History Series / Charite

* AccidentalProposal: [[spoiler:Behring]] to Else Spinola. He says to her father that he feels honored to be treated by him as a part of their family -- and has missed that, only a moment before, Director Spinola was commenting on what a pretty couple they were. Before he has realized as what his phrasing comes across, Spinola already announces their engagement.

* MoralityPet: Ida to Behring. He thinks he has better things to do with his time than performing a surgery on some random young woman, but the moment he recognizes Ida, he's onto the task. To a lesser degree, also Else Spinola and his horse Lotte, for both of whom he always has a few kind words.

** Behring, too, [[spoiler:after he has lost Ida for good.]]

* MayDecemberRomance: One could think Hedwig only sticks with Robert Koch, thirty years her senior, because he's a renowned MealTicket, but she also stands up against his wife to get him help when he's ill even if it means to diminish the chance that the two of them will divorce, she has his back during the Tuberculin scandal, and she marries him after his fame has paled somewhat.

--> '''Koch''': People are already talking anough because of my self-experiments.

* '''Rudolf Virchow''': a pathologist with quite a reputation, and rival of Robert Koch with whom he regularly exchanges polite, subliminally vitriolic conversations about their respective professional opinions. He has doubts that the results of Koch's research will save the world from tuberculosis, [[spoiler:and he's right.]] Virchow decries the poor living conditions of the proletarians that lead to the spread of diseases, and uses his bit of influence to demand restrictions on child labor and for a new sewer system to better up the hygienics in Berlin.

* GreenEyedMonster: Georg Tischendorf doesn't take it well that Ida has been given a book by Behring, and it gets worse when he sees them sitting together as they discuss medical knowledge. He confronts Ida about this, rather putting her off. Behring is jealous, too, but he's a lot more gracious about it towards Ida -- he'll rather openly offend Tischendorf in the auditorium.

* IgnorantOfTheirOwnIgnorance: The young empress proudly declares that tuberculosis spreads so widely because the constant washing with soap reduces the skin's wax content, and smiles condescendingly when a spluttering Professor Virchow tries very politely to correct her. [[FunnyBackgroundEvent Behind her]], Sister Therese quietly laughs her ass off.

* JapanesePoliteness: Doctor Kitasato, always and anywhere -- even though his colleagues are often not nearly as polite. The trope is even lampshaded when Koch notes that even the most polite and patient Japanese won't endure Behring for long.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Ida snaps at Behring because of his callous attitude towards the patients; Behring replies that a doctor needs to have a certain rigor as tactfulness and compassion don't get the job done. His behavior is still awful, but he's right insofar as one has to be able to bear a lot when working in a hospital.
* LiquidCourage: Georg has just fought his academic duel to get into the fraternity, and has celebrated the occasion in abundance. When he meets Ida, he tells her of this, beaming with joy -- and then drops to his knee and proposes. With a mighty slur.

* {{Nepotism}}: The only one who constantly supports Behring's career and helps him up the ladder even after his spectecularly failed demonstration of his diphtheria serum is Director Spinola -- and he constantly shoves his daughter Else under Behring's nose, saying none too subtly that he practically already considers Behring part of his family. One of Behring's colleagues even says that someone like him can only hope for success by landing a good match.
* NiceJewishBoy: Doctor Paul Ehrlich is a Jew and by far the most decent, compassionate and upright of the doctors in the Charité hospital, and also a loving husband and [[GoodParents a doting father to his girls]]. He even puts up with Behring at his worst.
--> '''Ehrlich''': ''*to Behring*'' I don't think you're ridiculous; I may be the last person who still takes you seriously!

* PoisonousFriend: Von Minckwitz to Georg Tischendorf. He not only ropes him into uncovering Robert Koch's affair, tricking and almost ruining Hedwig in the process, he also gets Georg out of the birthing room when he's needed to help in a difficult childbirth, just so Georg can fight his duel to get into their fraternity. The fraternity altogether as, after he starts hanging out with them, Georg's nationalism develops to nasty extremes.

* ScienceIsBad: Not so much bad as plain useless, according to Matron Martha who deems medicine nonsense in comparison to nursing. [[spoiler:She comes around after Behring's diphtheria serum heals nurse Stine.]]

* SignatureHeadgear: All the deaconesses wear white bonnets, all the nurses a sort of white hood with a short, starched veil.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Georg Tischendorf studies medicine to overtake his father's practice someday, even though he'd rather study arts, gets into a fraternity because his father was a member there once, and, [[spoiler:when his father tells him that he won't allow him to marry a woman who's studied and works, demands that Ida gives up on her plans.]]

* SpoiledSweet: Else Spinola, a pubescent girl who enjoys pretty dresses and the amusements her father's influence get her, but also considers Behring a hero because he's going to save the world from diphtheria and is compassionate towards the laboratory animals.

* BreakTheHaughty: Koch during the Tuberculin scandal; he has to admit eventually that his work was not done and he could prove at no point that Tuberculin actually works as a remedy.

