Neil MacGregor began his journey through 600 years of German history at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, and ends it at the Reichstag, seat of the German Parliament. These two extraordinary buildings, only a few hundred yards apart, carry in the

Barlach's Angel

Nov 6th, 2014 14m

Neil MacGregor focuses on Ernst Barlach's sculpture Hovering Angel, a unique war memorial, commissioned in 1926 to hang in the cathedral in Güstrow.Producer Paul Kobrak.

The New German Jews

Nov 5th, 2014 14m 6s

After concentration camps like Buchenwald and extermination camps like Auschwitz, it seemed that the story of Jews in Germany must come to a full stop at the end of the war. Why would any Jew in 1945, or in 1965 for that matter, see any part of

Out of the Rubble

Nov 4th, 2014 13m 56s

Neil MacGregor talks to a Trümmerfrau, a woman who cleared rubble from the streets of Berlin in 1945, and focuses on a sculpture by Max Lachnit, a portrait of a Trümmerfrau made from hundreds of pieces of rubble.Neil also examines the role the

The Germans Expelled

Nov 3rd, 2014 13m 54s

Neil MacGregor focuses on a small hand-cart to tell the story of the forced movement of more than 12 million Germans, who fled or were forced out of Central and Eastern Europe after 1945.For many, the only way of transporting their possessions

At the Buchenwald Gate

Oct 31st, 2014 14m 6s

Neil MacGregor visits Buchenwald, one of the earliest and largest concentration camps.Producer Paul Kobrak.

Purging the Degenerate

Oct 30th, 2014 14m

Neil MacGregor examines how the Nazis attacked art they viewed as 'entartet' - degenerate. He charts how Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, led a process designed to purify all German culture, including books, music, paintings and pottery.

Money in Crisis

Oct 29th, 2014 13m 59s

Neil MacGregor examines the emergency money - Notgeld - created during World War One and its aftermath. Small denomination coins began to disappear because their metal was worth more than their face value. People hoarded them or melted them dow

Kathe Kollwitz: Suffering Witness

Oct 28th, 2014 14m 1s

Neil MacGregor focuses on the art of Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945), who expresses the loss and suffering of war, especially after the death of her younger son Peter at the front in 1914.Neil MacGregor argues that she is one of the greatest German

Bismarck the Blacksmith

Oct 27th, 2014 14m 6s

Neil MacGregor charts the career of Otto von Bismarck (1815-98), known as the Iron Chancellor: he argued that the great questions of the day should be decided by 'iron and blood'.Bismarck was disliked and feared by foreigners, and reviled by li

Bauhaus: Cradle of the Modern

Oct 24th, 2014 14m 2s

Neil MacGregor focuses on the Bauhaus school of art and design, founded in Weimar in 1919.Our cities and houses today, our furniture and typography, are unthinkable without the functional elegance pioneered by the Bauhaus. Producer Paul Kobrak

From Clock to Car: Masters of Metal

Oct 23rd, 2014 13m 46s

Neil MacGregor focuses on the long tradition of German metalwork, from finely-engineered clocks to the Volkswagen Beetle. German gold and silversmiths were established as the best in the world, but it was for the making of scientific instrument

Porcelain: The White Gold of Saxony

Oct 22nd, 2014 13m 51s

Neil MacGregor focuses on how 18th century German chemists discovered the secrets of Chinese porcelain, known then as 'white gold' - translucent, fine-glazed, and much-coveted. Porcelain became a lucrative source of income, and was used for pre

Dürer: An Artist for All Germans

Oct 21st, 2014 13m 49s

Neil MacGregor focuses on the work of Dürer (1471-1528), arguing that he is the defining artist of Germany, his image - and his self-image - known to all Germans. He was a new kind of artist, clearly fascinated by himself, and the first great a

Gutenberg: In the Beginning Was the Printer

1 Oct 20th, 2014 13m 59s

Neil MacGregor examines the life and legacy of Johannes Gutenberg, who invented moveable type and pioneered the printing press. For many, it is the moment at which the modern world began, as the book as we know it was born. It is without doubt

1848: The People's Flag and Karl Marx

Oct 17th, 2014 13m 56s

Neil MacGregor reflects on the events of 1848, when black, red and gold became the colours of the flag for a united Germany, and Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto.Producer Paul Kobrak.

Iron Nation

Oct 16th, 2014 13m 47s

Neil MacGregor charts the role of iron in 19th century Prussia, an everyday metal whose uses included patriotic jewellery and the Iron Cross, a military decoration to honour all ranks.Producer Paul Kobrak.

Holbein and the Hansa

Oct 15th, 2014 13m 46s

Neil MacGregor charts the rise and fall of the Hansa, or Hanseatic League, a great trading alliance of 90 cities, including Lübeck, Hamburg, Danzig, Riga and London.He also focuses on the role of the artist Hans Holbein the Younger, who painted

Riemenschneider: Sculpting the Spirit

1 Oct 14th, 2014 14m 1s

Neil MacGregor focuses on the religious sculptures of Riemenschneider (c1460- 1531), whose reputation as an artist has steadily risen. He is seen as a supreme sculptor, working in a peculiarly German medium, limewood, but articulating the sensi

The Battle for Charlemagne

Oct 13th, 2014 13m 49s

Neil MacGregor visits Aachen cathedral to examine the legacy of Charlemagne (c. 747-c. 814) - was he a great French ruler, or was he Charles the Great, a German? And what is the significance of a very fine replica of the Imperial Crown? Produce

One People, Many Sausages

Oct 10th, 2014 13m 52s

Neil MacGregor focuses on two great emblems of Germany's national diet: beer and sausages. He visits Munich to find out how regional specialities represent centuries of regional history and diversity. Producer Paul Kobrak.

The Walhalla: Hall of Heroes

Oct 9th, 2014 13m 56s

Neil MacGregor visits the Walhalla, one of the most idiosyncratic expressions of national identity in 19th century Europe - a temple to German-ness, modelled on the Parthenon, built high above the Danube in Bavaria. It honours almost 200 people

One Nation Under Goethe

Oct 8th, 2014 14m 1s

Continuing his focus on the things which bind Germans together, Neil MacGregor examines the life and work of Goethe, the greatest of all German poets: "There is a case for arguing that if Americans are one nation under God, the Germans are one

Fairy Tales and Forests: The Grimms and Caspar David Friedrich

Oct 7th, 2014 14m 4s

Continuing a week of programmes with a focus on the things which bind Germans together, Neil MacGregor reveals how the fairy tales collected by the Grimms and the landscape art of Caspar David Friedrich played a vital role in re-establishing an

Luther and a Language for All Germans

Oct 6th, 2014 13m 57s

Neil MacGregor continues his series with a week of programmes with a focus on the things which bind Germans together - ranging from the importance of the great German writer Goethe, and the significance of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales, to th