked, my old jacket was on its hanger,
and there was a plate of biscuits on the table. Biscuits like these.
Maybe it was the elves. At Christmas, anything's possible.
Even elves with women's shoes on?
I measured the footprints in the snow.
Definitely a woman's shoe. Size 39.
Size 37!
Before our tutor comes with the punch,
I'd like to give the little elf a little present.
Thank you.
A pair of shoes!
Just selfishness on my part. It's possible that in the future
you might want to go on looking after my train carriage. - That's possible.
These lads!
They actually told Uli's parents
he'd had an accident while skating. I was just passing by,
and I had to lie along with them. - Are you so out of practice?
Not really. I'm an old family doctor.
But this Mr. von Simmern is a pretty thorough old boy.
He referred to classical physics in general
and specifically to Newton's Laws of Falling Bodies. But I won in the end.
You did? How? - I sent them back to their hotel.
Aren't you taking your coat off? - No time.
My wife and the carp are waiting. - So I can throw my punch away?
No! We'll drink a glass, namely to the health
of the new school doctor,
Dr. Robert Uthoff.
What?
That's right, my friend, your days of idling are over.
You're behind this. - Not me. Whole populations: the fourth-graders,
the medical officer, the nurse ...
Say yes. I'm thirsty.
Yes. - Fine. Cheers! Drink up!
Right, off to the medical officer's. Where's my hat?
I think I should stay with Uli. - Nonsense! - No, Sister Beate,
you go. I'll stay here. - Yes, one night watchman is enough.
Our carp will miss you. - Say hello to him for me.
Off with the young couple!
Did I say ''young couple''? - If I'm not mistaken, yes.
You gave them a bit of a surprise. - A Christmas surprise!
And there are people who say we ought to reform the calendar.
Good evening, Mr. Brettschneider, the young couple and ...
I mean Sister Beate and Dr. Uthoff are leaving. Lock up after them.
Everything else locked? Annex, kitchen, storerooms? Thank you.
No, I don't need anything else. Sleep well.
Sister Beate! You forgot your shoes!
That's alright. I'll go barefoot!
Good night, Justus. - Good night! - Good night!
That was our story. I wrote it in a mountain meadow,
between quaking grass and calves, one of which was called Edward.
Then I went back to the city, to the people and cars
and trams.
And one fine day, I had an unusual encounter.
May we join you?
An export beer and a fruit sundae. - Gladly, sir.
How's Martin? - Fine, thanks. His father has a new job.
Uli is fully recovered? - Yes.
Completely. - And the new school doctor?
He and Sister Beate got married at Easter. - That was on the cards.
How's Matz? How's his appetite? - He eats like a horse.
How do you know about us all? - I have to go now.
It was a real pleasure to meet you. - The pleasure was all mine.
Say hello to the boys from me. And especially Justus. - Who are you?
Who shall I say said hello? - A good friend.
A good friend to good friends.
You really didn't know him? - Dad, I think I'd know if I did.
True.
Thank you.
Greetings from the man who was just sitting here.
The Flying Classroom
Subtitles John Kirby
Film und Video Untertitelung Gerhard Lehmann AG