* TheInsomniac: Behring initially claims that he only takes Laudanum to deal with this after an unsteady rhythm of night shifts, but his sleepless is rather a symptom of his issues than the cause. His colleague Ehrlich points out that he hardly ever leaves the laboratory anymore during their diphtheria project.

* LiquidCourage: Georg has just fought his academic duel to get into the fraternity, and has celebrated the occasion in abumdance. When he meets Ida, he tells her of this, beaming with joy -- and then drops to his knee and proposes. With a mighty slur.

* MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting: Both Professor Virchow and nurse Edith, liberals and allies, are very outspoken in their critique of the state of affairs in Germany and of the emperor. Virchow can afford it, Edith not so much -- she's harshly reprimanded by the matron, and later endangers herself as her social engagement conflicts with the law.

* PetTheDog: Behring gifts Ida with an anatomy book so she can further her knowledge. He also gifts Else Spinola with a rabbit for her birthday, which is a kind gesture as well and much appreciated, but it makes clear which of them he thinks is a woman and which a child.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Nurse Stine is afraid if the young Indian woman Rajani, calling her a cannibal and snapping at her that she doesn't understand "foreign". Things change when she has to spend some time taking care of Rajani.

** Much later, Virchow gives one to Koch, pointing out his [[ItsAllAboutMe egocentrical]] approach to scientific research.

* SmugSnake: Student von Minckwitz, who thinks a lot better of himself than he has any right to, lives well beyond his means and is willing to do just about anything to get rid of his debts -- including making a public scandal out of Robert Koch's affair and discrediting Hedwig in the process, sneaking around the hospital's rules because he's been bribed, and stealing Tuberculin to sell it for a lot of money. That last one does him in; he's convicted and exmatriculated in shame.
* SpoiledSweet: Else Spinola, a chubby girl who enjoys pretty dresses and the amusements her father's influence get her, but also considers Behring a hero because he's going to save the world from diphtheria and is compassionate towards the laboratory animals.

* TookALevelInJerkass: Georg Tischendorf develops for the worse after joining his fraternity. He gets increasingly more condescending and arrogant, [[spoiler:and finally reveals that he doesn't care at all for Ida's plans to become a doctor and thinks that Germans are a superior race. By the end of the series, he's a raging anti-Semite.]]
* TookALevelInKindness: Matron Martha softens up a bit when [[spoiler:Sister Therese dies]], obviously pained by that, and she warms up to Ida even more after [[spoiler:she turns out to be right and Behring's serum saved Stine's life]], having an amicable talk with her in which she encourages Ida's plans for the future.

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Hedwig's reaction when she learns of Ida's feelings for "[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Doctor Behring]], that madman"
* WhatTheHellHero: Ida to Georg after he's let Mrs. Ehrlich down in childbirth just to run off and fight an academic duel in his fraternity. The Ehrlich baby died after that, and Mrs. Ehrlich had almost followed, so Ida is not too impressed with Georg's fancy new RuggedScar.

The main protagonist however is the young Ida Lenze (played by Alicia von Rittberg) who comes to the hospital with appendicitis, can be saved with a surgery that's still new and risky at the time, but loses her job and thus stays as a nurse to work off her debt. Soon, it becomes apparent that Ida has the intelligence, the diligence and the resilience to become a doctor in her own right -- but age and circumstances are not conducive to her ambitions.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Tuberculin is still in its test stage, and taking it is highly risky, and Koch knows that. Unfortunately, he hasn't made that clear enough to his audience, so it doesn't take long until the entire world celebrates him for the "miracle remedy" -- and is in for a nasty surprise.

* TragigKeepsake: The necklace Rajani gives to Stine just before she dies. Stine is seen wearing the necklace at the end of the series, obviously valuing it highly as it reminds her of their sort-of friendship.

* PetTheDog: Behring gifts Ida with an anatomy book so she can further her knowledge.

** Also [[spoiler:how Behring loses Ida. Director Spinola once again comes up with how much he'd like to consider Behring a member of his family. Behring, grateful for his benefactor's help in his career, says unwittingly that he'd feel honored by that -- with Else Spinola clinging to his arm. Director Spinola happily announces his daughter's engagement with Behring. Suffice to say, the latter is rather blindsided.]]

It is set in the RealLife Charité hospital in Berlin, from 1888 to 1893, focusing on the research, work, and personal lives of the doctors and nurses around the prestigious Robert Koch, half of which are {{Historical Domain Character}}s.

--> '''Ida''': Why do you always have to be so rude to him? He hasn't done anything to you.
--> '''Behring''': Yes, he has. He has your affection.

--> '''Ehrlich''': ''*snapping at Behring*'' I don't think you're ridiculous; I may be the last person who still takes you seriously!

* MentorShip: Ida and Emil Behring, oh so much. He lets her listen in on the auditorium in secret, teaches her medical and surgical procedures, writes her a recommendation letter for the University in Zurich -- and kisses her whenever he's in a good mood over his successes. Ida very well knows what a troubled character he is, but she's also fascinated by him and admires him. The fact that he supports her plans and believes in her abilities is what motivates her to give him a chance.

