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A Monthly Culture Matrix For the Cosmopolitan Traveler

Deutschland 89

Streaming on Hulu / Film & TV

With the well-respected Angela Merkel reigning over a Birkenstock-clad, hyper-efficient Germany, it’s easy to forget that when the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989, the country had already reinvented itself three times in the 1900s. Its eventual entry into successful democracy marked the fourth turn—from failed democracy to fascist dictatorship to communist dictatorship—in a century. The German-language Deutschland trilogy, created by Anna and Joerg Winger (Anna was also the co-creator of Unorthodox) and starring Jonas Nay and Maria Schrader (director of Unorthodox), explores the complicated, espionage-laced lead-up to the moment the Wall crumbled. Each season focuses on a year in the 1980s: there’s Deutschland 83 (2015) on day-to-day existence in the face of potential nuclear disaster, and Deutschland 86 (2018), which casts the Cold War as a world war. Now, Deutschland 89 explores the legacy of the Iron Curtain’s sudden fall. After premiering for a limited time on Sundance TV last year, the third season is now available for streaming. —J.V.

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