A piece of bavarian folklore: the "Boanlkramer"

The "Boanlkramer" (translates to "bone-kramer": bone-collector or bone-trader) is the bavarian version of the Grim Reaper. A tall pale-faced figure in a long black coat and a wide black hat. It is mentioned in many bavarian folklore-tales, and has been turned into movies.



One such movie is
"Die Geschichte vom Brandner Kasper" (The tale of Casper Brandner)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1148770/

It's set in 1860 Bavaria in a village in the countryside.

The main-character is one Casper Brandner (Brandner Kasper, because in old-timey countryside-German the family-name is put first). He's a 60 year old rifle-maker who crafts hunting-rifles to order. He has lost his wife and his daughter and lives with his only remaining relative, his grand-daughter, and his young journeyman. The grand-daughter and the journeyman are secretly in love.

The Brandner Kasper also has a problem with the law: He is an illegal poacher, who hunts deer and mountain-goats and sells them to a local pub. Everybody knows that he's a poacher, but nobody has so far been able to prove it or catch him in the act. The mayor hates him.

One day, the Brandner Kasper and his journeyman are on a hunt, when they are being tracked by a group of the mayor's men hunting them in return. The poachers are too far away to be identified, but the trackers try a long-distance shot: For a split-second, the Brandner Kasper sees a black figure standing in the distance, then a bullet hits the tree next to him. They take off and flee.

The Boanlkramer returns to heaven, reporting that the bullet missed. The Archangel Michael is outraged. Everyone has an ordained time of death and this was supposed to be the Brandner Kasper's death! He orders the Boanlkramer to return to Earth and to fetch the Brandner Kasper.

Late that evening, the Boanlkramer knocks on the door of the Brandner Kasper and lets himself in. The Boanlkramer explains that he is supposed to be dead and would he pretty please come with him to the afterlife? The Brandner Kasper says No. The Boanlkramer pleads and begs, explaining how thankless his job is, how everybody hates him. Nobody invites him for even a drink! So the Brandner Kasper fetches a bottle of alcohol and they sit down and have a drink. While they talk, the Brandner Kasper has an idea: "You know what," he says to the Boanlkramer, "I'll gamble you for it. Let's play a game of cards: If you win, I come with you. But if I win, I get another 60 years on Earth." The Boanlkramer agrees. So the Brandner Kasper gets him nice and drunk, cheats at the card-game and wins. The Boanlkramer sticks to his side of the deal and drunkenly stumbles off into the night.

Back in heaven, the Boanlkramer, with a hangover, reports that the whole Brandner Kasper situation has been sorted out. Everything is fine now.

On Earth, the Brandner Kasper feels like a young man again. He re-opens his business and immediately acquires a wealthy client who is visiting the village and orders a whole bunch of rifles, paid in advance. Life is finally going great. But the mayor is still trying to take down the Brandner Kasper.

A festivity is being organized in the village. One of the mayor's trackers is flirting with the granddaughter, and when she rebukes him, he gets angry: "Don't tell me you are still in love with that loser? I would be a better husband for you! I love you and I would care for you! You know that!" The journeyman shows up to the scene and a brawl breaks out between the two.
Later, the pub-owner informs the journeyman, that he desperately needs a delivery of meat for a roast for the festivity. He'll pay extra! The journeyman immediately heads home, grabs his hunting-equipment and goes to the forest. But this was all a ruse by the mayor to lure the Brandner Kasper out for a hunt, except the journeyman is unexpectedly going alone. The mayor's men are again tracking him, and when the granddaughter overhears this, she immediately heads after them, trying to save the man she loves.
In the village, the Brandner Kasper sees the Boanlkramer lurking about. "What do you want here?" "Oh, don't worry, this has nothing to do with our deal. I'm just here on business."

The trackers again have a hard time identifying people in the thick forest, but they hear a shot, and when they reach the spot, they see a shadowy figure. The tracker who loves the granddaughter shoots... and kills the granddaughter. The journeyman comes running and breaks down in tears. The tracker who killed her breaks down as well. But the others arrest the journeyman for poaching and carry the corpse of the granddaughter back to the village.

The Boanlkramer takes the granddaughter to Heaven. When she's being checked in by the Boanlkramer at the Heavenly Gates, the angels inform her that her deceased relatives await her in the afterlife, including her beloved grandfather, the Brandner Kasper. "What do you mean? He's not dead!" Sensing trouble, the Boanlkramer tries to sneak away. "But, of course," the angels retort, "the Boanlkramer brought him here just a short while ago!" "No," the daughter says, "He's alive. You better check." The Boanlkramer confesses everything: How he drunkenly agreed to the bet and how he lost, and how the Brandner Kasper is actually not dead. Archangel Michael gets very angry now. His disappears to ask other angels and saints for counsel on how to handle this situation and when he reappears, he commands the Boanlkramer to do anything it takes to get the Brandner Kasper to the afterlife.

The Boanlkramer heads back to Earth. The Brandner Kasper is sitting in his empty house. Alone. Drinking. The Boanlkramer enters and the Brandner Kasper immediately gets angry at him. "You took my granddaughter!" The Boanlkramer apologizes but says that it was neither his fault nor his decision. It was simply her time to go. The Brandner Kasper laments that he couldn't even properly say good-bye to her... The Boanlkramer chimes in how it's not too late for that. He could take the Brandner Kasper to Heaven, for one hour, long enough to say his good-byes, and then he would bring him back to Earth. The Brandner Kasper is suspicious and demands that this is not a ruse to trick him into dying. The Boanlkramer swears that he will not keep him in the afterlife against his will. One hour, that is all.

So, the Boanlkramer takes the Brandner Kasper to the Heavenly Gates, where an angel takes over and escorts the Brandner Kasper to the section of heaven where his granddaughter is now. It's a countryside-house, surrounded by large plains of grass and forests and mountains. With tears in his eyes, he greets his granddaughter on the porch and is then shocked to see that she's not living alone: There's his dead daughter as well, and his dead wife. And his dead parents come walking around the corner.

The hour is eventually up, and an angel brings the Brandner Kasper back to the Heavenly Gates, where the Boanlkramer awaits him. "Time to go back." But the Brandner Kasper just stands there, stiff and emotionally broken. "I can't anymore. I can't. I'm done." He begs to be allowed to stay. He knows that he wasn't a good man, but he would like to stay please. The Archangel Michael appears. He admits that the Brandner Kasper did not live a good life and rather belongs in hell, however... the Boanlkramer must be taken into account as well. Michael retells how the Virgin Mary had a good laugh when she heard how the Brandner Kasper had tricked Death by getting him drunk and cheating at a card-game. And for making her laugh, the Brandner Kasper shall be allowed to stay.