Where do we come from? What has shaped us? And how did the diversity of our origins, languages, and cultures give rise to what we today perceive as “German” and experience as “Germany”? As narrator and time traveler, Matthias Brandt guides us through a past that is much closer to us than we often realize. The first five episodes of this ambitious multi-part series span from the Ice Age to the Late Middle Ages. They tell the stories of the people who lived here over the millennia—their challenges and struggles, their achievements and accomplishments.

WRITERS: Tamar Baumgarten, Marlene Göring, Eva Hoffmann Villena, Fred Langer, Daniel Sich, Sandra Stöckmann, Christian Twente   DIRECTORS: Christian Twente, Nina Koshofer    HOST: Matthias Brandt   CAMERA: Martin Christ, Sarina Laudam, Jörg Adams, Fabian Spuck  COSTUME DESIGN: Katharina Ost, Irina Kocheva   LINE PRODUCER: Gabriel Georgiev, Midwest   PRODUCTION DESIGN: Axel Nicolet  EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Ann-Kathrin Maubach  PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Christopher Heuer  UNIT MANAGER: Jens Dülker  PRODUCTION MANAGER: Sabine Eisner  EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Daniel Sich   CREATIVE PRODUCER: Christian Twente  COMMISSIONING EDITOR ZDF: Friederike Haedecke, Stefan Gierer, Friedrich Scherer, Ricarda Schlosshan