Press Release Director Episodes Images Critics Purchase		Heimat: A Chronicle of Germany The Episodes and the History Behind Them Episode 1: The Call of Far-Away Places, 1919-1928 The Story Returning from a POW camp in France to his native village of Schabbach, Paul Simon wants to abandon the traditional family craft of blacksmithing and take up the new technology of the wireless. He falls in love with Apollonia, a servant girl ostracized by the villagers, but gets cold feet when it comes time to elope. Instead, he marries Maria, the daughter of the wealthy town mayor. They have two sons and Paul returns to being a blacksmith, until one day, he goes out for a beer in the village and does not return. The History 1914 The Germany Empire enters World War I. 1918 The war ends in November. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates, and a republic is declared. 1919 A National Assembly is installed at Weimar, and so-called Weimar Republic begins. 1923 Spiraling inflation plagues Germany. A Communist uprising is suppressed. Adolf Hitler's Munich Putsch fails. 1925 Paul von Hindenburg is elected Reich President, and Germany stabilizes. Hitler writes Mein Kampf. 1926 Germany is admitted to the League of Nations. Episode 2: The Center of the World, 1928-1933 The Story Paul's brother Eduard contracts tuberculosis and is sent to Berlin to recover. There he meets Lucie in a brothel and immediately marries her, bringing her back to Schabbach. Meanwhile, only Katharina, the Simon family matriarch, will not celebrate Hitler's birthday, instead visiting her brother in Bochum. Her nephew Fritz is arrested and deported, and Katharina returns to Schabbach with his young daughter, Lotti. The History 1929 The Great Depression begins. The Weimar democracy is unable to cope with national despair and severe unemployment. 1932 Unemployment is at an all-time high. The SA brownshirts become a part of daily street violence. Elections reveal the growing popularity of the Nazi Party. 1933 The Weimar Republic is officially over. Hitler becomes Reich Chancellor and withdraws from the League of Nations. On February 27, the Reichstag building goes up in flames. Nazis claim this as the beginning of a Communist revolution, prompting Hitler to convince Hindenburg to issue a decree granting Nazis sweeping power over this so-called emergency. This lays the foundation for a police state. Episode 3: The Best Christmas Ever (1935) The Story A Nazi party official takes interest in Eduard's photography and Lucie, eager to help her husband move up in the world, pushes Eduard to become involved with the Party. With money borrowed from a Jewish banker, the couple build a house in a village next to Schabbach and soon Eduard becomes mayor. They entertain party officials and celebrate Christmas while Nazi propaganda plays on the radio. The History 1935 Hitler announces the Nuremberg Laws, which stripped Jews of their civil rights as German citizens and separated them from Germans legally, socially, and politically. This law forbade marriages or sexual relations between Jews and Germans, among other restrictions. Episode 4: The Highway (1938) The Story Paul has now been away for over ten years, and the wife he abandoned is getting restless. Maria confesses her need for something new just as Otto Wohllenben, the chief engineer of a new motorway being built nearby, takes up lodging at the Simon residence. He develops a close relationship with Maria's son, Ernst. Otto has an accident on the job and while Maria is caring for him, the two fall in love. The History 1938 Zarah Leander, a Swedish girl with Jewish grandparents, becomes a popular German star after Marlene Dietrich emigrated to the United States. During the late 1930s, she appeared in several film and on the covers of numerous magazines. In 1938, she starred in a film called Heimat, directed by Carl Froelich. Episode 5: Up and Away and Back (1938-1939) The Story A special delivery arrives in Schabbach, announcing Paul Simon's return after many years. Maria is devastated and turns away her lover, Otto, now that she realizes she is not a widow. Traveling to Hamburg, she feel despondent when the meeting does not turn out as planned. Maria returns home just in time to hear that war is being declared on Poland. The History 1938 In June, German heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling takes on Joe Louis in a rematch that became one of the most discussed fights of all time. The fight was portrayed as the battle of the Aryan versus the Black. Louis wins. 1939 Hitler invades Poland, officially starting World War II. Two days later, Britain and France, now obliged by treaty to help Poland, declare war on Germany Episode 6: The Home Front (1943) The Story World War II is in full swing. Maria is raising her young son, Hermann, unbeknownst to his father Otto, now a bomb disposal expert in the army. Maria's other sons are fighting for the Fuhrer, Ernst is a pilot cadet and Anton has been drafted into the propaganda unit in Hamburg, though he is later sent to the Eastern Front. His pregnant girlfriend, Martha, shows up in Schabbach and the two are married over the phone. The History 1942 The Wannsee Conference approves the Final Solution to eradicate Jews in Europe. 