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St. Petersburg - A Window to Europe (1/39)

A window to Europe was what Peter the Great wanted to create when, in 1703, he laid the foundation stone for the new capital city of his Russian empire. He sent 50,000 serfs into the swampy delta of the Neva to pound the harbour city out of the ground. Under Katharina the Great, St Petersburg finally became the thriving metropolis which Peter the Great had dreamed of: a "Venice of the North", a ci..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2002
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Egypt and the Nile Valley (2/39)

Everyone knows the pyramids, the legendary gold mask of Tutanch-Amun or one of the numerous preserved mummies. These relics of a civilization which existed about 5000 years ago are, nevertheless, still surrounded by numerous unsolved questions. Many of the mysterious phenomena of ancient Egyptian culture are connected to religious ideals which seem very strange to us today. Using contemporary so..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1996
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Athens, the Birthplace of Democracy (3/39)

Athens is still one of the liveliest cities of Europe, an Antique city which has stayed young. At an early stage the Athenians adopted a questioning attitude to life and began to develop new ideas. Thus, about two and a half thousand years ago, in this city there emerged the idea of democracy which has exerted a decisive influence on modern history. In this cultural environment literary forms su..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1997
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Chartres and the Spirit of the Middle Age (4/39)

For over 1000 years pilgrims have been flocking to Chartres. It is not the city which attracts them, but the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Then as now it fascinates people, albeit for different reasons. When it was built people saw it as a holy place, a place which promised blessing, hope and relief from the trials and tribulations of life. At that time the faithful understood its message immed..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1997
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Damascus, Paradise on Earth (5/39)

Once the legendary dynasty of the Omayyads had chosen Damascus as its capital in the 7th century, the Syrian city acquired a fabulous reputation. For almost 100 years Damascus was the cultural linchpin of the world, a city where the most learned men of the Mediterranean region lived and the most skillful craftsmen far and wide worked. The Omayyad caliphs contributed to this golden age; they summon..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1997
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Florence and the Spirit of the Renaissance (6/39)

Florence is regarded as the focal point, the centre where the revolutionary ideas of the Renaissance with its enthusiasm for the art of Antiquity were developed. The city on the Arno was at this time one of Europe's foremost trading metropoles. Here the currents of culture and politics converged. In Florence, liberal and open-minded as it was, there emerged a broad class of industrious c..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2002
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Ganges, the River of Heaven (7/39)

Ganga, as the Indians call it, Mother Ganges, the Goddess Ganges is India's holy river. The Ganges is a gift of Shiva, the god of regeneration, a heavenly river flowing on earth. Bathing in the sacred waters of the Ganges can cleanse one of sin - so devout Hindus believe. When Jamana Lal's mother died unexpectedly, he and his brother decided to make a 6.000-kilometre pilgrimage from ane..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1996
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Hue, the City on the River of Fragrance (8/39)

Hue, the former imperial city, lives with its river, the Song Huan, the river of scents, the river of fragrance. Its enticing nickname probably came from the fragrant pollen which it carries at certain times of the year. Numerous songs and poems sing the praises of this river and of the colourful life on its banks. Yet Hue is not only the city at the river, Hue is in fact the cultural he..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1997
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Indias South and the Dance of the Gods (9/39)

In Kumbakonom, according to an ancient myth, the world evolved from a "kumba", a vessel. The city in the south of India claims to be the navel of the world, which, according to the Hindu creed, is actually the sacred city of Benares. This is one of the numerous contradictions which are a particular characteristic of the south of India, where myths, religious traditions and everyday life a..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1999
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Indus - On the Shores of Eternity (10/39)

The cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia still fascinate us today due to their advanced science and engineering. Of much lesser renown is the third civilization of this era which blossomed along the Indus between 3500 and 1900 BC. We now know that this river civilization extended over a much larger area than the realms on the Nile or the Euphrates and Tigris. Most famous are the ruins of Mo..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1998
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Jerusalem, City Between Relegions (11/39)

Jerusalem is a holy city, not only for Jews but also for Christians and Muslims. Since time immemorial, each of the three great monotheistic religions has claimed the city as its own. Long-lasting, bloodthirsty conflicts were the result. Jerusalem, a bone of contention for over 2000 years. Now more than ever. Without its pre-eminent significance for these religions, Jerusalem would be mer..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1997
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Cracow and its Golden Age (12/39)

When revolutionary spirits studied at the university - such as Nicolaus Copernicus, who was to shake the foundations of existing, outdated doctrines - when the first mail coaches set off from Rynek and the heretical ideas of the Reformation and of humanism were discussed in public, then Cracow was regarded as "Poland's most splendid city". Under the Jagiello kings Sigmund I and II the cit..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2002
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Kyoto and the Zen Culture (13/39)

For over 1000 years Kyoto was the capital of Japan and the centre of a culture in which apparently insignificant activities were accorded a hitherto unknown status. Drinking tea, for example, becomes in this cultural enviroment an artistic ceremony. In arranging flowers art and nature are blended, in painting characters the writer strives for perfection. The archer tries to hit his target..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1996
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Lhasa and the Spirit of Tibet (14/39)

