Despite the powerful, raw and captivating central performance of Louis Hofmann, who would also star in the equally powerful Under Sandat, released the same year, and a stunning ensemble cast, Freistatt ‘Sanctuary’ (2015) has never garnered the critical praise and attention it so richly deserved.
Recent history is littered with stories of the state-sanctioned abuse of young people held in borstals, reform schools, children’s homes and religious institutions. In the United Kingdom, the Borstal system was designed as a rehabilitative, custodial system for young people. Yet in reality, from its conception in 1902 through to its demise in 1982, many Borstals were places of abuse, violence, silence and control. Likewise, many children’s homes harboured dark secrets and a culture of silence that persisted until the early millennium.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, state-funded, church-run institutions, from schools to correctional facilities and care homes, were equally toxic, with tens of thousands of children and young people routinely abused over decades. The list goes on, from church-run care homes and schools in Canada to the experiences of Aboriginal children and young people in Australia. West Germany was no different.
Until the mid-1970s, the church-run institution of Freistatt, located in Lower Saxony, Germany, among peat bogs and moors, was considered a ‘sanctuary’ for troubled youth. Yet far from being a haven for educational enrichment and healing, Freistatt was a prison for hundreds of young men and boys during its life. It was just one of a host of similar institutions all over West Germany, all church-run and sanctioned by the state for the housing of ‘troubled boys‘ who often found themselves admitted with little to no reason.
Marc Brummund’s film about Freistatt was filmed at the original locations, adding extra poignancy and power to the story. It is a story of young boys sent to a school uninterested in their welfare but fully committed to their degradation and punishment as they dug for peat on the inescapable moors where prisoners of war also dug trenches in fear of their lives. Freistatt was the epitome of Christian morality twisted into abuse, trauma and control in full view of the state, the church and everyone who witnessed the boys’ journey by handcar to and from the horrors of the moors.
The year is 1968, a time of social unrest and upheaval in West Germany, driven by young people and students as they come to terms with the country’s recent past and confront political complacency about its future. Young People were angry, and they prepared to defy the state in the name of liberation. Fourteen-year-old Wolfgang (the brilliant Louis Hofmann) may not be a part of this growing rebellion, but he has his own rebellion at home to consider. His new stepfather, Heinz (Uwe Bohm), dominates family life and commands a respect Wolfgang isn’t prepared to offer. Wolfgang isn’t a bad kid; he is just your average teenage boy trying to navigate emotions, including anger and feelings he can’t yet vocalise.
At what is supposed to be a family celebration in the heat of summer, Wolfgang finally comes to blows with his stepfather, with his mother, Ingrid (Katharina Lorenz), stepping between them before things become violent. His mother and younger sister love Wolfgang, but both freely accept Heinz’s arrangement to transfer him to Freistatt, where he will complete his education.
With his favourite cake baked by his mum, wrapped in foil, as a small van arrives to collect him, Wolfgang isn’t concerned about Freistatt; after all, he is young, strong, streetwise and savvy. He will sail through and be home before he knows it. On arrival, his optimism appears well placed, as he is greeted by the Director, Hausvater Brockmann, who seems more interested in his allotment than in Wolfgang’s history. But as he walks into the main building and is stripped of his clothes and possessions, a darker truth emerges. This isn’t a school, it’s a prison.
In Freistatt, the ‘Brothers’ rule, with the support of the older boys who know how to protect themselves in a house of abuse, torment, and control. Bruder Wilde (Stephan Grossmann) enjoys the power he wields freely over each boy, while Bruder Krapp (Max Riemelt) rarely intervenes in Wilde’s bursts of violence. Freistatt is a place of allegiances and deals, where protection comes at a cost, the outside world no longer exists, and silence is the abiding rule. It’s a silence Wolfgang isn’t prepared to accept as he attempts to find his place among the boys, earning the respect and friendship of Anton (Langston Uibel), the only black boy held at Freistatt, and the victim of endless racism. However, as Wolfgang pushes boundaries, he quickly learns that violence doesn’t just come from the ‘brothers’; it also comes from the boys who are punished every time he breaks a rule.
At the heart of Brummund’s film are discussions of perpetual cycles of violence, coercion, and state and community complicity. It’s a story of abuse, degradation and psychological control that doesn’t shy away from exploring the horrors religious dogma can wield left unchecked. The institution director, Brockmann, does not just believe he is doing the right thing; he is encouraged by Church ministers and emboldened by parents who would rather send their kids away than face the truth of their own failure.
For Wolfgang, it’s the hope of returning home that keeps him alive and his rebellious flame lit. But for others, that hope is nonexistent, a mere dream they know will never come true. With no communication from home, Wolfgang wonders whether his mother even cares, as he and Anton consider the ultimate risk, escape onto the moors!
Harrowing and brutally honest in its exploration of abuse that went unpunished for decades, Freistatt won several major awards during its festival run, including the Audience Award at the Max-Ophüls-Preis (2015) and the Best Film Award at the Giffoni Film Festival (2015). Yet despite the powerful and captivating central performance of Louis Hofmann, who would also star in the equally powerful Under Sandat, released the same year, and a stunning ensemble cast, Freistatt has never garnered the critical praise and attention it so richly deserved.
While many critics found Friestatt’s ending incomplete in its exploration of the lasting internal damage of Wolfgang’s incarceration and abuse, for me, the final scenes of Friestatt reflect an uncomfortable truth: freedom may be granted, but internal imprisonment remains. As we watch Wolfgang leave Friestatt and reject the mother who abandoned him, his physical escape is complete, but his psychological escape is yet to begin.
Freistatt (Sanctuary) is available on Blu-ray and DVD.
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