This exquisitely-restored silent melodrama tells the story of a pilgrimage undertaken in vain. Despite his journey upon the sacred path, the young protagonist dies of a broken heart … Drawing on the eponymous poem by Heinrich Heine (1824), this elaborate Swedish production follows a young man’s journey from Cologne to the Virgin Mary pilgrimage site at Kevelaer, taking viewers to original locations in the Rhineland along the way. Instead of dialogue or exposition, the intertitles feature lines from Heine’s poem. “Of course, one can ask whether it is really appropriate to use Heine’s nuanced poem as the basis for a cinematic portrayal at all. But his adaptation should be regarded as an experiment, and we must unquestionably recognise that the director is capable of depicting the intimacy, beauty, and devotion that Heine’s poems convey.” (Swedish critic, 1921.) – Screening in St Jakobi church with musical accompaniment by the students of Lübeck’s University of Music under the baton of Prof. Franz Danksagmüller.