Witch Hammer

The youthful Heinz and Baerbel engage in a torrid love affair that must be kept secret because Baerbel's father, a cantankerous chapel sexton, demands considerable financial security from the couple before he will consent to their marriage. Since Heinz, a journeyman cooper, has no money, the two surreptitiously exchange vows not realizing that they are hurtling headlong against a force far more powerful than Baerbel's father. In a massive, moral cleansing operation, the Church...
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The youthful Heinz and Baerbel engage in a torrid love affair that must be kept secret because Baerbel's father, a cantankerous chapel sexton, demands considerable financial security from the couple before he will consent to their marriage. Since Heinz, a journeyman cooper, has no money, the two surreptitiously exchange vows not realizing that they are hurtling headlong against a force far more powerful than Baerbel's father. In a massive, moral cleansing operation, the Church Inquisitors have codified acts of witchcraft, namely how "possessed" women are able to cause irreversible impotence in any man except in those with whom they are having sexual intercourse. Taunted by his fellow journeymen and unable to reveal his commitment to Baerbel, Heinz agrees to join his coworkers in a visit to a brothel. In the light of the Inquisitors' warnings, his inability to perform with a most provocative prostitute causes him to have serious doubts about his manhood and ironically to suspect Baerbel's motivations since she continues to excite him. Torn between his love for her and the notion that she may be a witch, Heinz is gripped by agonizing fright sending him in an irrational tailspin to prove his manhood and thus to vindicate Baerbel. Finally defeated, he makes confession in the cathedral unaware that the priest hearing him is an Inquisitor who has been granted in the cases of suspected witchcraft the privilege of using information heard in the confessional as trial evidence. In a most paradoxical resolution, Baerbel remains steadfast in her love for Heinz while he cannot overcome his love for her. Yet, still motivated by his belief in her power to control his manhood, he condemns her to death by fire while begging her forgiveness. She grants him his plea but abjures forgiveness by God.