Heimat is a series of films written and directed by Edgar Reitz about life in Germany from the 1840s to 2000 through the eyes of a family from the Hunsrück area of the Rhineland-Palatinate. The family's personal and domestic life is set against the backdrop of wider social and political events. The combined length of the five films — broken into 32 episodes — is 59 hours and 32 minutes, making it one of the longest series of feature-length films in cinema history.
The title Heimat () is a German word, often translated as "homeland" or "native region", but due to its German cultural connotations the word has no exact English equivalent. Usage has come to include that of an ironic reference to the Heimatfilm genre which was popular in Germany in the 1950s. Heimat films were characterised by rural settings, sentimental tone and simplistic morality.
Aesthetically, the series is notable for the frequent switching between colour and black-and-white film to convey different emotional states. In 1987 it won a BAFTA for "Foreign Television Programme".
The first film, Heimat, which covers the years 1918 to 1982, was released in 1984. It was followed in 1993 by Die Zweite Heimat, which is set during the 1960s. A direct sequel, Heimat 3 (about the period 1989–2000), was released in 2004, with lead actors from both previous films returning as their characters. Heimat Fragments, released in 2006, was made using unused footage from the previous three films, along with newly filmed material. A prequel film to the original, Home from Home, was released in 2013.
Background
Tales from the Hunsrück Villages Before creating the Heimat series, Edgar Reitz produced a documentary during 1980–81 about people from his home region, the Hunsrück, where he later set the Heimat series. In Geschichten aus den Hunsrückdörfern () he showed people who had not left the region, unlike Heimats theme of leaving home. This documentary is not considered to be part of the core Heimat series but set the stage for the work to come a few years later.
Autobiographical elements Berkeley film and media professor Anton Kaes argued that auteur film-maker Reitz's trilogy was autobiographical. Reitz and Paul Simon, his fictional character in Heimat, had fathers who were skilled craftsmen. Edgar Reitz was born in 1932 and Paul Simon in 1898 in Hunsrück. They grew up there, then left when they were in their twenties and returned in their fifties. Like Hermann Simon in the 1950s, Reitz left rural life for the world of German urban avant-garde arts and intelligentsia. Reitz worked at the Institute of Film Design in Ulm, while Hermann became a celebrated conductor in Munich. Wealthy American entrepreneur Paul Simon returned to Hunsrück only briefly when the war ended, but Hermann Simon's return was more permanent. He and his lover Clarissa restored a house overlooking the Rhine that lay in ruins, eventually composing music for representing and celebrating his relationship to Heimat. Both Hermann and Reitz "dramatized the tensions between staying home, leaving and returning" (Kaes 1989:164), Hermann through music and Reitz through film.
Development After watching Holocaust, Reitz was offended by the American 'melodramaticisation' of the tragic events and the positive reception the film received. In 1979, Reitz began to make notes of his own life and completed a 250-page screenplay draft based upon his youth. Later in the year, Reitz contacted and together after what was planned to be a single night, they stayed for the next thirteen months in a small hut in Woppenroth writing a script. They became friendly with the local villagers and invited them to comment on the characters and incidents in the story.Parkinson, David (2004) Heimat: An Introduction In 1980, Reitz and Steinbach completed a 2,000-page screenplay. The success of Berlin Alexanderplatz had convinced television production companies that there was a market for sagas. After some haggling, Reitz managed to secure funding for the length of the script and remodeling of five Hunsrück villages.
Shooting began on the first film in May 1981, and continued for eighteen months. The cast consisted of 140 speaking parts, 32 full-time actors, 15 non-professional actors and 3,862 extras. Many of the cast had limited stage experience or no acting experience at all. While shooting, the villagers became heavily involved in the project and helped with re-modelling or set changes depending on the time period. Villagers put out advertisements in nearby villages in hope to find authentic items that could be used as props.
During shooting, Reitz decided that certain elements required extra emphasis that only colour could provide. However, Reitz was quick to deny any theories behind the alternations between black-and-white and colour.
Thirteen months were required for editing with Reitz working alongside Heidi Handorf. Together they created an eighteen-hour rough cut that was later trimmed to just over fifteen hours. Post-production continued until the premiere at Munich Film Festival in 1984. The entire project had taken over five years to complete.
While making Heimat, Reitz had become interested in developing a series of love stories with the working title of Men and Women. However, in October 1985, Reitz decided to make these tales the basis of Die Zweite Heimat ().Parkinson, David (2004) Heimat 2: An Introduction The film follows the character Hermann as he leaves to study music in Munich and meets new friends, who are all following their own dreams.
Running at over 25 hours, Die Zweite Heimat took over six years to write and production lasted 557 days, between 1988 and 1992. The cast comprised 71 leading actors, 310 supporting actors and 2,300 extras. The film's soundtrack also became the longest soundtrack ever produced.
