History TearJerker / Charite

* Stine begging Tischendorf to perform an abortion on her cousin Marie. The girl is fourteen at best and terribly frightened to go home to her starving family with another mouth to feed. When she and Stine can't find help, she's soon brought back to the hospital -- after attempting to kill herself by jumping off a window.

* The little boy dying of diphtheria on the pediatric ward. Behring asks if one of his students wants to try and perform a tracheotomy. Georg Tischendorf volunteers but bungles, and the boy dies anyway. Even though Georg was the only one to so much as try it, Behring chews him out in the auditorium afterwards, and Ida angrily points out that Behring would have been able to save the child himself -- he just didn't care.
* Throughout the entire third episode, the {{Jerkass}} midwife is incredibly rude to Doctor Ehrlich because he's a Jew, insulting him, his wife, and his unborn baby. "Be glad your wife is taken into a Christian house at all" is one of the more polite things she says, and Ehrlich finally snaps when she sends for someone to perform an emergency baptism. Nurse Edith tries to apologize for that mess later, and Ehrlich only has a weary smile in reply.

** The attempts to save Mrs. Ehrlich and her baby in the difficult childbirth. Her husband rushes to the Medical Congress to get Doctor von Bergmann, the only surgeon he knows who can perform a successful Caesarean without killing the mother-to-be -- and when he finds him, von Bergmann is already too drunk to do anything. Ehrlich returns to his wife's bedside, crying and praying. Ida has meanwhile run to get Doctor Behring, the only capable surgeon who isn't at the Congress -- but he is on withdrawal and has shaky hands, having to deem himself unfit for surgery.
** In his despair, Behring [[OffTheWagon takes Laudanum again]] and goes to help Mrs. Ehrlich. However, he comes too late to save the baby. To get the dead child out of Mrs. Ehrlich's womb, he has to perform a fetotomy (dismemberment of the fetus) because he won't dare a Caesarean at this point; afterwards, he and Ida who assisted him are full of blood, all around disgusted with the entire procedure and deeply glum. Note that this surgery is one of the very few points where the series has gone for a GoryDiscretionShot.
* After Georg has proposed to Ida, Sister Therese desperately begs her to turn him down and become a deaconess to stay with her. Ida sadly says that she doesn't want to be a deaconess; she wants to be a doctor. Therese kisses her, but runs away immediately afterwards, knowing that her feelings don't stand a chance of leading anywhere.
** Sister Therese's ensuing downwards spiral. First she tries to distance herself from Ida and pray away the gay; then, when that doesn't help, she starts cutting herself. When she gets tuberculosis, she considers it God's punishment for her "unnatural feelings", certain that [[ImGoingToHellForThis she will never reach Heaven as it is]].

* As her affair with Koch becomes public knowledge, Hedwig gets booed on the theatre stage and almost starts crying during the show. Afterwards, she gets fired because her "loose morals" are not acceptable. Note that she genuinely loves Koch, has already come to an agreement with his wife, and has done her very best to keep it discreet -- the scandal still is about to ruin this 18-year-old girl's life.

* Rajani's fate. She and her family are brought far away from home and exhibited in a human zoo, which is awful enough, but then she also gets smallpox and is brought to a hospital where nobody cares much about her, nobody understands her, and nobody can explain to her what's going on. True, there is one person who still shows her some kindness and talks to her in spite of the language barrier, but even that is only a temporary comfort as Rajani's disease kills her.

* Despite all of his bad behavior, it's utterly heartwrenching when Behring loses Ida for good -- over something that is not his fault at all and that he only realized when it was already too late. After all the two of them have been through and all the effort they put into finding a way with each other, it's just bitter to see them broken up by an unbidden third party.

* The little boy dying of diphtheria on the pediatric ward. Behring asks if one of his students wants to try and perform a tracheotomy. Georg Tischendorf volunteers but bungles, and the boy dies anyway. Even though Georg was the only one to even try it, Behring chews him out in the auditorium afterwards, and Ida angrily points out that Behring would have been able to save the child himself -- he just didn't care.

