Abenteuer Alaska

The war in the Ukraine has changed the way many European countries view Russian politics. Suddenly it became clear how dependent countries had become on Russian gas imports for decades and what Vladimir Putin was up to. However, no country needs more gas than Germany. It was only after Russia's invasion of the Ukraine that the German government realized that Russia had long used gas as a weapon to impose its will on states. The instrument created for this purpose is the natural gas production company GAZPROM. So how did Germany become so dependent on Russian gas? The documentary shows how, over several decades and several changes of government, a broad alliance of politicians and business representatives did everything possible to secure Germany's energy supply with cheap Russian gas, while the Kremlin's foreign policy became increasingly aggressive and the warnings of experts went unheeded.

Ten percent of the earth's surface is covered by glaciers. While these frozen peaks are the planet's largest reservoirs of drinking water, they are also home to precious relics of the distant past. Like tree rings, each layer of ice provides information on past years, such as temperature and precipitation. With global warming - an environmental concern but a boon for glaciologists - these treasures are gradually being released. In 1991, for example, hikers in Italy discovered a corpse lying at an altitude of over 3,000 metres.

In 2016, an album containing 250 previously unseen photos of Nazi officials was discovered in the USA by Stephan Hördler, a prominent Holocaust historian, who immediately understood the album's inestimable value. The album brings together photographs of a "group of friends," all from the same region of Germany, all of whom became SS men. From 1928 to 1943, the photo album allows us to follow their journey. Hördler conducted the investigation, comparing the photos in the album with other, better-known ones, the faces of these men with those of concentration camp officials, and ultimately revealed that it was at Lichtencburg that these young men were trained, a "school" for future camp executioners, and the bonds of camaraderie and informal network that would allow them to help each other, even after the war.

On November 25, 1973, the first of four car-free Sundays transformed West Germany's deserted highways into spaces for walking, cycling, and horse-drawn carriages, while towns and cities took on a festive atmosphere. Introduced during the oil crisis to conserve fuel after the Arab oil embargo and production cuts following the Yom Kippur War, the measure became an unforgettable collective experience. Beyond the immediate energy shortage, the crisis marked a turning point, ending the postwar economic boom and encouraging greater awareness of energy use, consumerism, and environmental issues.

The Stammheim trial against the leadership of the first generation of the RAF was one of the most elaborate in the Federal Republic of Germany. Through this trial, Stammheim also became a place of identity for the RAF. The docudrama uses the perspective of Horst Bubeck, who as a prison officer in the cell wing had the most intensive contact with the prisoners, to shed new light on the history.

Crises, the struggle for raw materials, climate change and digitalisation – the world is changing rapidly, and with it the globalised economy. Who wins, who loses? What is in store for us? A search for clues in seven regions of the world.

Why is a person evil? Is evil in the genes? These questions have always preoccupied people. The approaches to explaining evil are as varied as evil itself. The latest science assumes that there are three factors that shape human behavior: genes, the environment and the individual situation. All three factors interact and influence each other. The film presents the latest research and addresses one of the most exciting questions in behavioral research.

The discovery of oil brought unprecedented economic growth to humanity. Initially, oil was available in large quantities and cheap – but in 1973, a consequential oil price crisis hit, and the sticky commodity became part of a geopolitical poker game. The struggle for global resources is more relevant than ever.

Secret societies play a far larger role in our everyday lives than we are aware of. Historian Dr Marian Füssel searches for clues surrounding history’s most famous secret societies and conspiracy theories.

Filmed just over a century after the first tank battle in 1918, this documentary series explores how the vehicles forever changed warfare.

Leni Riefenstahl's flamboyant Nazi aesthetics shaped the public image of the 1936 Olympics. Never before had sports and politics been mixed. Through archive photos and reconstructions, we get a closer look into the historical propaganda show.

The heart of Islam beats on the Arabian Peninsula. For there lies Mecca, the holy city of the Muslims. Almost 100 years ago, one of the peninsula's many clans founded a kingdom there: Saudi Arabia. The rule of the Al Saud is based on a pact that combined, and still combines, strict religious zeal with political calculation.

The spectacular moon landing in 1969 was also a success of more than 100 technicians and engineers from Germany, some of whom had already revolutionized weapons technology and built rockets in Hitler's service during World War II. The documentary analyzes the entanglements of German NASA employees with the Third Reich.

Thoughts of a diversity of public and private citizens on the virtues of democracy, its faults, its decadence, its fall and the rise of populism.