The historical Dr. Faust, and the legends that have arisen around him thanks to the writings of Marlowe, Lessing, and Goethe, are the subject of this fascinating program. The real Faust—excommunicated as a heretic—is presented as a victim of the political and religious tensions of his day. In a medieval world that believed in the corporeal presence of the Devil, the accusation that Faust was in league with Mephistopheles seems strangely reasonable. Faust’s mysterious death is seen as contributing to the subsequent legends that developed surrounding his character. Viewers gain a sense of Europe before the Enlightenment, and of the legendary figure who continues to symbolize humankind’s quest for scientific knowledge. A Deutsche Welle Production. (29 minutes, color)