Films
FilmEpisodesReleaseRuntimeRelease dateHeimat1115:24 hours16 September 1984Die Zweite Heimat Heimat 21325:09 hours4 March 1993Heimat 3612:41 hours15 December 2004Heimat Fragments12:26 hours2 September 2006Home from Home13:45 hours28 September 2013
Heimat Heimat, the original series, premiered in 1984 and follows the life of Maria Simon, a woman living in the fictional village of Schabbach. It was filmed in and around the village of Woppenroth in Rhein-Hunsrück, a rural region of Germany to the west of the Rhineland-Palatinate. Subtitled Eine Deutsche Chronik — A German Chronicle, it consists of 11 episodes running in total to 15 hours 24 minutes of screen time. The film spans 1919 to 1982, and depicts how historical events affect the Simon family and the community in which they lived. At the start of each episode, Karl Glasisch narrates the story so far over photographs by Eduard Simon. The digitally remastered version merged some of the episodes together, resulting in seven episodes instead of eleven. Parts of the introduction were cut. Heimat episodes Title Setting Runtime Release date1"The Call of Faraway Places""Fernweh"1919–1928119 minutes16 September 19842"The Centre of the World""Die Mitte der Welt"1929–193390 minutes19 September 19843"The Best Christmas Ever""Weihnacht wie noch nie"193558 minutes23 September 19844"The Highway""Reichshöhenstraße"193858 minutes26 September 19845"Up and Away and Back""Auf und davon und zurück"1938–3959 minutes8 October 19846"The Home Front""Heimatfront"194359 minutes15 October 19847"Soldiers and Love""Die Liebe der Soldaten"194459 minutes22 October 19848"The American""Der Amerikaner"1945–1947102 minutes31 October 19849"Little Hermann""Hermännchen"1955–1956138 minutes4 November 198410"The Proud Years""Die stolzen Jahre"1967–196982 minutes21 October 198411"The Feast of the Living and the Dead""Das Fest der Lebenden und der Toten"1982100 minutes24 October 1984
Die zweite Heimat (Leaving Home) Die zweite Heimat (literally "The Second Heimat"; English title Heimat 2) (subtitled Chronik einer Jugend — Chronicle of a Youth) followed in 1992. It is set during the socially turbulent years of the 1960s and depicts how Maria's youngest son Hermann leaves his rural home and makes a new life for himself as a composer in Munich.
Hermann is a musical prodigy whose teenage romance in 1955 with 26-year-old soul-mate Klärchen was considered scandalous by his conservative home village. It resulted in her being expelled and coerced to never contact him again. Hermann felt crushed, vowing never to love again and to leave his village forever. He arrives in Munich at age 19 where he befriends fellow students, and meets future love interest Clarissa. Hermann joins the avant-garde culture surrounding the conservatory, which includes film students, while he also takes odd jobs. Hermann and his friends are gradually drawn to the Foxhole, a mansion headed by a wealthy art patroness said to be a "collector of artists". A remaster of "Die Zweite Heimat" was released in 2022. Die Zweite Heimat episodes No. Title Setting Featuredcharacter Runtime Release date1"The Time of the First Songs""Die Zeit der ersten Liede"1960Hermann116 minutes4 March 19932"Two Strange Eyes""Zwei fremde Augen"1960–61Juan115 minutes7 March 19933"Jealousy and Pride""Eifersucht und Stolz"1961Evelyne116 minutes11 March 19934"Ansgar's Death""Ansgars Tod"1961–62Ansgar100 minutes14 March 19935"The Game with Freedom""Das Spiel mit der Freiheit"1962Helga120 minutes18 March 19936"Kennedy's Children""Kennedys Kinder"1963Alex109 minutes21 March 19937"Christmas Wolves""Weihnachtswölfe"1963Clarissa110 minutes25 March 19938"The Wedding""Die Hochzeit"1964Schnüsschen120 minutes28 March 19939"The Eternal Daughter""Die ewige Tochter"1965Fräulein Cerphal118 minutes1 April 199310"The End of the Future""Das Ende der Zukunft"1966Reinhard131 minutes4 April 199311"The Time of Silence""Die Zeit des Schweigens"1967–68Rob118 minutes8 April 199312"The Time of Many Words""Die Zeit der vielen Worte"1968–69Stefan119 minutes11 April 199313"Art or Life""Kunst oder Leben"1970Hermann &Clarissa119 minutes11 April 1993
Heimat 3 Heimat 3 (subtitled Chronik einer Zeitenwende — Chronicle of a Changing Time) premiered in 2004. It continues Hermann's story in 1989 as he returns to Schabbach and depicts the events of the period from the fall of the Berlin Wall until 2000. The cinema version consists of six episodes running to 11 hours 29 minutes, although controversially the version broadcast on the German ARD television network in December 2004 was edited into six 90-minute episodes and it is this 20% shorter version which was released on DVD. Heimat 3 episodes No. Title Setting Runtime Release date1"The Happiest People in the World""Das glücklichste Volk der Welt"1989106 minutes15 December 20042"The World Champions""Die Weltmeister"1990100 minutes17 December 20043"The Russians are Coming""Die Russen kommen"1992–93124 minutes20 December 20044"Everyone's Doing Well""Allen geht's gut"1995132 minutes22 December 20045"The Heirs""Die Erben"1997103 minutes27 December 20046"Farewell to Schabbach""Abschied von Schabbach"1999–2000105 minutes29 December 2004
Heimat-Fragmente (Heimat Fragments) Heimat-Fragmente (English title Heimat Fragments), subtitled Die Frauen — The Women, was released in cinemas in 2006 and focuses on the women of the Simon family at the turn of the millennium, and in the 1960s. It uses deleted scenes and outtakes from the previous films, along with newly filmed material to create a narrative that mostly focuses on Lulu looking back on her family history.
Die andere Heimat (Home from Home)