For millions of Germans paradise has a name and a place: Mallorca. Germans have been travelling to the Balearic island for around a hundred years. As early as in the early 1930s thousands of Germans have lived and worked there, determined never to leave their dream island again. After 1933, more and more German emigrants came to Mallorca and met fanatical supporters of the NSDAP there as well. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War destroyed the dreams of many island Germans, driving others into the unknown or to suicide. Until 1939, Mallorca was an important base for the notorious Legion Condor, which bombed republican ships and port cities from there. It was not until the 1950s that the German holidaymakers returned. First only the rich, later, with lower airfares, the great masses. Pensioners began to spend the winter on Mallorca, workers filled up on sunshine, celebrities filled up luxury yachts, German pubs and restaurants sprang up like palm trees. Many feel that Mallorca is Germany’s 17th federal state. Familiar and yet foreign, far away and yet close – and always beautiful. ZDF History tells of a hundred years of “German” Mallorca history.

WRITER AND DIRECTOR: Christian Burckard, Daniel Guthmann     CAMERA: Dieter Stürmer     EDITOR: Agnès Padrol Sureda     COMMISSIONING EDITOR: Alexander Berkel