45Min: Wem gehört das Wasser? Verteilungskampf im Norden

Sorry, this entry is only available in German.

Eigentlich gibt es genug Wasser im Norden. Aber: Die vergangenen Jahre haben gezeigt, nicht überall und nicht immer reicht das Wasser für alle. Die Klimakrise macht es spürbar: Das Wasser muss nicht immer reichen. In Lauenau in Niedersachsen brach im vergangenen August die Trinkwasserversorgung zusammen, Trinkwasser gab es nur im Supermarkt, und die Feuerwehr verteilte 10 Liter Wasser für die Toilettenspülung.  Auch die Binnenschifffahrt auf Weser und Elbe musste im vergangenen Jahr aufgrund der niedrigen Wasserstände Einschränkungen hinnehmen. Selbst im Harz wird sichtbar: Es gibt einfach zu wenig Wasser. Die großen Talsperren sind trotz der Regenfälle im Januar und Februar diesen Jahres nicht annähernd gefüllt. Denn obwohl es eigentlich in Gesamtdeutschland noch genug Wasser gibt  - von den rund 188 Milliarden Kubikmetern in Gesamtdeutschland, die im Durchschnitt jedes Jahr durch Regen und Flüsse ins Land kommen, wird nur ein Bruchteil verwendet. Im Jahr 2016 etwa waren es 12,8 Prozent. Die Verfügbarkeit von Wasser ist sowohl regional als auch saisonal unterschiedlich verteilt,  und so konkurriert heute Trinkwasserförderung mit dem Naturschutz und den Interessen von Industrie, Waldbesitzer*innen, Landwirt*innen oder Wassersportler*innen. Und die Konflikte verschärfen sich durch die Klimakrise.

Adventure Harvest

When a harvester takes six tonnes of beans from the field per hour, when a complete 32-hectare wheat field is mown within three hours, or when a planting machine alone puts up to one million iceberg lettuce plants into the ground per day – then it is high season in northern German fields.

Behind these gigantic dimensions are farmers who have to struggle every year with cold snaps, record heat, too much or too little rain. And as if that wasn’t enough, in 2020 there was also Corona. Thousands of harvest workers could not enter the country, fields could not be cultivated and asparagus could not be harvested. Would farmers in northern Germany be able to harvest the usual quantities this year, guarantee supplies, all at stable prices? Or would Corona mean ruin? 2020 poses great challenges for the farmers.

Vanessa Kossen and Arne Jessen accompanied large and important producers for a season and got to know people who grow vegetables, fruit and grain with passion, a willingness to take risks and a love of the product. Things that we can buy as a matter of course in the supermarkets every day.

Funded by nordmedia – Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen mbH.

plan b: Hase, Nest und Schoko-Ei – Ostern neu gefeiert

Sorry, this entry is only available in German.

Ein Osteressen in Familie oder Freundeskreis vereitelt Corona auch dieses Jahr. Bei Schokohasen und bunten Eiern aber zeigt sich: Viele Menschen ändern – gut und gerne – alte Bräuche.

Feine Schokolade braucht nicht die Form langer Ohren. Für ein leckeres Ei muss kein Huhn leiden. Und Osterzöpfe lassen sich sogar vegan backen. Und das ist dann doch wieder eine Jahrtausende alte Tradition: der Verzicht auf tierische Produkte vor dem Osterfest.

„Bei uns könnt ihr zusehen, wie unser hausgemachter Sauerteig auf Reisvollkornmehl-Basis täglich frisch angesetzt wird. Es gibt keine Geheimnisse.“ Katharina und Rena haben ihren Back-Shop in München „Echt jetzt? Echt jetzt!“ genannt. Unglaublich, aber wahr: eine offene Backstube. Ob glutenfrei, vegetarisch, vegan, histaminarm oder einfach nur ohne Zusatzstoffe – alles ist möglich. Fürs Ostergeschäft experimentieren sie zum Thema Ei-Ersatz. Flohsamenschalen oder doch besser Chia oder Leinsamen? Die Ergebnisse werden mit Team und Kund*innen getestet, bevor das endgültige Oster-Angebot feststeht.

Die Verkaufszahlen von Schokolade schnellen nach oben, wenn die Osternester mit süßen Hasen, Eiern oder Küken bestückt werden. Und auch für die Spielwarenindustrie ist die Osterzeit fast so einträglich wie der Advent. Teuer aber müssen Spielsachen nicht sein. Das beweist ein Verein in Paris. In Frankreich landen jedes Jahr 100.000 Tonnen Spielzeug im Müll. Weitere 500.000 Tonnen liegen unbenutzt in Schränken und Kellern. Damit wollten sich die Gründer*innen von Rejoué in Frankreich nicht abfinden. Sie reinigen und reparieren gespendete Spielsachen und verkaufen sie für kleines Geld.

Tierschützerin Inga Günther züchtet sogenannte Zweinutzungshühner. Ihre Hennen legen Eier, die Hähne taugen für die Fleischproduktion. Deshalb werden die männlichen Küken nicht getötet, wie sonst üblich. Ende 2021 macht ein neues Gesetz damit Schluss. In Zukunft sollen Züchter*innen das Geschlecht vor dem Schlüpfen bestimmen und die Eier mit männlichen Küken zerstören. Doch für Inga Günther ist damit nicht alles gut. „Die Branche macht weiter wie gehabt und tötet die männlichen Küken nun einfach zu einem früheren Zeitpunkt“. Eine Lösung für das Problem überzüchteter und hoch spezialisierter Rassen ist das nicht. Ihre Hühner produzieren Bio-Oster-Eier – und leben im Familienverbund mit ihren Brüderhähnen.

plan b: Naturally beautiful – cosmetics rethought

Cream, deodorant, lipstick: hardly anything comes closer to us. This is one of the reasons why consumers increasingly value natural ingredients, less packaging and fair production conditions.

