Die Deutschen (“The Germans”) is a German television documentary produced for ZDF that first aired from October to November 2008. Each episode recounts a selected epoch of German history, beginning (first season) with the reign of Otto the Great and ending with the collapse of the German Empire at the end of the First World War. In November 2010 the second season of Die Deutschen was published in German television (ZDF and ZDFneo), beginning with Charlemagne, the Frankish King, and ending with Gustav Stresemann, the Chancellor and Foreign Minister during the Weimar Republic.
| Die Deutschen | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Documentary, history |
| Starring | Hans Mittermüller David C. Bunners Mickey Hardt Gabriel Spahiu Guntbernt Warns Bernd Gnann Georg Prang Stefan Jürgens Ulrich Wiggers Yasmina Djaballah Adrian Vancica Hansjürgen Hürrig Cristian Motiu Steffen Münster Susann Uplegger Mircea Caraman Vlad Rădescu Constantin Draganescu Udo Schenk Benjamin Morik Michael Pink |
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Original language | German |
| No. of seasons | 2+ |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 43 minutes |
| Production company | Gruppe 5 Filmproduktion |
| Original release | |
| Network | ZDF |
| Release | Season 1: 26 October 2008 on ZDF, season 2: 13 November 2010 on ZDFneo |
Historical events are recreated through a combination of live action scenes and computer generated animations. The series was filmed at over 200 different locations in Germany, Malta, and Romania at a cost of approximately €500,000 per episode.
First season
edit| # | Title in English | German Title | Original Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Otto and the Empire | Otto und das Reich | 26 October 2008 |
| 2 | Heinrich and the Pope | Heinrich und der Papst | 28 October 2008 |
| 3 | Barbarossa and the Lion | Barbarossa und der Löwe | 2 November 2008 |
| 4 | Luther and the Nation | Luther und die Nation | 4 November 2008 |
| 5 | Wallenstein and the War | Wallenstein und der Krieg | 9 November 2008 |
| 6 | Frederick the Great and the Empress | Preußens Friedrich und die Kaiserin | 11 November 2008 |
| 7 | Napoleon and the Germans | Napoleon und die Deutschen | 16 November 2008 |
| 8 | Robert Blum and the Revolution | Robert Blum und die Revolution | 18 November 2008 |
| 9 | Bismarck and the German Empire | Bismarck und das Deutsche Reich | 23 November 2008 |
| 10 | Wilhelm and the World | Wilhelm und die Welt | 25 November 2008 |
Second season
edit| # | Title in English | German Title | Original Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlemagne and the Saxons | Karl der Große und die Sachsen | 13 November 2010 |
| 2 | Frederick II. and the Crusade | Friedrich II. und der Kreuzzug | 13 November 2010 |
| 3 | Hildegard of Bingen and the Power of Women | Hildegard von Bingen und die Macht der Frauen | 20 November 2010 |
| 4 | Charles IV. and the Black Death | Karl IV. und der schwarze Tod | 20 November 2010 |
| 5 | Thomas Müntzer and the Peasants' War | Thomas Müntzer und der Krieg der Bauern | 27 November 2010 |
| 6 | Augustus the Strong and Love | August der Starke und die Liebe | 27 November 2010 |
| 7 | Karl Marx and the Class Struggle | Karl Marx und der Klassenkampf | 4 December 2010 |
| 8 | Ludwig II. and the Bavarians | Ludwig II. und die Bayern | 4 December 2010 |
| 9 | Rosa Luxemburg and Freedom | Rosa Luxemburg und die Freiheit | 11 December 2010 |
| 10 | Gustav Stresemann and the Republic | Gustav Stresemann und die Republik | 11 December 2010 |