Der Landpfarrer

Northeast of Berlin, a good hour's drive away, lies the Barnim. Ice-age terminal moraine landscape. Vast forests, clear lakes, small roadside villages. One of the most sparsely populated areas in Germany. A man on his motorcycle. He drives along an avenue. The fruit trees are in bloom. The man is wearing a black, somewhat old-fashioned helmet and stylish motorcycle goggles. The wind blows the black gown, blossoming trees pass by. Here the villages are called Friedrichswalde or Temmen, Parlow and Ringenwalde. Ralf Schwieger has been pastor for seven parishes with five churches for 20 years. Almost everyone in the villages here still gets baptized, confirmed, and married in church. And so Ralf Schwieger takes care of life, love and death. From the beginning to the end and the beautiful things in between, he says, and is always on the road between his parishes. The film tells of a not everyday life in Brandenburg - between church service, bell repair, diamond wedding and pastoral care for motorcyclists.