Katarina Witt: Weltstar aus der DDR is a documentary film which premiered on German television (MDR) in 2019. In 2024, it was shown on French and German television (arte).
The topic of this film is the life and career of the famous East German athlete Katarina Witt with special focus on her performance as a figure skater.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer and director: Jobst Knigge
** Narrator: Franz Köhler
** Language: German
** Subtitles: German
** Run time: 52 minutes
Several persons – including Katarina Witt - are interviewed in the film. Here are the names. Listed in alphabetical order:
** Sandra Bezic (born 1956) – a Canadian athlete – a choreographer
** Brian Boitano (born 1963) – Olympic champion 1988
** Tom Brokow (born 1940) – an American reporter who made an interview with
Katarina Witt in 1989
** Egon Krenz (born 1937) – a member of the political leadership in the DDR in the 1980s
** Gabriele Seyfert (born 1948) – daughter of the famous sports coach Jutta Müller (1928-2003) - world champion 1969 and 1970
Katarina Witt (born 1965) – Olympic champion 1984 and 1988
Katarina Witt was born in East Germany (DDR) in 1965. She began ice skating when she was a child. When she was seven years old, it was clear that she had a special talent for this sport.
Soon her life became based on ice skating. She wanted to have a career on the ice. The leaders of the DDR were prepared to offer her everything she needed to become an international star in figure skating.
In this film, we can follow her life and her career. The first important competition outside the DDR was in the Danish capital Copenhagen in 1982.
She did not win in Copenhagen, but she did well. She was getting ready to join the Olympic Games.
Katarina is one of the most talented athletes in the history of figure skating:
She won two Olympic Gold medals:
** The first in 1984
** The second in 1988
She was a World Champion four times:
** 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1988
She was a European Champion six times in a row:
** 1983-1988
Between 1984 and 1988, she won ten gold medals from eleven international events, which made her one of the most successful figure skaters ever.
In this film, she talks about her life and her career as a famous athlete. People who know her and who have worked with her offer additional information.
As a famous athlete, Katarina Witt lived a most unusual life in the DDR. She was given a nice place to live and she had a car. She did not have to stand in line to buy essential food. The government provided everything she needed.
The political leaders of the DDR were happy to see Katarina win one competition after another. She was allowed to travel all over the world, because her performance made the DDR look good.
Every time the political leaders allowed her to leave the country, they were afraid she was going to defect and thus embarrass the political system.
Katarina was constantly watched by agents of the secret police (the Stasi) from the time when she was seven years old.
When she travelled abroad, she was accompanied by several Stasi agents whose job was to make sure that she did not defect.
In this film, Katarina says that she never wanted to defect. She was allowed to do what she wanted. She had no urge to defect. She knew that if she did this, she would never see her family and her friends again.
She had no reason to defect.
While she was a citizen of the DDR, she was praised by the political leaders. When the Cold War ended, when the Berlin Wall stopped working and when the DDR disappeared, she was criticized by some people from the former DDR.
They said she had been too eager to work for the government of the DDR.
In this film, she says she was watched by the Stasi, but she never worked for them or with them.
Some people love her. Other people do not love her, because she did not speak out against the political system of the DDR. If she had tried to do this, her career would have ended at once.
The political system used her to promote the DDR. This is not a secret. She used the system to do what she wanted:
To be an athlete who performed on the ice and who managed to become one of the most successful figure skaters in the world.
The basic facts are presented in this film. The viewers can make up their own minds. The viewers can decide how they feel about Katarina Will and her role as a citizen of East Germany and her role as an international athlete.
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 69 percent.
The rating is quite good, as you can see. But in my opinion, it is not good enough.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
If you are interested in the history of the modern world – in particular the history of sport and its role in society – this film is definitely something for you
It is highly recommended.
PS. Katarina Witt can be compared to the Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie (1912-1969) who won three Olympic gold medals (1928, 1932, and 1936).
REFERENCES
# 1. The following items are available online
DW staff
“German Ice Skaters Struggle With Stasi Scandal,”
Deutsche Welle
01 February 2006
Robert Lloyd
“Katarina Witt: the Cold war’s secret weapon, in ESPN’s The Diplomat,”
Los Angeles Times
06 August 2013
Katie Baker
“Olympian Katarina Witt: I felt betrayed by East Germany’s Secret Police,”
The Daily Beast
06 August 2013
Updated 01 September 2017
Joseph Kellard
“Olympic Skater Katarina Witt: ‘The Most Beautiful Face’ of a Grotesque System,”
The Objective Standard
12 February 2014
# 2. Books
Meine Jahre zwischen Pflicht und Kür
By Katarina Witt
(1994)
Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey into the Secret World of Figure Skating
By Christine Brennan
(1996 = hardcover)
1997 = paperback)
Only With Passion: Figure Skating’s Most Winning Champion on Competition and Life
By Katarina Witt with E. M. Swift
(2005 = hardcover)
(2007 = paperback)
# 2. Film and video
The Diplomat
This is a documentary film which premiered on US television (ESPN) in 2013
** Directors: Jennifer Arnold and Senain Kheshgi
** Run time: 52 minutes
Sonja: The White Swan
This is a historical drama which premiered in 2018
A biopic about the famous Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie (1912-1969)
*****
Katarina Witt:
Weltstar aus der DDR
A documentary film which premiered on
German television (MDR) in 2019.
In 2024, it was shown on
French and German
television (arte)
*****
Katarina Witt
on the ice during the
Olympic Winter Games
held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1988
*****
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