For our ancestors, the fear of the undead was very real. If you look beneath the earth you`ll find: bodies that have been weighted down with stones, tied up or even decapitated in their...
This documentary focuses on a spectacular discovery made in a quarry near the village of Eulau, not far from the central German town of Naumburg. Neolithic graves contained the skeletons of three women, two men and eight children, buried tenderly 4500 years ago, some affectionately entwined. In 2008, for the first time anywhere in the world, it was possible to perform a DNA analysis on the earliest evidence of the existence of a nuclear family. This was a sensation - but why did these people all die at the same time? Were they the victims of a violent crime? Who were they, and how did this terrible drama unfold? Archaeologists insist that these victims will not be forgotten, since these days it is possible to do far more than simply date and record such finds. Modern scientific methods have revolutionised archaeology, enabling us to discover how and why the family from Eulau in the German state of Sachsen-Anhalt died 4500 years ago. By enlisting the help of a CID profiler, archaeologists and anthropologists employ state-of-the-art analytical methods to investigate this Stone Age crime. In the process we discover key information about an era before recorded history which has previously been shrouded in mystery - and astonishing information about the composition of the population here also comes to light. It seems that the third millennium before Christ saw two major waves of migration, from Eastern and Western Europe, which determine the composition of the population here. In the middle of what is now Germany these two migratory movements met. Could this be the background to the mysterious murders of Eulau?
Hannibal's crossing of the Alps, one of the greatest military feats ever.
The documentary THE BALKANS IN FLAMES examines the disintegration of the former Socialist Federation of Yugoslavia.
From Lower Saxony and North Rhine Westphalia, from Osnabrück to Paderborn, one of Germany's most beautiful forests extends for some 150 kilometers - the Teutoburg Forest. The low mountain range became famous due to the Varus Battle that took place in 9 AD. It was here that Hermann, or Arminius, the Cherusci Prince vanquished the Roman occupation army.
In Cologne in 1212 a boy named Nicholas captivated thousands of children between the ages of eight and fifteen with his fanatical speeches. They had been chosen, he said, to liberate Jerusalem. Likewise, in the French town of Cloyes a young shepherd gathered numerous children around him with the same proclamation.
Just after midnight on May 2, 2011, United States Special Forces raided the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Osama Bin laden had been hiding for years. “America's public enemy number one” was killed during the operation. The Navy SEALs thoroughly searched his house, recovering everything that could provide information about Bin Laden and his terrorist network Al-Qaeda: His documents and private correspondence, as well as every electronic data carrier.
In February 1917 World War I is raging when Mata Hari is arrested in Paris and taken to the examining magistrate. Her very life is at stake: she is accused of high treason. The famous exotic dancer has come to represent beauty and the power of feminine seduction. The documentary Mata Hari - the Beautiful Spy tracks down the true story of this fascinating woman.
North Korea is a country of stark contrasts. On the one hand, it presents real socialist stereotypes like cryptic messages from a frozen time loop, combined with shocking reports on shortages. On the other hand, polished Pyongyang lures with a futuristic skyline, flashy amusement parks and department stores with a range of goods equal to those in western consumer meccas.
At the end of WWI, the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Sèvres stood for a new world order. This is where the victorious powers decided the Ottoman Empire was to be broken up.
Having previously been dominated by the Empires of Russia, Germany and Austro-Hungary, many peoples of Eastern Europe had cherished hopes of gaining freedom after World War I.
The Biblical Plagues - Duel on the Nile: In the first episode of the three-part series, The Biblical Plagues, scholars deal with the first six natural disasters. In the Nile, scientists discovered deadly microorganisms that caused the fish to die and a stress situation among the frog population.
Giacomo Casanova was born in Venice in 1725, to poor parents. Initially, he is expected to become a priest, but he is ultimately going to reject this career path. His destiny is governed by the love of women, and he challenges the most powerful institutions of his time: the Catholic Church and the Venetian Inquisition. For Casanova, life in decadent Venice is an on-going feast for the senses.
Wandering Wolves - Episode 2: In Part Two of the documentary, the wolf experts Luigi Boitani, Francesca Marucco, Ilka Reinhardt and Hubert Potocnik track the animals all the way across Europe. We see how wolves often cover over a thousand kilometres on their migrations. They swim through fast-flowing rivers and traverse icy mountain ranges and multi-lane motorways.
Wandering Wolves - Episode 1: For most Europeans, the wolf is more of a myth than an actual wild animal. But since the nineties, Isengrim has been making his way back to the middle of the continent, kilometre by painstaking kilometre. Part One of ‘Wandering Wolves' follows the renowned biologist Francesca Marucco and other experts on the trail of an Italian nomad wolf on his way to the French Maritime Alps.
When Jason and his crew of 50 men set sail, a dangerous journey to what was then known as the end of the world lies ahead of the Greek heroes. The young hero had a one-of-a-kind galley built for the voyage, which he baptized "Argo." The mighty rowing boat was designed to take the committed band to the legendary land of Colchis, beyond the Dardanelles.
In Lake Kivu, on the borders of Rwanda and Congo, there is methane gas worth $25 billion. Enough to supply central Africa's energy needs for generations. But if it explodes, it will kill up to two and a half million people living on Lake Kivu's shores. The danger is real.
He is one of the greatest German explorers of all time even though his name fell into oblivion: As luck would have it, in 1772 17-year-old Georg Forster was given the chance to accompany the greatest navigator of his time, James Cook, on his world circumnavigation. On this voyage, Captain Cook discovered islands and peoples, while Georg Forster focused on animals and plants, discovering more than 400 species that had been unknown to Europeans until then. “Terra X” follows German actor Robert Atzorn on his search for traces around the world. He gets to know a young man, whose philosophy and conception of the world still appear to be really modern. Sophisticated dramatic reconstructions bring the fateful sea journey to life. The film portrays a great natural scientist whose knowledge and legacy determined patterns for scientific research in the 21st century.
At the bottom of the Baltic Sea lies a cog, a relic of the might of the German Hanse, a league of merchantmen founded about 1200 AD. Archaeologists are retracing its final voyage using state of the art technology as well as ancient scripts. Their search takes them to the Norwegian port of Bergen, to the Shetlands and even as far as Iceland.
Return of the Bible Plagues - Hailstorm: “… and the Lord sent thunder and hail, … and fire mingled with the hail,” reports the Old Testament. “And the hail smote … all that was in the field, both man and beast.” (Exodus 9:23–25).