1943 Hitler launches the assault on Kursk on the Eastern Front, which was the last offensive the Germans were able to launch on a large scale. The Germans are not successful. Following the defeat, Hitler did not trust his generals to the same extent again, and as his own mental condition deteriorated, the quality of Germany's strategic decisions fell correspondingly. Episode 7: Soldiers and Love (1944) The Story Otto is reunited with Maria, albeit for just one night. He meets their young son, Hermann, who eventually warms up to his father. Otto hopes that they can finally attain the happiness that has eluded them so far. As the Allied Army moves in on the Hunsruck, tragedy hits the Simon family. In the meantime, the anti-aircraft battery at Schabbach is destroyed in a raid As the Eastern Front collapses, Anton films executions of Russian prisoners for his propaganda unit. Wilfried, Marie's brother and an ardent Nazi, is a broken man, because it looks like the Party will not survive the war. Lucie, however, prepares herself to make the best of the situation. The History June 6, 1944 D-Day marks the Allied invasion against German forces. July 20, 1944 Failed attempt by German conservatives to assassinated Hitler. August 25, 1944 Liberation of Paris October 21, 1944 Massive German surrender at Aachen, the first German city to fall. Episode 8: The American (1945-1947) The Story In Schabbach, people have already accepted the Americans as their new masters. Paul Simon returns to Germany with much pomp and circumstance, having made a lot of money from the electrical company he owns in Detroit. To Maria, Paul is a total stranger. A young woman, Klarchen Sisse, presents herself as Ernst's betrothed and reports that Ernst will be home soon. Anton also returns, having walked thousands of miles from the Russian front. Katharina, the Simon matriarch, dies and after her funeral, Paul helps Anton build an optical instrument factory before returning to America. The History 1945 Germany surrenders on May 8. 1949 Germany is divided into East and West Germany. 1951 West Germany flourishes economically, which is deemed the Economic Miracle. Episode 9: Little Hermann (1955-1956) The Story Maria lavishes unfulfilled love and thwarted ambition on young Hermann. He is the first to receive a grammar school education and is sensitive, cultured and charming. Klarchen, who had originally come to Schabbach to be with Ernst, is attracted to the teenager and even though she is twice his age, becomes his lover. Maria and Anton discover the affair by reading one Klarchen's letters to Hermann. Jealous at the idea of losing her son, Maria threatens to persecute Klarchen, with the help of Anton. However, she only succeeds in alienating her beloved son even further. The History 1955 West Germany joins NATO; East Germany joins the Warsaw Pact. Episode 10: The Proud Years (1967-1969) The Story Anton's factory is the object of a takeover bid, but he refuses to sell. Ernst has settled into a job selling modern doors and siding to the people of the Hunsruck region. He then sells their antique doors and furniture to collectors, restaurants, and inns in the big cities. Meanwhile, Hermann is commissioned to compose a broadcast concert using electronic instruments built by Paul's company. The whole village gathers to listen, but only Karl Glasisch seems to appreciate the music. The History 1968 West Germany experiences student unrest, much like the rest of the western world. 1969 Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor. Brandt will make treaties with the Soviet Union and Poland and opens negotiations with East Germany. Episode 11: The Feast of the Living and the Dead (1982) The Story Maria Simon has died at the age of 82. Most of the family return for her funeral and a traditional feast in her honor, including her estranged husband Paul. Only Hermann has yet to arrive from Munich. During the wake, the latent hostility between the three brothers erupts, and their differences become readily apparent. However, most of the hard feelings are smoothed over at the annual village fair. Heartbroken at Maria's death, Karl Glasisch dies. The History 1982 Helmut Kohl becomes Chancellor, remaining in power until 1998 to become the longest-serving Chancellor of Germany since Otto von Bismarck. Kohl is widely recognized for managing the process of German reunification that started with the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and formally completed on October 3, 1990.
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