FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Weissensee 

There are few fables that we tell ourselves over and over again. That's what we learned in German studies, and it's true. One of these fables is the story of Romeo & Juliet, transported to cold war Germany, to the GDR - the concept of the great ARD series Weissensee. For the first time, the life of the people in the communist part of Germany is portrayed here as it probably was true. And for the very first time, we Westerners really like the people over there from the zone - because you really can't say that about comparable productions. Weissensee is a district in the heart of East Berlin. The Kupfers and the Hausmanns live here, two hostile families bound together by an illicit love affair. The year is 1980, and the Kupfers are a family of ambitious and, above all, status-conscious Stasi officers. The Hausmanns, on the other hand, are regarded as disputatious dissidents. The matriarch is Dunja Hausmann (Katrin Saß); her daughter, of course, Julia (Hannah Herzsprung). Julia falls in love with Martin Kupfer (Florian Lukas), although his family deeply disapproves and wants to "break up" the connection. I myself was born in West Berlin and often drove over to the East part to visit friends. I was often allowed to get upset about the way people were portrayed "over there". Then came Weissenseee and changed everything. Finally, 20 years after reunification, we experienced an authentic picture of the citizens of the German Democratic Republic. Finally a series that gives the Ossis back their dignity! "Ossis", that was a condescending term in the 80s, but today it is an affectionate one. If you read the credits a little more closely, you will notice that the majority of the actors come from the former GDR. First and foremost Katrin Saß, who also became acquainted with the Stasi in real life, because she was spied on just like her Dunja in Weissensee. In the ARD Mediathek you can find numerous bonus materials and even learn that some of the actors were actually imprisoned in the Stasi prison that we also experience in Weissensee. Critics may object that some things are laid on too thick. But at least hardly any part of GDR history is ignored. Weissensee was broadcast at a time when Germans were reassessing the successes and failures of the Wende. After decades in a state that was primarily geared towards scaring its citizens, people from the GDR had to adapt to the new Germany - which in turn made many feel uncomfortable. How did one become an IM - an unofficial employee of the Stasi - in the first place? Well, again out of fear of loss, for example of one's own child. Who still remembers the Merkel interview in which she admits to bunkering food even today? Basically, it is precisely this adaptation that represents an unimaginable achievement for us Westerners. To ridicule it is shabby. Could we ever grow together as a nation? I fear that a large proportion of Germans would deny that they really belong together at all. The wages of East Germans are still lower than those of West Germans. Many more East Germans receive state benefits. Their life expectancy is below ours. Dunja in Weissensee believes in a socialist Germany, although no longer in the Stasi state of the GDR. Many respectable East Germans still believe this. Their hopes will never be fulfilled.