Das Wunder von Berlin (2008)

The Miracle of Berlin is the English title of a German historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered in 2008. The drama focuses on the Kaiser family who lives in East Berlin. We see what happens to the members of this family during the final 18 months of the cold war: from June 1988 to November 1989 when the Berlin Wall no longer divided east from west.

The drama was shown on German television (ZDF) in 2019 in order to mark the 30-year anniversary since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Here is some basic information about this drama:

** Original German title: Das Wunder von Berlin 
** Director: Roland Suso Richter

** Writer: Thomas Kirchner

** Based on an unpublished auto-biography by Tilo Koch (1994)

** Language: German – no English subtitles!

** Released on DVD in 2016

** Run time: ca 102 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Kostja Ullmann as Marco Kaiser (son)
** Heino Ferch as Jürgen Kaiser (father) (works for the Stasi)

** Veronica Ferres as Hanna Kaiser (mother)

** Michael Gwisdek as Walter Kaiser (grandfather)

** Karoline Herfurth as Anja (Marco’s girlfriend)

** André Hennicke as Heinrich Wolf (major in the East German Army)

** Gesine Cukrowski as Marion Niemann (works for the Stasi)

** Anna Loos as Juliane (Neues Forum)

** Hermann Beyer as “the Professor” (Neues Forum)

As stated above, this historical drama is based on a true story. The main character Marco Kaiser is based on a real person: Tilo Koch, who was a teenager in the 1980s. In 1994, five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, he wrote an account about his life and his experience in East Germany.

It was not published. It was circulated among his friends. But eventually it ended up with some people who wanted to make a movie based on his account. This is how the movie came to be made.

In the drama, we follow Marco and his family and the people around them during the time from June 1988 to November 1989. In 1988, when the story begins, Marco is into punk-rock which is not regarded as a good thing in East Germany.

When he attends an underground punk-rock concert, the place is raided by the police. Marco and his girlfriend Anja are both arrested. His father who works for the secret police (the Stasi) offers to help them both and set them free on one condition: Marco must join the army. His father believes the army will turn him into a responsible person.

During 1989 when the opposition inside East Germany slowly begins to grow, members of the Kaiser family find themselves on different sides of the conflict:

** Marco is a soldier in the People’s National Army (NVA)

** His father works for the Stasi

** His mother, his grandfather and his girlfriend support the opposition group Neues Forum

What do reviewers say about this historical drama? On IMDb it has a rating of 67 per cent which corresponds to 3.4 stars on Amazon. On the German version of Amazon there are at the moment more than 15 reviews of this product. The average rating is 3.8 stars.

If you ask me, the former rating is too low, while the latter rating is more appropriate. I like this drama, but I cannot go all the way to the top, because there is a significant flaw:

In the drama, the peaceful demonstrations against the government organized by Neues Forum take place in East Berlin where the Kaiser family lives. This is not accurate. The demonstrations took place in Leipzig and later also in Dresden. Berlin was not the centre of the opposition. This is an important point. The opposition did not begin in the capital.

I like this drama and I want to give it a good rating, but have to remove one star because of this flaw. Therefore I think it deserves a rating of four stars.

PS # 1. The German title of the movie is an echo of the movie Das Wunder von Bern which premiered in 2003. This historical movie is about a football match which took place in Bern, the capital of Switzerland, in 1954.

It is the FIFA World Cup in football 1954. In the finale, West Germany plays against Hungary and West Germany wins 3-2! For citizens of West Germany, this result is a miracle. Hence the title of the movie The Miracle in Bern.

PS # 2. The following articles (in German) offer more information about Tilo Koch and explain how his unpublished auto-biography became the basis for a historical drama:

** Ulrike Simon, “Der gewendete Grenzschützer,” Die Welt, 1 September 2007

** “Tilo Koch erlebte das Wunder von Berlin,” Kölnische Rundschau, 25 January 2008 (André Wesche interviews Tilo Koch)

** Olaf Reichert, “Von der Führung in die Irre geführt,” NWZ Online, 8 November 2008

*****

Berlin 36 (2009)

Berlin 36 is a historical drama which premiered in 2009. As the title indicates, the main topic is the Olympic Games that were held in the German capital Berlin in the summer of 1936.

