by Erich Langjahr
At the time of the Renaissance, the Einsiedeln-born physician and natural philosopher Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, known as Paracelsus, had a charisma of cosmopolitan dimensions. Following in the footsteps of this unusual visionary, a man who offended many of his contemporaries, filmmaker Erich Langjahr, together with historian and author Pirmin Meier, takes us on a cinematic voyage of discovery through contemporary central Switzerland. Together they explore Paracelsus' places of residence and activity. This essay film provides insights beyond the purely academic and uses imagery of spectacular landscapes to revive Paracelsus' world between nature and folklore.