The Phenomenon Bruno Gröning
On the tracks of the 'Miracle Healer'
Bruno Gröning

From the first thought to the finished film


One of 80 eyewitnesses during an interview.
After the work for the film The Miracle Apostle was finished in 1993 and the film was showing in cinemas, preparations for a new, even more challenging project soon began:

A film about the life of Bruno Gröning.

The whole year 1994 was spent with preparations and research. Archive material was reviewed, contemporary witness reports studied, more and more data and facts gathered.

In February 1995 the first hurdle was crossed. A journey of several years began following the tracks of a phenomenon. Over 80 contemporary witness interviews were carried out. Original locations from Gdansk to Paris were visited. Dramatic reenactments were filmed and original photos from film archives collated. Hundreds of photos, slides and documents were copied. The last interviews were done at the beginning of 2000, the last documents filmed in 2002.
Eyewitness Dr. Nebelsiek met Bruno Gröning in 1949 in Wangerooge and was witness to many healings.

Over 2,000 extras bring the events at the Traberhof in Rosenheim back to life. 		An outstanding event was the Traberhof scene in May 1997 with more than 2,000 extras. Preparations lasting for weeks were needed. Extras had to be found, hundreds of costumes supplied, technical equipment and a film team gathered, permissions acquired.
The first extras arrived already in the morning. Although shooting only began after dark, hundreds of cars and dozens of busses soon arrived. The space slowly filled up in front of the alleged Traberhof, a farm house near Rosenheim that was recreated as the Traberhof of 1949 with some construction and borrowed material.
The costume assistants have their hands full.

The extras stood and waited the whole night in front of the ‘Traberhof’ - just as the help-seekers did back in 1949.


The film team included over 70 people who took care of masks, hairdos, costumes, structures, lighting etc. As soon as it got dark, things got going. Everything had to be done by dawn. Some of the equipment suddenly failed. Then there were problems with the camera. Some spare parts had to be fetched from Munich ...

In spite of all the difficulties, everything was in the box shortly before sunrise. By 6 a.m. the space on which over 2,000 people had just been camping was swept empty. Nothing more remained of the events of the night.

Over 70 hours of filming were shot altogether. This huge amount of material had to be viewed, sorted and cut. It soon became clear that the original concept of creating a film for just one evening could not be kept. The subject could not be dealt with in just two hours; the life of Bruno Gröning could not be squeezed into the usual format. It runs for almost five hours.


Filming the opening scene for the documentary film.
An unusual subject, an unusual film, an unusual format.