"Tashi Delek", "Fare thee well", is the traditional greeting of the Tibetans. However, since the Chinese invaded the land in 1950, this is no more than wishful thinking. Nowadays the Tibetans have to fear for the preservation of their culture since the constantly growing Chinese population is rapidly crowding out the native Tibetans. The latter are often no longer able to practise unhinde..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1997
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Machu Picchu and the Legacy of the Incas (15/39)

Machu Picchu is one of the earth's magic places. The ruined city seems to be the work of giants, full of mysteries, unwilling to reveal its secrets. Nevertheless, more than any other place, it has become the symbol of the vanished culture of its architects, the Incas. They were at the height of their power when they were smitten by a hitherto unknown disease: the insatiable greed for gold which t..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1999
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Stonehenge and the Megalithic Cultures (16/39)

Some 5.000 monuments have been preserved from the Neolithic Age. They testify to a culture which left no written evidence and whose religious ideals are abscured by a veil of conjecture. Numerous unsolved questions still fascinate people, as do the huge dolmens and menhirs, the burial mounds and stone circles. They create for us a society which was capable of great feats.   The fi..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1995
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Teotihuacan, City of the Gods (17/39)

As with many of the pre-Spanish civilizations of Central and South America there are more questions than answers surrounding the culture of Teotihuacán. From village communities, at around 200 BC, there developed an urban civilization in the highlands of Mexico. Over the centuries it produced huge, precisely constructed pyramids for cultic purposes. In the 8th century AD Teotihuacán suffer..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1996
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Tikal and the Gods of the Maya (18/39)

Over 3000 years ago the Maya emerged from the mists of history and created a civilization which lasted six times as long as the Roman Empire. Between 750 and 900 A.D. this people abandoned their cities. Apparently without reason.   The disappearance of the Maya is as mysterious as their rapid rise from nowhere. Yet the veil surrounding this people is gradually being lifted. A smal..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1997
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Venice - The Insatiable (19/39)

Venice - a romantic, melancholy city, this we know. But insatiable? And yet this latter characteristic defines Venice more aptly than anything else. For it was in this spirit that Venice emerged. In the spirit of merchants dedicated to exploring any way of buying the best goods at the best price, who undertook arduous and perilous journeys so that they could offer for sale the most exquis..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1999
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Xi'an - Chang'an - The Cradle of Chinese Civilization (20/39)

Xi'an, the ancient Chinese Chang'an is an important site of the world's cultures. The city on the Yellow River with its surroundings is one of the birthplaces of Chinese culture and civilization. North-east of Xi'an, in 1974, the clay army of the first Chinese emperor, with its thousands of warriors, was discovered. Here, too, his huge burial mound, still unopened, is situated. And it wa..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1999
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Borobudur - Mountain of the Gods (21/39)

Borobudur, situated in the centre of the jungle of Java in Indonesia, is regarded as the eighth wonder of the world. This sanctuary, built in the ninth century by the powerful Shailendra rulers, is in fact the largest Buddhist temple in the world. The pyramid-shaped monument consists of almost two million volcanic stone blocks and is - like a huge stupa - modelled on a mandala or a lotus. Over 500..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2002
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Delphi - Navel of the World (22/39)

Delphi was once regarded as the centre of the world. It was one of the most important intellectual and cultural sites of antiquity.  Anyone who could afford it sought the advice of the oracle of Delphi before making a decision in both personal and public affairs. Some of these oracle sayings have survived to the present day, over two thousand years later.   The film descibes the faith..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2001
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Palmyra - On Trading and Military Routes tobthe "Bride of the Desert" Pt. 1 (23/39)

This two-part documentary focusses on the antique city of Palmyra; ancient trading and military routes led to and through this city. Palmyra is a great oasis, a place to rest and stay overnight for the caravans travelling from Mesopotamia to the West, to Damascus and to the Mediterranean.   The first part begins with the desert and the Bedouins who live there; for since time immemorial, Syr..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2000
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Palmyra - On Trading and Military Routes tobthe "Bride of the Desert" Pt. 2 (24/39)

Palmyra, the biblical Tadmor, had  become in the late Hellenistic era a rapidly growing centre for caravan trade. In the Roman age it developed into a state of its own; as it became increasingly independent from Rome, it went on to become the most important trading centre between Roman Syria and the land of the Parthians. In its heyday the oasis city of Palmyra was able to display its incomp..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2000
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Persepolis, Stage of Kings (25/39)

It seems as if the people who built Persepolis - and this they did even before the ancient Romans created their world empire - appeared out of nowhere. Presumably it was a tribe of herdsmen who settled in the south-west of present-day Iran in the 8th century B.C.. This region was known as Parsa, or Persis as the Greeks called it. When, in 550 B.C., the Achaemenid Kyros ascended the throne, it took..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2001
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Qufu and the Great Confucious Pt. 1 (26/39)

It is estimated that he was born 2,500 years ago and since 2,200 years his birthday is befittingly celebrated annualy: Confucious, the "Teacher of 10,000 Generations".  He is not only one of the most famous chinese, but at the same time one of humanity's most important teachers altogether.  No other person made such a lasting impression on his countrymen's way of thinking.  Everybod..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2001
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Qufu and the Spirit of Confucious Pt. 2 (27/39)

