Ku’damm 56 is a three-part historical drama set in Berlin (mostly in West Berlin) in 1956.
It premiered on German television (ZDF) in 2016.
Here is some basic information about it:
** Director: Sven Bohse
** Created and written by Annette Hess
** Producers: Benjamin Benedict and Nico Hofmann
** Language: German
** Released on DVD in 2016
** Run time: 3 x 90 minutes = 270 minutes
This drama is available via Amazon Prime Video, which offers six episodes of 45 minutes.
According to the website, there are English subtitles on Amazon Prime Video.
The cast includes the following:
The first group
** Claudia Michelsen as Caterina Schöllack (mother)
** Maria Erich as Helga Schöllack (daughter)
** Emilia Schüle as Eva Schöllack (daughter)
** Sonja Gerhardt as Monika Schöllack (daughter)
** Robert Schupp as Gerd Schöllack (father)
The second group
** Uwe Ochsenknecht as Fritz Assmann (Caterina’s assistant)
** Sabin Tambrea as Joachim Franck (a rich man’s son)
** Trysten Pütter as Freddie Donath (a musician)
** Heino Ferch as Professor Fassbender (a doctor of medicine)
The third group
** August Wittgenstein as Wolfgang von Boost (a lawyer)
** Steve Windolf as Rudi Hauer (a football player)
** Anne Werner as Christa Hauer (Rudi’s wife)
Ku’damm 56 is a historical drama. It is a fictional story placed in a historical context.
In this case, the historical context is Berlin (mostly West Berlin) in 1956.
In 1956, there is no Berlin Wall. Since 1945, the city has been divided into four zones: three in the west and one in the east, but it is relatively easy for all citizens to cross the line in both directions.
This drama does not focus much on the difference between east and west, although it is mentioned a couple of times.
Ku’damm - short for Kurfürstendamm – is the nickname of a famous street in West Berlin. The figure 56 has a double meaning:
# 1. It is the address, the number of the house where Caterina’s dancing school “Galant” is located.
# 2. It is also the year in which the story takes place.
I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. I am not going to say much about what happens in this drama. I will only tell you how the story begins.
Caterina is the owner of the dancing school Galant, which is located on the prestigious address Ku’damm 56.
Caterina and her three daughters live in an apartment above the dancing school. For Caterina, two things are more important than anything else:
# 1. She wants to keep the dancing school running. She focuses on classical dances. She is totally against anything new.
# 2. She wants her three daughters to find and marry suitable men. The marriage must raise the social standing of the family.
** Helga seems to be on the right track. She is engaged to the lawyer Wolfgang, who works for the district attorney (the public prosecutor) in West Berlin. They are planning to get married soon.
** Eva works as a nurse at a mental hospital. She hopes to marry the man who is in charge of the hospital, Professor Fassbender. She is not yet engaged, but Caterina hopes it will happen soon.
** Monika is the black sheep of the family: she has no education and she has no fiancé with good prospects. Caterina is disappointed in her and she tells her just how disappointed she is as often as she can.
What about Caterina’s husband Gerd?
During the war he was a soldier on the eastern front. But when the war ended in 1945, he did not return to his family in Berlin.
What happened to him? Perhaps he was killed in the war? Perhaps he is a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union? Perhaps there is there another explanation?
What about the dancing school?
Caterina has told her daughters that it was founded by their grandfather in 1906, but is this really true?
One day Monika comes across an old photo which seems to indicate that the truth about the dancing school is rather different.
This is how the story begins, and this is where my presentation ends.
If you want to know what happens to Caterina, her three daughters and the people around them – including the father Gerd who is still alive - you will have to watch the drama all the way to the end.
At first, this looks like a historical drama about a dancing school in Berlin in 1956. And it is. But it is more than that. Much more.
Many other topics are covered here. It is a period piece about life in Berlin in 1956, with special focus on the members of the Schöllack family.
Some topics are highly controversial, for instance the use of electro-convulsive therapy (formerly known as electroshock) in the hospital where Eva works.
Here is another example:
If a German man is attracted to other men (and he acts on his impulses), he has a big problem. Not only because many people around him will be upset, but because it was illegal in Germany as well as in West Berlin in 1956. If a man is caught in the act, he may have to go to prison.
A final example:
1956 is the year when Rock & Roll explodes in the US and the western world in general, including West Berlin. Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and his Comets is an exponent of the new era.
Young people all over the world are fascinated by Rock & Roll, while older people are horrified and shocked.
There is a lot of music in this drama, because Monika discovers Rock & Roll.
This is a way for her to express herself, although this is not exactly what her mother wants.
There are some amazing scenes where Monika and her friend Freddie are dancing to the explosive music of the new era.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
On IMDb it has a rating of 76 per cent.
On Amazon Germany there are at the moment more than 1,000 ratings of this product, including more than 250 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.8 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 96 percent.
In my opinion, the former rating is too low, while the second rating is more appropriate.
Why?
I have three reasons:
# 1. The script is well-written and the actors play their roles well.
# 2. The story is captivating, dramatic, and often highly emotional.
# 3. While fictional, the story is placed in a historical context which is (not completely, but to some extent) realistic.
A word of warning:
Some scenes are not pleasant to watch, but perhaps they are not unrealistic. This is Berlin in the 1950s. And some things were different back then.
I am not going to offer any details regarding this issue, because I do not want to say too much.
If you watch this drama, I am sure you will understand what I mean when I say some scenes are unpleasant to watch.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
PS # 1. Some reviewers have pointed out that historical truth
is violated on several occasions in this drama. Here are some examples:
(A) Not all songs used in the movie are from 1956 or before. Some are from 1957
or 1958. They do not belong in a drama whose story is set in 1956.
(B) Several local bands can play and sing Rock & Roll very well. This is
amazing! But we have to ask how the musicians could learn to play and sing this
new music so fast.
(C) A guitar used by a guitarist in one scene was not yet available in 1956. This is an anachronism.
While such objections may be relevant, I am prepared to regard them as minor.
This is, after all, a historical drama and not a documentary film.
PS # 2. The following item is available online:
Christian Buss,
A review of Ku’damm 56
Der Spiegel
17 March 2016
PS # 3. How many people watched the drama when it was shown on German television (ZDF)?
The market share was going up from one episode to the next. Here are the details:
** Part 1 = 15.3 per cent
** Part 2 = 17.3 per cent
** Part 3 = 19.6 per cent
The drama was so popular that ZDF decided to produce a sequel. The title of the sequel is Ku’damm 59. As the title says, it is set in 1959. The sequel premiered in 2018.
A third instalment Ku’damm 63 premiered in 2021. As the title says, it is set in 1963, two years after the construction of the Berlin Wall.
PS # 4. Annette Hess (born 1967) is the creator of the German television series Weissensee.
** Season 1 = 2010
** Season 2 = 2013
** Season 3 = 2015
** Season 4 = 2018
*****
Ku'damm 63
A three-part historical drama
which premiered on ZDF
in 2021
*****
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