The Last Summer of the GDR: Freedom and Anarchy

Nov 14, 2024

0h 44m

★ 0.0

Overview

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, citizens of East Germany had to get used to a new way of consuming, working, and living. New-found freedoms were a breath of fresh air for many but in the chaos leading up to reunification with West Germany, the experience was also disconcerting.

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

fernsehkombinat GmbH & Co. KG

The Last Summer of the GDR: Freedom and Anarchy Trailers

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Cast

Self - Narrator (voice)

Susanne Reuter

In a world divided by the Iron Curtain, East Germany sought to carve its niche in the technological race. Enter "Robotron" - a name that seamlessly blended "robot" and "electronics." This wasn't just a brand; it was an ambitious answer to the West's technological advancements, a testament to the GDR’s drive to match, if not surpass, Western innovation. Drawing inspiration from the corporate giants of the West, the GDR‘s government merged various businesses to form this tech behemoth. With 16 major hubs in Central Germany alone, it was clear: "Robotron" was to be the DDR's technological crown jewel. But what was the Socialist Unity Party (SED), the GDR's ruling party, envisioning with this grand venture? How did "Robotron" navigate the challenges of operating within a socialist planned economy, while striving for global excellence? And as it grew to dominate East Germany's tech landscape, why did it always seem to be one step behind the leading global tech powers?

7.4

The Silent Revolution

Mar 1, 2018

In 1956 Stalinstadt, East Germany, during the Hungarian uprising against Soviets is taking place, local teenagers perform a seemingly harmless act that causes unexpected consequences.

0.0

Berlin Tempelhof Airport - Gateway to Freedom

Nov 13, 2024

Located in former West Berlin, Tempelhof Airport reflects the dramatic history of the 20th century. Once a Nazi showpiece, it later became a symbol of freedom during the Berlin Airlift and the Cold War. In 1978, East German citizen Constanze Glien unexpectedly arrived here after her flight was hijacked, changing the course of her life.

7.4

I Was Nineteen

Feb 1, 1968

A young soldier enters Germany with Soviet troops at the end of WWII, feeling like a stranger in his homeland. As he meets Germans, he grapples with his ambivalence, realizing he is both a victor and one of the vanquished. His inquisitive nature leads him to confront the atrocities and lies he encounters along the way.

8.0

Time Loops - A Conversation with Christa Wolf

Jan 2, 1991

Journalist Daniela Dahn interviews the East-German author Christa Wolf during the German reunification: reflections on history, changing politics, life and work.

8.0

OstPunk! Too much Future

Jan 1, 2006

Tells the story of punk in the GDR.

6.6

Farewell

Oct 10, 1968

In August of 1914, amidst the public ecstasy surrounding the impending war, Hans Gastl, the young son of a Munich bürger, makes a decision: he will not take part in this war. This resolution signifies a turning point in his life; a farewell to his class and his family.

7.5

Balloon

Sep 27, 2018

Two families attempt a daredevil plan to escape the GDR with a homemade hot air balloon, but it crashes just before the border. The Stasi finds traces of this attempt to escape and immediately starts investigations, while the two families are forced to build a new escape balloon. With each passing day the Stasi is closer on their heels – a nerve-wracking race against time begins.

0.0

The Spies Among Us

Mar 8, 2025

Thirty years after the Cold War ends, a former political prisoner of the East German secret police searches for the truth after learning his brother spied on him for the regime, and discovers the lasting effects of living in a surveillance state.

10.0

Change of Scenery

Nov 22, 2022

Born in Germany in 2002, Noa Blanche Beschorner evokes the memory of those who, a generation before her, lived through the separation of East and West Germany. Tapetenwechsel (Change of Scenery) is the story of youth seeking their identity when confronting their collective memory.

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0.0

Entlassen

Jan 1, 1993

Children from socially disadvantaged families, either placed in care or admitted voluntarily, tell their stories and share their hopes. After reunification, they are released into the harsh reality of East Germany.

No Image

3.6

Dragan Wende - West Berlin

Nov 6, 2014

Dragan Wende has lived in Berlin since the '70s and has seen the city change through the years. His nephew comes to live with him as Dragan remembers the better days he lived as a Yugoslavian immigrant in a divided city.

0.0

The Hell of Ueckermünde

Jan 1, 1993

This report was broadcast on ARD in 1993. In 43 minutes, the development of psychiatry "in the third year after reunification" is shown using two institutions in the new federal states as examples. A touchstone for all of psychiatry and disability care to this day. The film shows a shocking way in which disabled people are treated. The commentary uses the perspective of those affected. 50 years after euthanasia in Germany, this documentary reminds us of this once again.

8.5

Grenze

Aug 3, 2004

In February 1986 they received the call of a fatherland that no longer exists: four young GDR citizens on the verge of adulthood see themselves forced, like so many others in East and West Germany, to do their one and a half years of military service. What is special: Their service area is the border system, an anti-imperialist protective wall according to their superiors, death strips and prison bars for a population incapacitated in naked reality. Now, seventeen years later, there is a reunion with the comrades and the old post. This feature film, which was the first in reunified Germany to deal with the inner workings of the GDR border troops, tells of life on the fence, the associated contradictions and some hot phases in the Cold War.

7.0

Karl Marx und seine Erben

Apr 28, 2018

Over the past hundred years, dramatic social upheavals have taken place in the name of Karl Marx's theories. In Western Europe, the student movement of 1968 and the Eurocommunists were inspired. And in recent times, the thinker has experienced a renaissance.

6.2

Locked-Up Time

Apr 4, 1991

Filmmaker Sibylle Schoenemann, imprisoned by the GDR in 1984, was released to the FRG after having West Germany literally buy her freedom. In 1990 she went back and questioned those responsible.

7.0

After the Wall: A World United

Jan 17, 2011

The Berlin Wall came down in 1989, bringing the reunification of Germany and an end to the Cold War. This documentary revisits the events surrounding the wall's historic collapse. Interviews with George Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev and Helmut Kohl offer insight into political maneuvering while firsthand accounts from Germans provide personal perspectives of this historic event that changed the world forever.

8.0

Im Osten geht die Sonne auf

Dec 1, 2001

Energie Cottbus, a small soccer club from the periphery of the republic, got promoted to the first division of the Bundesliga. Everyone was sure: They will get relegated immediately again! But everything turned out differently! The underdog club gave Cottbus — which was to many only known from scare stories about lack of prospects and unemployment – joy, hope, and pride. The film looks behind the scenes and shares the thrill of the people for the finale of the season.

The Last Summer of the GDR: Freedom and Anarchy

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Last Summer of the GDR: Freedom and Anarchy Trailers