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CULTURE

10 must-see films and series to help you improve your German

Watching German-language movies and series can be one of the most fun and entertaining ways to improve your language skills. Here are a few to check out.

Published: 3 May 2023 17:14 CEST
Updated: 25 February 2024 08:45 CET
Actors Volker Bruch and Liv Lisa Fries pose on the red carpet upon arrival for the premiere of the 'Babylon Berlin' tv series' fourth season, at the Delphi Filmpalast in Berlin on September 20, 2022.
Actors Volker Bruch and Liv Lisa Fries pose on the red carpet upon arrival for the premiere of the 'Babylon Berlin' tv series' fourth season, at the Delphi Filmpalast in Berlin on September 20, 2022. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

In addition to sharpening your listening skills, they can also give you insight into the historical and cultural complexities of the German-speaking countries.

We’ve compiled five series and five films that will do just that.

Series:

Sam: A Saxon

This newly-released series chronicles the life of Samuel Mefirre, East Germany’s first Black policeman. Inspired by a real life story, the seven-part show follows Mefirre as he joins the police force shortly after the Berlin Wall falls, and becomes the poster boy of a reunified Germany keen to promote itself as a tolerant multicultural society. But the show doesn’t pull any punches about the racism Mefirre faced in his home country, nor about what happened when the fame and pressure became too much. 

The show has been making headlines for uncovering a darker side of German society, and the real-life Mefirre, who has written an autobiography about his experiences, has praised the show for accurately capturing his story.  

Watch it on: Disney +  

The Empress: 

This 6-part period piece tells the story of the rebellious Bavarian duchess Elisabeth and her tumultuous transition into the role of Austrian Empress after marrying Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I. As a costume drama focused on the intrigues of European royalty, it brings shows like Bridgerton and The Crown to mind, and has received acclaim for being similarly enthralling. With a second season on the way, now is a great time to get caught up on the hype.

Watch it on: Netflix

READ ALSO: Swiss TV: The shows to watch to understand Switzerland

Babylon Berlin: 

This series, based on the novels of Volker Kutscher, introduces you to the grimy underworld and tense politics of 1920s Berlin. It follows police inspector and World War I veteran Gereon Rath, who uncovers various criminal conspiracies across the show’s four seasons while battling his own demons. 

In plot (a troubled former soldier navigates a city’s criminal element) and style (gritty and dark) it has drawn comparisons to the hit show Peaky Blinders. Indeed, if you like a historical drama with a bit of an edge to it, Babylon Berlin is right up your alley. 

Watch it on: Sky 

READ ALSO: Why ‘made in Germany’ TV has captured the imagination of the world

Charité: 

As the name suggests, this show centres on the world of Berlin’s famous Charité research hospital. Each of the three seasons is set in a different time period. The first one takes place in the 1880s, the second during the 1940s, and the third in the 1960s. Classified as a character-driven soap opera with plenty of drama, the show also sheds light on some of the medical dilemmas that the hospital’s doctors faced and the important breakthroughs they spearheaded. You’ll get a mini history lesson, and a crash course in German medical vocabulary! 

Watch it on: Netflix  

Der Bergdoktor: 

Der Bergdoktor is another medical show, but it’s set in present day Austria. It follows the story of Dr. Martin Gruber when he moves back home to the Tyrolean countryside after spending many years as a surgeon in New York. With 16 seasons on offer (having premiered in 2008) and a relaxed vibe enhanced by the beautiful scenery, it could become a nice comfort show that doubles as an introduction to the Austrian dialect.  

Watch it on: ZDF

Films:  

Victoria:

Victoria takes place over one chaotic night in Berlin. It begins as the titular character, a young woman who has just moved from Spain, meets and befriends a group of Berliners she meets outside a nightclub. What starts off as an endearing tale of their blossoming friendship ends in disaster for everyone, and a thrilling watch for the audience. 

The movie is great for language beginners because a large portion of the dialogue is in English. It’s also a treat for film nerds: the entire movie was shot in one take, an impressive feat!

Watch it on: Netflix

Goodbye Lenin:

This 2003 ‘tragicomedy’ film has gone down as a German classic. Set in East Berlin, it follows the story of Alex, whose mother goes into a coma just before the Berlin Wall comes down. When she wakes up, he must hide the signs that communism has given way to capitalism, lest his ardently socialist mother go into shock. The film puts a humorous spin on the fall of the Wall while thoughtfully exploring the theme of Ostalgie (nostalgia for East Germany).

Watch it on: Netflix

Der Untergang (Downfall)

This Oscar-nominated film tells the story of Hitler’s crazed last days in his bunker during the 1945 Battle of Berlin. Released in 2004, it was one of the first German movies to feature an actor playing Hitler, with Bruno Ganz brilliantly depicting the dictator’s warped psychological state and its disastrous consequences. 