It is set in the RealLife Charité hospital in Berlin, from 1888 to 1891, focusing on the research, work, and personal lives of the doctors and nurses around the prestigious Robert Koch, half of which are {{Historical Domain Character}}s.

* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: [[spoiler:Marie]] dies of a vein thrombosis in the brain -- surprising because the initial issue was a pair of broken legs.

* '''Rudolf Virchow''': a pathologist with quite a reputation, and rival of Robert Koch with whom he regularly exchanges polite, subliminally vitriolic conversations about their respective professional opinions. He has doubts that the results of Koch's research will save the world from tuberculosis, [[spoiler:and he's right.]] Virchow decries the poor living conditions of the proletarians that lead to the spread of illnesses, and uses his bit of influence to demand restrictions on child labor and for a new sewer system to better up the hygienics in Berlin.

* AntiHero: Emil Behring is an arrogant, socially conceited {{Jerkass}} who treats people who are less intelligent and educated than him with contempt, CantTakeCriticism, is unkind to his colleagues because he sees them as a threat, and has let a girl down he was supposed to marry when she needed the support. But, different than Koch's, his scientific work is profound and throughout authentic, he takes his diphtheria project very seriously, and he actually saves lives, even at his own detriment.
* AsianAndNerdy: Doctor Kitasato, a Japanese bacteriologist who works in the Robert Koch Institute and assists Behring for a while before moving on to other projects because he's fed up with Behring's behavior.

* BreachOfPromiseOfMarriage: The initial conflict between Doctor Behring and Ida: Behring was working in her father's medical practice and had been courting her, but after her father's death and loss of her heritage, he left her on her own, and so she ended up ill and indebted as a laborer of the hospital. She's still angry at him, but considers them even after Behring has saved her life with an appendectomy.
* BreakTheCutie: Ida has gone through a lot of this: Her parents are dead, her custodian misappropriated her heritage, which is why the man who courted her left her, and after she could support herself by working as a governess for a time, she fell ill and lost her job because her recuperation took too long, and since her former employers didn't want to pay for her hospital stay, she ended up having to work off her debt.
* CallingTheOldWomanOut: When [[spoiler:Sister Therese]] falls ill with tuberculosis, Matron Martha sends her away to the deaconesses' mother house to die away from the Charité. Ida pleads with her to let her stay, to no avail, and then gets angry.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: The nurses complain about the matron domineering them like minors, and especially Edith calls for more freedom and recognition of their hard work.

--> '''Ida''': Why do you have to always have to be so rude to him? He hasn't done anything to you.

* IllGirl: First Ida and Marie, later [[spoiler:Sister Therese.]]

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Ida, knowingly and willingly. When Hedwig warns her that she can't change Behring, Ida replies: ''"No, but perhaps give him support."''

* MoralityPet: Ida to Behring. He thinks he has better things to do with his time than performing a surgery on some random young woman, but the moment he recognizes Ida, he's onto the task.

* NiceJewishBoy: Doctor Paul Ehrlich is a Jew and by far the most decent, compassionate and upright of the doctors in the Charité hospital.

It is set in the RealLife Charité hospital in Berlin, from 1888 to 1893, focusing on the research, work, and personal lives of the doctors and nurses around the prestigious Robert Koch, half of which are {{Historical Domain Character}}s.

* MayDecemberRomance: One could think Hedwig only sticks with Robert Koch because he's a renowned MealTicket, but she also stands up against his wife to get him help when he's ill even if it means to diminish the chance that the two of them will divorce, she has his back during the Tuberculin scandal, and she marries him after his fame has paled somewhat.

It is set in the RealLife Charité hospital in Berlin, from 1888 to 1891, focusing on the research, work, and personal lives of the doctors and nurses around the prestigious Robert Koch, half of which are {{Historical Domain Character}}s.

* GoldDigger: Ida accuses Emil Behring of only having taken an interest in her a few years prior because, as a doctor's daughter, she was an advantageous catch. Behring is insulted, insisting that he made his career completely by his own strength. [[spoiler:Unfortunatly, Ida ends up thinking the same again when Behring winds up engaged to Else Spinola.]]

* NiceJewishBoy: Well, not boy, but Doctor Paul Ehrlich is a Jew and by far the most decent, compassionate and upright of the doctors in the Charité hospital.

* TookALevelInKindess: Matron Martha softens up a bit when [[spoiler:Sister Therese dies]], obviously pained by that, and she warms up to Ida even more after [[spoiler:she turns out to be right and Behring's serum saved Stine's life]], having an amicable talk with her in which she encourages Ida's plans for the future.

* MercyKill: Behring eventually has to give his loyal horse, which has long been a blood donor for his diphtheria remedy project, to the knacker because she won't get better anymore. He won't take money, only asks that she won't be in pain when it happens.