** In his despair, Behring [[OffTheWagon takes Laudanum again]] and goes to help Mrs. Ehrlich. However, he comes too late to save the baby. To get the dead child out of Mrs. Ehrich's womb, he has to perform a fetotomy (dismemberment of the fetus) because he won't dare a Caesarean at this point; afterwards, he and Ida who assisted him are full of blood, all around disgusted with the entire procedure and deeply glum. Note that this surgery is one of the very few points where the series has gone for a GoryDiscretionShot.
* After Georg has proposed to Ida, Sister Therese desperately begs her to turn him down and become a deaconess to stay with her. Ida sadly says that she doesn't want to be a a deaconess; she wants to be a doctor. Therese kisses her, but runs away immediately afterwards, knowing that her feelings don't stand a chance of leading anywhere.

* Behring ruining his friendship with Ehrlich and utterly extinguishing all respect that man had for him just for the sake of his personal fame and financial gain.

* Rajani's fate. She and her family are brought far away from home and exhibited in a human zoo, which is awful in and of itself, but then she also gets smallpox and is brought to a hospital where nobody cares much about her, nobody understands her, and nobody can explain to her what's even going on. True, there is one person who still shows her some kindness and talks to her in spite of the language barrier, but even that is only a temporary comfort as Rajani's disease kills her.

* It becomes increasingly clear that Tuberculin is not a miracle remedy at all, and Ida slowly despairs over losing Therese and having given her false hope. While she talks to her at the hospital bed, Therese peacefully falls asleep, and Ida breaks down crying when she realizes Therese is dead.

* It becomes increasingly clear that Tuberculin is not a miracle remedy at all, and Ida slowly despairs over losing Therese and having given her false hope.

* As her affair with Koch becomes public knowledge, Hedwig gets booed on the theatre stage and almost starts crying during the show. Afterwards, she gets fired because her "loose morals" are not acceptable. Note that she genuinely loves Koch, has already come to an agreement with his wife, and has done her very best to keep it discreet -- the scandal still is about to ruin this 18-year-old girl's life.

* When Sister Therese's disease progresses, the matron makes her leave the hospital so as not to die under the other deaconesses' and nurses' eyes because that would discourage them. Both Therese herself and Ida plead with the matron to allow her to stay -- to no avail.

** Sister Therese's ensuing downwards spiral. First she tries to distance herself from Ida and pray away the gay; then, when that doesn't help, she starts cutting herself. When she gets tuberculosis, she considers it God's punishment for her "unnatural feelings", certain that [[ImGoingToHellForThis she will never reach Heaven as it is]].

** Sister Therese's ensuing downwards spiral. First she tries to distance herself from Ida and pray away the gay; then, when that doesn't help, she starts cutting herself. When she gets tuberculosis, she considers it God's punishment for her "unnatural feelings", certain that [[ImGoingToHellForThat she will never reach Heaven as it is]].

* After Georg has proposed to Ida, Sister Therese desperately begs her to turn him down and become a deaconess to stay with her. Ida sadly says that she doesn't want to be a a deaconess; she wants to be a doctor. Therese kisses her, but runs away immediately afterwards, knowing that her feelings don't stand a chance of leading anywhere.

** In his despair, Behring [[OffTheWagon takes Laudanum again]] and goes to help Mrs. Ehrlich. However, he comes too late to save the baby. To get the dead child out of Mrs. Ehrich's womb, he has to perform a fetotomy (dismemberment of the fetus) because he won't dare a Caesarean at this point; afterwards, he and Ida who assisted him are full of blood, all around disgusted with the entire procedure and deeply glum. Note that this surgery is one of the very few points where the series has gone for a GoryDiscretionShot.

--> '''Ehrlich''': It's just one slight of many.
** The attempts to save Mrs. Ehrlich and her baby in the difficult childbirth. Her husband runs to the Medical Congress to get Doctor Bergmann, the only surgeon he knows who can perform a successful Caesarean without killing the mother-to-be -- and when he finds him, Bergmann is already too drunk to do anything. Ida has meanwhile run to get Doctor Behring, the only capable surgeon who isn't at the Congress -- but he is on withdrawal and has shaky hands, having to deem himself unfit for surgery.

--> '''Ehrlich''': It's just one slight of many.

* The little boy dying of diphtheria on the pediatric ward. Behring asks if one of his students wants to try and perform a tracheotomy. Georg Tischendorf volunteers but bungles, and the boy dies anyway. Even though Georg was the only one to even try it, Behring chews him out in the auditorium afterwards, and Ida angrily points out that Behring would have been able to save the child himself -- he just didn't care.

** A bit after surviving the initial attempt and getting back her will of life, Marie dies of complications of her injuries.