Watch it on: Amazon Prime Video

Der Sandmann:

This surreal Swiss romantic comedy movie follows the irksome Benno, who discovers one day that he is mysteriously turning into sand. To stop this transformation, he must form a connection with his downstairs neighbour, the aspiring singer Sandra, who gets on his nerves. The film promises plenty of laughs, as well as an enjoyable immersion into Swiss German.

Watch it on: Amazon Prime Video

Schwarze Adler:

Football is the most popular sport in Germany, so naturally there are many documentaries about the “beautiful game.” One of the more interesting ones is “Schwarze Adler,” released in 2021. It examines the experiences of the Black footballers, male and female, past and present, who played in Germany, some for the national team. Told almost exclusively from their perspective, the documentary has been praised for highlighting the continued issue of racism in sport and German society.  

Watch it on: Amazon Prime Video

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CULTURE

Ode to joy: How Austria shaped Beethoven’s Ninth

The night Ludwig van Beethoven's monumental Ninth Symphony rang out in a Vienna concert hall for the first time almost exactly two centuries ago, the great German composer was anxious for all to go well.

Published: 6 May 2024 09:58 CEST
Ode to joy: How Austria shaped Beethoven's Ninth

He needn’t have worried. The audience erupted in spontaneous applause during the performance, but Beethoven was already so hard of hearing that he had to be turned around by a musician to notice it.

While he was born in Bonn in 1770, Beethoven spent most of his life in Vienna after moving to the Austrian capital as a 22-year-old.

Despite receiving repeated offers to relocate, the legendary composer never left Vienna, where he had found his home from home, surrounded by supportive fans and generous patrons.

“It was the society, the culture that characterised the city that appealed to him so much,” said Ulrike Scholda, director of the Beethoven House in nearby Baden.

The picturesque spa town just outside Vienna deeply shaped Beethoven’s life — and the last symphony he would complete, she said.

Under pressure

“In the 1820s, Baden was certainly the place to be”, with the imperial family, the aristocracy and a Who’s Who of cultural life spending their summers there, Scholda said.

Beyond his hearing loss, Beethoven suffered from various health problems ranging from abdominal pains to jaundice, and regularly went to Baden to recuperate.

Enjoying long walks in the countryside and bathing in Baden’s medicinal springs helped him recover and simultaneously inspired his compositions.

In the summers leading up to the first public performance of his Ninth Symphony in 1824, Beethoven stayed at what is now known as Baden’s Beethoven House, which now serves as a museum.

It was there that he also composed important parts of his final symphony.

A letter Beethoven sent from Baden in September 1823 details the pressure he felt to finalise the symphony to please the Philharmonic Society in London which had commissioned the work, Scholda said.

A piano used by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven is seen on display at the Beethovenhaus museum, where Beethoven spent some of his summers and composed sections of his Ninth Symphony, on April 30, 2024 in Baden bei Wien, Austria. (Photo by Joe Klamar / AFP)

‘Less war, more Beethoven’

Upon completing the symphony in Vienna, weeks of intense preparations followed, including an army of copyists duplicating Beethoven’s manuscripts and last-minute rehearsals that culminated in the premiere on May 7, 1824.

The night before, Beethoven rushed from door to door by carriage to “personally invite important people to come to his concert”, said historical musicologist Birgit Lodes.

He also managed to “squeeze in a haircut”, Lodes added.

At almost double the length of comparable works, Beethoven’s Ninth broke the norms of what until then was a “solely orchestral” genre by “integrating the human voice and thus text”, musicologist Beate Angelika Kraus told AFP.

His revolutionary idea to incorporate parts of Friedrich von Schiller’s lyrical verse “Ode to Joy” paradoxically made his symphony more susceptible to misuse, including by the Nazis and the Communists.

The verses “convey a feeling of togetherness, but are relatively open in terms of ideological (interpretation),” Kraus said.

Since 1985, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” from the fourth movement has served as the European Union’s official anthem.

The Beethovenhaus museum, where German composer Ludwig van Beethoven spent some of his summers and composed sections of his Ninth Symphony, is pictured on April 30, 2024 in Baden bei Wien, Austria. (Photo by Joe Klamar / AFP)

Outside the Beethoven House in Baden, which is marking the anniversary with a special exhibition, visitor Jochen Hallof said that encountering the Ninth Symphony as a child had led him down a “path of humanism”.

“We should listen to Beethoven more instead of waging war,” Hallof said.

And on Tuesday night that certainly will be the case, with Beethoven’s masterpiece reverberating throughout Europe with anniversary concerts in major venues in Paris, Milan and Vienna.

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