The German government wants to exclude Jews from all German Olympic teams. But the US Olympic Committee threatens to boycott the games, if this policy is implemented. Hard pressed, the Germans give in. They do not want an American boycott.

The drama focuses on one Olympic discipline: the women’s high jump. The German and Jewish athlete Gretel Bergmann, who has moved to the UK, is brought back to Germany to join the German team. This is done to show the US Government that Jews are indeed allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.

However, the German government is afraid she will win because she is the best. And this must not happen, because she is Jewish. Therefore she is excluded from the team just before the games begin. And at this point in time it is too late for the American Committee to stage a boycott.

Here is some basic information about this drama:

** Director: Kaspar Heidelbach

** Idea: Erich Friedler

** Screenplay: Lothar Kurzawa

** Language: German

** Released on DVD (with English subtitles) in 2017

** Run time: 100 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Karoline Herfurht as Gretel Bergmann – athlete

** Sebastian Urzendowsky as Maria Ketteler – athlete

** Julie Engelbrecht as Elizabeth “Lily” Vogt – athlete

** Klara Manzel as Thea Walden – athlete

** Axel Prahl as Hans Waldmann – coach

** Thomas Thieme as Hans von Tschammer und Osten (1887-1943) – German minister of sport

** August Zirner as Edwin Bergmann – Gretel’s father

** Maria Happel as Paula Bergmann – Gretel’s mother

While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here. But the basic story is true.

Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. Therefore I feel free to mention some of them in this review.

Some names are real, while others have been changed, perhaps for legal reasons. Here are some examples:

** Gretel Bergmann is the real name of the German and Jewish athlete who is excluded from the German team just before the games begin. She was born in 1914 and lived to be more than a hundred years old. She died in 2017. At the end of the drama, there is a brief clip with her (recorded in 2009).

** Marie Ketteler is a fictional name. The real name of this athlete is Dora Ratjen. The German government hopes she will win the discipline when Gretel is excluded. But Dora has a big secret. She is not a young woman. She is a young man. She was born in 1918 and died in 2008.

** Elizabeth “Lily” Vogt is a fictional name. The real name of this athlete is Elfriede Kaun (born 1914; died 2008).

What do reviewers say about this historical drama? Here are the results of three review aggregators:

43 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

49 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

45 per cent = Meta

63 per cent = IMDb

On Amazon UK there are at the moment more than twenty reviews of this product. The average rating is 4.3 stars.

The first three ratings are not impressive. They correspond to something like two or three stars on Amazon. The average rating on Amazon UK is much better: more than four stars.

If you ask me, the third rating (IMDb) is quite appropriate; the first two (Rotten Tomatoes and Meta) are too low, while the average rating on Amazon UK is too high. Why?

The drama is based on a true story, and some elements are absolutely true. But others have been changed, probably in order to make the story more dramatic. Here is the most important case:

In the drama, the German authorities know the true gender of Dora when they add her to the Olympic team. But they do not care. The do it to make sure that Germany will win the gold medal in this discipline. In the drama, Gretel discovers the true gender of Dora shortly before the Olympic Games begin. She is shocked, but does not reveal the secret to anyone.

According to an investigation conducted by the German magazine Der Spiegel, both these timelines are false:

** The German government did not learn the true gender of Dora until 1938, i.e. two years after the Olympic Games were held in Berlin.

** Gretel did not learn the true gender of Dora until the 1960s when she happened to read an article about gender-related problems in sports.

These serious flaws cannot be ignored. The movie-makers insist that the movie is based on a true story, but at the same time they have changed the true story in highly significant ways. You cannot have it both ways. If you insist it is a true story, you must follow the true story. If you add a lot of fiction, it is no longer a true story.

This is why I think the average rating on Amazon UK is too high. I do not want to be as harsh as Rotten Tomatoes and Meta. I will follow the rating of IMDb and offer a rating of three stars.

PS # 1. If you look at original photos of Dora Ratjen, you will see that Sebastian Urzendowsky was well-chosen for this role. The resemblance between the actor and the real historical person is amazing!

PS # 2. The investigation conducted by the German magazine Der Spiegel is available online (in English): Stefan berg, “How Dora the man competed in the women’s high jump,” Spiegel Online, 15 September 2009.

*****

 

 

*****

 

Dora Ratjen (1918-2008)

*****