WELT

She is the flagship of the German deep-sea fishing fleet: the Maartje Theadora. Built for ocean-going service, the trawler is out in the fishing grounds of the Pacific for more than 300 days a year. This ship can process and transport around 6,000 tons of fresh fish. The fish is sorted and frozen in the factory below deck. The trawler's fishing areas are in the English Channel, but also in the North Atlantic and the Pacific. The week-long journeys are a great physical challenge for the committed crew. Our documentary gives insights into the tough everyday life at a fishing expedition on a board the giant ship.

These bodies make every camper's heart beat faster: Individually designed and extravagantly furnished long-distance motorhomes are the latest craze on the caravan market - at least for those amateur campers who can afford the unusual models. The off-road companions and rolling luxury suites have no upper price limits. Who are the owners of the most expensive caravans in Germany, and what about the hoods of their rolling homes?

Not only cheese spaetzle and Kneipp baths come from the beautiful Allgäu in Germany. The world's largest agricultural machinery has been produced in Marktoberdorf in Swabia since 1930. With 3,000 employees, the Fendt company is the German market leader in the manufacture of tractors, combine harvesters and harvesting machines. The WELT reporters follow the path of a “1000 Vario” tractor from construction to sale to the farmer and show how Bavarian high-tech makes life easier for farmers in this country and worldwide.

Dubai – the Middle East’s land of the future. “Higher, faster, XXL” is the motto of the desert emirate in the Gulf popular with tourists. One of the highlights is the Atlantis Resort at the top of the artificial island “The Palm Jumeirah”. The Aquaventure water theme park is also part of the complex. It was the largest of its kind in the Middle East even before now. But the makers of the Atlantis are stepping things up a gear! A new section of the park is being built on an area of almost six hectares in size, including a 34-meter-high slide tower. The opening date is fast approaching, but there are still frequent delays on the construction site. The documentary accompanies the construction work and the opening of the amusement park.

Gold-rush atmosphere in the recycling industry, waste as an economic engine. Every year, 40 million metric tons of waste end up in the trash cans of German households. Thanks to strict regulations and precise specifications for waste separation, this waste is turned into new raw materials.

The modern prefabricated house construction makes it possible: foundation, walls, roof - and all that within 48 hours. Every fifth building owner nowadays opts for the simple "let build" method. The industry is booming and produces its own four walls on an assembly line. In our documentary, the reporters follow the path of the raw material from the log to the prefabricated house ready for occupancy and show the challenges that builders and planners can sometimes encounter.

Woodworkers have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. When ordinary forest companies get stuck, the specialists are called. They remove storm damage in the forest, saw at breathtaking heights and cut down giant rotten trees before the dreaded bark beetle can spread uncontrollably. Whether with the help of a harvester, rope crane or 'flying saw' - you are well equipped for all locations.

50 meters long, 6.5 meters wide and 4.5 meters high - a 130-ton giant, consisting of a drive station for conveyor belts and transport vehicles, has to be brought to the site 13 kilometers away. The route: an obstacle course! Power lines lead to a forced stop. Tight curves and steep descents require filigree work. A real tough job for heavy haulage professional Randolf Peters. Schleenhain in Saxony, around 40 kilometers south of Leipzig. Here, lignite is mined in open-cast mining on a large scale. If a digging point is exhausted, the heavy equipment must be relocated to the next excavation site. Since the drive station with its enormous dimensions does not simply fit on a normal low-loader, Randolf Peters relies on two SPMT (Self Propelled Modular Transporter), so-called self-propelled vehicles, which are driven by radio remote control for the transport.

Germany’s infrastructure is falling apart. Countless buildings, bridges and roads are crumbling and need to be torn down. These demolition experts have a true giant at their side. Our documentary accompanies the men of Bavarian demolition teams as they live out what is probably every little boy's greatest dream.