In his teachings, Confucious set the highest value on the position of the family, which he viewed as the fundamental social bond, more important than all others.  Correspondingly, he positioned family loyality as more important than any other bond, even those to the Emperor and to Heaven. Through this, strong family traditions came into being that have notable influences on the way tha..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2001
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

In the North of Syria Pt. 1 - En Route to Aleppo (28/39)

Aleppo, a city in the north of Syria, is one of those places which has been inhabited since primeval times. Archeological finds date back to the Stone Age. Aleppo experienced its heydays in the 2nd millennium B.C. and in the age of the crusades, in the Middle Ages. It was then that the citadelles which still dominate the cityscape were built. The town prospered due to international trade. Aleppo's..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2001
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

In the North of Syria Pt. 2 - Traces of Antiquity (29/39)

The north of Syria offers a surprising abundance of cultural riches. Together with finds from the pre-Christian era such as Ain Dara, traces of the Romans and remnants of the first churches and cloisters of the early Christians are to be found in the area around Aleppo. The limestone massif in the north of Syria, now a bleak and karstic landscape, was evidently one of the centres of Christianity i..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2001
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

The Escorial - A Kings Vision of his Faith (30/39)

It was to be a bulwark of the faith, a symbol of the greatness and power of the Spanish world empire. In a manner virtually unparalleled by any other building, the Escorial reflects the spirit of its age, the 16th century, and of its patron, Philipp II. Philipp II, driven by a blind faith in the Catholic church and the burning desire to emulate his father, Charles V, had the Escorial bui..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1998
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Paris - Metropolis of the 19th Century (31/39)

Every year 60 million tourists visit Paris, lured by the fame and glory of this city - the Seine, the Louvre, Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower. They provide the setting for what is still our essential idea of urban life, for our vision of the multi-facetted, fascinating metropolis, an ideal breeding-ground for revolutionary ideas, crazy artists and the demimonde of louche living. It was in the 19t..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2000
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Konya and the Dancing Dervishes (32/39)

"Whatever you are looking for, do not search on the outside, find it in yourself." This statement of a Sufi master characterises precisely the ideas of Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam. The Sufis' most important concern is the search for the deep, passionate love of God. Many rules associated particularly with the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam do not apply to them. Their "heart"..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2001
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Pergamon and the Worlds New Philosophy (33/39)

During our time at school we learned that Greece was the cradle of european culture.  What we tend to forget is that the beginnings of greek culture and the foundations of our intellectual history are to be found in Asia Minor. Three thousand years ago greek emigrants landed on the aegean coast of what is today known as Turkey. Here they founded many settlements which in the following century..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2001
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Vienna - Waltz Time and Opera Melody (34/39)

Mozart himself was firmly convinced that the best place in the world for a musician was Vienna. This may still be true today. You notice this in so many small things. For example, there is a special telephone number which you can call to hear the concert pitch A. And the enthusiasm for music displayed by the Viennese people is unparalleled. They queue for days on end to buy standing-onl..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1998
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Moscow and the Golden Ring (35/39)

Susdal - it could be a city from a Russian fairy tale. In the Middle Ages it was one of the most important cities far and wide, larger than Paris or London - now it has been relegated to depths of a Russian backwater. Yet it is a typical Russian city with a Kremlin, churches, palaces and fortified cloisters, which defended the Orthodox faith at first against the Islamic Mongols, later aga..

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Genre
Year Of Production	1999
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Rome and its Claim to World Supremacy (36/39)

The eternal city, the hub of the universe - which other city would dare to boast these titles? Which city can claim that it was the linchpin of history, both in antiquity and in modern times? In which city did Emperors claim that the gods had appointed them rulers of the world? And where, centuries later, did the Popes, the Princes of the Church, believe that the Christian god had ordained..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2000
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Reims - Cathedral of Kings (37/39)

It is regarded as the queen of Gothic cathedrals, as a highlight of Gothic architecture. And it is an intensely French symbol - for almost a thousand years this was the place where the kings were crowned. Clodwig, the king of the Franconians, was said to have been baptised here in 498, and since then the Bishops of Reims have enjoyed special prestige. The ritual of the coronations since the Middle..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2002
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

Assisi and the Franciscan World (38/39)

He is the idol of ecologists, an ambassador of peace, the patron saint of Italy - and lived over 800 years ago. During his lifetime he was already regarded as a revolutionary, as an extremist, a nonconformist, a thorn in the flesh of the established powers. Francis of Assisi bestowed lasting fame upon the small, hitherto rather insignificant town of Assisi. Because of him the most..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2000
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

London, Capital of the Empire (39/39)

What began with the discovery of the New World reached its zenith in the mid-nineteenth century during the reign of Queen Victoria: England as a great power. It was a world event in 1851 when Crystal Palace and with it the first international Industrial Exhibition were opened in Hyde Park. London, the linchpin in the network of the vast British Empire, was once again the undisputed foca..

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Genre
Year Of Production	2002
Country Of Origin	Germany
Language Versions	German [OV]

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