Spiegel TV

A look at the parallel lives of Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler and how they crossed with the creation of the film “The Great Dictator,” released in 1940.

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.

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.

A history of Nazi television programming and technology, from 1935 to 1944.

How do you deal with right-wing extremists in the neighborhood? Exclude, tolerate or involve? Rural regions in particular are prone to infiltration by nationalist settlers. Right-wing extremists systematically penetrate village structures, pretending to be nice neighbors, committed citizens and problem solvers in a completely non-ideological way. Local volunteer fire brigades and football clubs are infiltrated by Nazis. Done among others in the village of Groß Krams in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where two right-wing extremists seem to be part of everyday village life. One of them works as a firefighter. In Appen, Schleswig-Holstein, the state chairman of the Hamburg NPD wanted to join the village's football club. But the club's management refused when they found out about the political background. The documentary by Hans Jakob Rausch illuminates the infiltration strategies of the extreme right and the difficult balance between tolerance and engagement against right-wing radicalism.

The first ascent of the Matterhorn was made on July 14, 1865 by Edward Whymper, Francis Douglas, Charles Hudson, Douglas Hadow, Michel Croz and two guides from Zermatt, Peter Taugwalder father and son. Douglas, Hudson, Hadow and Croz are killed on the descent after Hadow slips and drags the other three men down the north face. Whymper and the two Taugwalders, who survive, are later accused of having cut the rope that connected them to the rest of the group so as not to be dragged into the fall, but the ensuing investigation finds no evidence of their guilt and they are acquitted. The Matterhorn is the last great peak in the Alps to be conquered and its ascent marks the end of the golden age of mountaineering. One hundred and fifty years later, a team undertakes the same expedition in order to unravel the mystery.

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.

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.

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.

Film about the gender binary. What is it, how does it manifest itself in our minds and our lives - and how can we go beyond? Just how different are “men” and “women?” Are they even two distinct groups? This film follows individuals and communities, experts and artists around the globe who right now are radically and joyfully redefining gender as we know it.

Born into a Bavarian bourgeois family, Heinrich Himmler became the driving force behind the indescribable crimes that made the Nazi regime so unique in modern history.

Young people are discovering pornography at an increasingly early age. How does this early exposure affect them? Filmed in Europe and the United States, this is a comprehensive and nuanced scientific overview of a massive phenomenon.

Adolf Hitler spent the last ten days of his life in a bunker underneath the Chancellery of the Reich. Unwilling to face the consequences of defeat, the dictator ended his own life on April 30, 1945 in this fortified underground complex. Featuring exclusive interviews with the last survivor’s of Hitler’s inner circle and extensive archival footage, Death in the Bunker is an illuminating look at the Führer’s final decisions in preparation for his suicide.

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