Many times I was asked by my colleagues which movies I could recommend to learn something about the German history, the language, or which famous movies were produced in Germany. Well, the result is this list with movies made in Germany or touching historic topics about the two German countries, i.e. the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.

It’s not an objective ranking, they are sorted purely by my personal appreciation. I collected this list 2012 and recently updated it in August 2023.

Most German DVDs do have an English soundtrack, buying them in Germany may be cheaper than importing an English-only version from the UK. And if you wanted to learn the language, well, here you are.

Just very good movies made in Germany

  • Wings of Desire - Der Himmel über Berlin (Wim Wenders, 1987)
    • continued in: Faraway, So Close! - In weiter Ferne, so nah! (Wim Wenders, 1993)
  • Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen, 1981) → see also WWII below
  • Trace of Stones - Spur der Steine (Frank Beyer, 1966)
  • The Bridge - Die Brücke (Bernhard Wicki, 1959) → see also WWII below
  • The White Rose - Die weiße Rose (Michael Verhoeven, 1982) → see also WWII below
    • same topic: Sophie Scholl - The Final Days - Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage
  • The Tin Drum - Die Blechtrommel (Volker Schlöndorff, 1979)
  • Never Look Away - Werk ohne Autor (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2018)
  • Good Bye Lenin! (Wolfgang Becker, 2003) → see also GDR below
  • The Legend of Paul and Paula - Die Legende von Paul und Paula (Heiner Carow, 1973) → see also GDR below
  • The Devil’s General - Des Teufels General (Helmut Käutner, 1955) → see also WWII below

Other famous movies made in Germany

  • The Kaiser’s Lackey - Der Untertan (Wolfgang Staudte, 1951)
  • Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1926)
  • Cloud Atlas (Lana and Lilly Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, 2012)
  • Bagdad Cafe - Out of Rosenheim (Percy Adlon, 1987)
  • Fitzcarraldo (Werner Herzog, 1982)
  • Lili Marleen (Rainer Werner Fassbinder. 1980)
  • Germany in Autumn - Deutschland im Herbst (A. Kluge, Volker Schlöndorff, Rainer Werner Fassbinder…, 1978)
  • The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum - Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (Volker Schlöndorff und Margarethe von Trotta, 1975)
  • Christiane F. – We Children from Bahnhof Zoo - Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo (Uli Edel, 1981)
  • Stammheim - Stammheim – Die Baader-Meinhof-Gruppe vor Gericht (Reinhard Hauff, 1986)
  • The Edge of Heaven - Auf der anderen Seite (Fatih Akin, 2007)
  • Der Junge muss an die frische Luft (Caroline Link, 2018)

About or playing in the GDR

Documentaries

  • Life Behind the Wall - Damals in der DDR (2004-2007)
  • Die Firma: Das Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Christian Gierke, 2007)
  • So war die DDR: DDR Geheim - Das unsichtbare Kommando (German only, 2008)
  • Flucht in die Freiheit - Die Geschichte einer mörderischen Mauer (German only, 2009)

Movies about or playing in the GDR (DDR)

  • The Lives of Others - Das Leben der Anderen (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2005)
  • The Uprising - Der Aufstand (Hans-Christoph Blumenberg, 2003)
    • same topic: Two Days of Hope - The Uprising of June 17, 1953 - Zwei Tage Hoffnung - Der Aufstand vom 17. Juni 1953 (Peter Keglevic, 2003)
  • The Miracle of Berlin - Das Wunder von Berlin (Roland Suso Richter, 2008)
  • The Tunnel - Der Tunnel (Roland Suso Richter, 2000)
  • Ballon (German only, 2019)
  • Hot Summer - Heisser Sommer (Joachim Hasler, 1967)
  • Sun Alley - Sonnenallee (Leander Haußmann, 1999), a comedy
  • NVA (Leander Haußmann, 2005), a comedy
  • Goodbye Lenin (Wolfgang Becker, 2003), a comedy
  • Go Trabi Go - The Saxons are Coming - Go Trabi Go - Die Sachsen kommen (Peter Timm, 1991), a comedy

About or playing in the 3rd Reich and WWII

Documentaries

  • The 20th of July - The Assassination Attempt on Hitler - Der 20. Juli - Das Attentat auf Hitler (Falk Harnack, 1955)
    • same topic: Operation Valkyrie - Stauffenberg’s Attempt on Hitler - Operation Walküre - Stauffenbergs Anschlag auf Hitler (Jean-Pierre Isbouts, 2008) (Note this is not the rubbish movie with Tom Cruise!)

Movies

  • Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen, 1982)
  • All Quiet on the Western Front - Im Westen nichts Neues (Lewis Milestone, 1930)
    • bad remake: All Quiet on the Western Front - Im Westen nichts Neues (Delbert Mann, 1979)
    • worse remake: All Quiet on the Western Front - Im Westen nichts Neues (Edward Berger, 2022)
  • The Bridge - Die Brücke (Bernhard Wicki, 1959)
  • The Tin Drum - Die Blechtrommel (Volker Schlöndorff, 1980)
  • The Devil’s General - Des Teufels General (Helmut Käutner, 1955)
  • Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever? - Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben (Frank Wisbar, 1958)
    • same topic: Stalingrad (Joseph Vilsmaier, 1997)
  • The Captain from Köpenick - Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (Helmut Käutner, 1956)
  • Downfall - Der Untergang (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004)
  • Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)
  • 08/15 (Paul May, 1957)
  • The White Ribbon - Das weiße Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (Michael Haneke, 2009)

German movies made in the 3rd Reich

  • Olympia (Leni Riefenstahl, 1937)
  • The Punch Bowl - Die Feuerzangenbowle (Helmut Weiss, 1944)
  • Great Freedom No. 7 - Große Freiheit Nr. 7 (Helmut Käutner, 1944)
  • Titanic (Werner Klingler; Herbert Selpin, 1943)
  • The Testament of Dr. Mabuse - Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang, 1933)

Other movie lists