Behind bars in Russia is no fun - in our Documentary about Russia's toughest prison we show why! Terrorists, gunmen and mafia bosses are serving their life sentences in the Russian penal camp "Vologodski Pjatak". The fortress on the island of Ognenny was built as a monastery in the 16th century. Later the "Fire Island" was converted into a gulag for enemies of the state after the October Revolution of 1917. Since 1994 it is a maximum security prison for serious criminals. Christoph Wanner is the first western TV reporter to manage to shoot behind the prison walls on the island of the damned.

Europe's fastest and highest wooden roller coaster is located in the Heide Park Resort in Soltau. The amusement park has been characterized by the 60 meter high ride since 2001. With a top speed of almost 110 kilometers per hour, “Colossos” was a real crowd puller, with around 20 million guests traveling in 15 years. The restoration began in 2016. New wood, new rails, new technology - the report accompanies the extensive renovation of Germany's most popular wooden roller coaster.

Probably the most difficult construction site in Germany is 70 kilometers from Sylt. The sea is up to 32 meters deep and the waves are high even in good weather. A wind park with 80 turbines is being built here under harsh conditions, which will generate climate-friendly electricity for a million people. A mammoth project that is hard to beat in terms of size and complexity. And things are progressing rapidly: specialists erect the almost 150-meter-high wind turbines within a day.

What beer is to Germans, vodka is to Russians. The Russians consume around 60 liters of their national drink per capita per year - as cheap liquor, fine drink and home-distilled. But the high alcohol consumption has consequences: every year around 30,000 people in Russia die of alcohol poisoning. WELT reporter Christoph Wanner has taken a closer look at the production and sales of Vodka - a lucrative business in which not everything is right.

Higher, stronger, more robust: crane builders outperform with superlatives. Loads are getting heavier and have to be lifted to hard-to-reach places. One of the largest crane companies in Germany is the Knaack Krane company in Hamburg. The company currently has around 60 different cranes in stock, the largest of which can lift up to 750 tons. It is a long way through planning and assembly until the machine is used for the first time - the report accompanies the creation of a mega crane.

Deep sea fishing - that's working to the limit. The ships of the German deep sea fishing fleet often stay at sea for months. The hunt for the black halibut takes the team to the Arctic Circle. Storm and snow are part of everyday life here, work on board is dangerous. Great trust in their comrades and their own skills makes the crew a tight-knit community. This documentary accompanies the crew on board one of the largest deep-sea trawlers in the German fleet.

Precision work at an altitude of 3,000 meters. A unique construction is being built on the Zugspitze - Germany's highest Mountain. With a total distance of 4.5 kilometers, the suspension railway being built there is not only the highest, but also the longest cable car in the world. But that's not all: it drives over a single support that sets another record at 127 meters. How does the alpine climate influence working conditions? Our documentation takes a look behind the scenes of the cable car construction site and accompanies the creation of the impressive structure.

Up to 4,000 car washes and around 1,000 interior washes per day; plus a hand wax station, 48 vacuum cleaner spaces, a petrol station and an oil change service: the world's largest car wash in Stuttgart-Feuerbach (Germany) is a superlative system. The documentary takes a look behind the scenes of the family business and shows the enormous logistical effort involved in handling the vehicle masses and the perfect luxury car care.

Aachen Prison is both Germany’s most dangerous and most secure prison. It houses murderers, sex offenders and pedophiles. Their cells are inspected regularly. It offers space for over 700 prisoners. Who works here, who is serving what for? And how do relatives deal with the arrest of a family member? In our prison documentary we take a look behind the bars.

The São Manoel Hydroelectric Plant: in the heart of Brazil, deep in the Amazon rainforest. Everything the site needs must be transported via a long and arduous route. These transformers weigh over 200 metric tons each - they have to travel 4,000 kilometers before they reach their final destination. The workers at Megatranz are experts: long distances are easy for them. The haulage convoy covers most of the route easily - but the last 100 kilometers are difficult. The temperature is 40 degrees Celsius in the shade, the conditions merciless, the roads dusty and the bridges old. This is demanding work for the workers and the cargo. But it’s also a bonding experience. Mistakes can be fatal. The way across the river is dangerous. A ferry is repurposed into a barge: a highly risky maneuver. Nerves of steel are just part of the job - but that’s no use when your luck runs out.