Is Von Franz a Protestant? I know the answer is "it's complicated" because of the occultism, but indulge me
He’s not a Lutheran like the rest of the “German” characters. But yes, it’s kind of complicated because, from his iconography (let’s call it that) he’s a believer in different things: Alchemy, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Kabbalah and he also performs Solomonic magic, which is why he’s so interested in the Solomonari codex of secrets. I think “occultist”, like both Eggers and Dafoe describe him, it’s the most accurate way to explain Professor Von Franz beliefs.
He’s also very into Renaissance magic (which goes along with his interest in Hermeticism) like Agrippa and Dr. John Dee (Enochian system), which are Count Orlok’s contemporaries. This film has a lot of occult Easter eggs, and mindset, sort of speak. Human Count Orlok was almost like Von Franz’s idol, in a way. He was an accomplished occultist and alchemist in life, but ended up cursed by selling his soul to the Devil and didn’t even got what he was seeking, according to Bill Skarsgård.
So, yes, when Professor Von Franz speaks of “salvation” and “redemption” he’s not exactly talking about Christian terms. “Redemption” is a term from Alchemy, connected to the Philosopher’s Stone. Also, Professor Von Franz is an outsider, marginalized by society, sort of like Ellen; neither of them belong in this time period.
Von Franz is there to help Ellen, first and foremost. And when he meets her, he doesn’t jugde her and recognizes her “sickness” as something supernatural. However, he doesn’t fully understand it, either (“I must to my studies”). He thinks she’s possessed by some demon because she’s hysteric. And in their last scene together, he says “only you can redeem us” and “in heathen times you might have been a great priestess of Isis”. Von Franz believes there’s a whole other world. And Gnosticism also believes in Reincarnation (a core belief in Orlok’s pagan belief system). Putting it simple, Gnostics believe our material world is terrible and death is a doorway to another superior existence, kind of like Orlok’s Zalmoxis blessed kingdom (he can’t access because he’s sort of a oathbreaker who needs to, well, redeem himself). As such, he doesn’t see Ellen’s death the same way other characters (like Sievers and Thomas) do. Her death basically sets her soul (and Orlok’s) free. He ends the film smilling, which is the complete opposite of his predecessors. And those who know will smile alongside him because this is probably the happiest ending in all of Eggers films to date.
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