Our cosmetics often contain controversial mineral oils or aluminium salts. They are packaged in disposable plastic. Good reasons to look for alternatives. For example, a deodorant that is 100 per cent natural and without waste. Good for consumers and the environment.

Fewer and fewer consumers want to put just anything on their skin. Instead, less chemicals and plastic in the bathroom. Marina Zubrod, who founded Matica in 2019, is also aware of this. That’s Croatian for queen bee. The name says it all, because the basis of all Matica products is beeswax. “I had major skin problems myself a few years ago, that’s when I started looking into the ingredients in my skincare products and wasn’t exactly “amused”.” The start was brilliant. Within the first six months, the company went through the roof so much that Marina Zubrod’s husband Jan quit his job and joined her company full-time. Marina provides the ideas, Jan tries to put them into practice in their own small laboratory. Their latest idea: a 100 per cent natural roll-on deodorant that still works and comes in refillable packaging. Can it work?

The 2000s – Decade of Division

The first decade of the 21st century is drawing new divides. In Germany and the world. Terror and war characterise the decade just as much as the growing gap between rich and poor, winners and losers of globalisation. On the other hand, the digital revolution is turning our everyday lives upside down. The internet is becoming commonplace, the smartphone our constant companion.

While the 90s were a decade of German navel-gazing, the noughties bring us back to the political world stage. From the attacks on the World Trade Center to the war in the Hindu Kush and the great stock market crash.

2000-2001 Terror War and TV Trash

The feared millennium bug does not materialise. The start of the new millennium is rather leisurely. The CDU, shaken by a donation scandal, treats itself to a woman as its new chairperson, Angela Merkel, and Berlin gets a gay mayor. Klaus Wowereit is one of the first prominent politicians to admit his sexual orientation. The feuilleton works off the RTL container show “Big Brother” and the sports world works off the designated national football coach Christoph Daum. He resigns because of his cocaine use. The big bang comes in 2001, when the terrorist attacks of 11 September mark a historic turning point.  From then on, war and terror dominate the decade and bring Germany back onto the world political stage.

2002-2004 Force of nature and Nipplegate

The Bundeswehr fights alongside America in Afghanistan against the Taliban, but Germany does not take part in the war in Iraq. Dictator Saddam Hussein is toppled in the process. Nevertheless, peace does not come to the Middle East. Janet Jackson’s bare breasts arouse America more than the torture pictures from the US prison in Abu Ghraib. And after the CDU/CSU finally found a candidate for chancellor in Edmund Stoiber, the search for Germany’s superstar began on TV. In 2002, Stoiber loses his composure against incumbent Gerhard Schröder and national football coach Rudi Völler in an interview with sports reporter Waldemar Hartmann. The flood of the century in Saxony and Bavaria is followed by the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean. Mourning clouds Christmas in Germany in 2004.

2005-2007 – Summer fairy tale and chancellor’s riot

Hartz IV is the big domestic issue in the middle of the decade. It tears the SPD apart and ends the Red-Green era. In autumn 2005, Angela Merkel becomes Chancellor for the first time. We are already Pope by then. But what is still missing is another World Cup title. In 2006, a new, young team is to win the World Cup in its own country under the direction of Jürgen Klinsmann. Germany is experiencing a black-red-gold summer fairy tale, which not even the missed final can spoil in the end. However, anyone hoping that the great jubilation will continue at the Tour de France will be disappointed. The German Telekom star Jan Ulrich is convicted of blood doping and it soon becomes clear that this is only the tip of the iceberg. The big innovations come from overseas. The first smartphone is made in the USA. In 2007, the iPhone begins its triumphal march around the globe and fundamentally changes our communication behaviour.

2008-2009 – Obama frenzy and banking crash

The fat years are over. Organic is the new magic word and becomes the trademark of urban lifestyle at the end of the decade. In any case, healthy and cultivated food is booming. After the casting shows, the cooking shows conquer the German screens. Completely against its will, the global economy also goes on a diet in 2008. A huge real estate bubble bursts in the USA. First the banks are hit, then the real economy. Short-time work and scrapping premiums are supposed to slow the downturn in Germany. But the end of the decade also brings new hope. Helene Fischer gives German pop music a new lease of life. And after George W. Bush, Barack Obama is the first African-American to enter the White House. With Obama – and not only the Nobel Prize Committee hopes so – the decade marked by terror and war might find a peaceful end after all.

Regina Halmich, Sönke Wortmann, Barbara Hahlweg, Sarah Wiener, Jakob Augstein and the front women of the bands “MIA” and “Juli” accompany us on this equally entertaining foray through the 2000s.

Broadcast date of all 4 episodes on 29.11.2020:
20:15 – 21:00: 2000-2001 – Terror War and TV Trash
21:00 – 21:45: 2002-2004 – Force of nature and Nipplegate
21:45 – 22:30: 2005-2007 – Summer Fairy Tale and Chancellor’s Riots
22:30 – 23:15: 2008-2009 – Obama frenzy and banking crash

The forest rescuers

250 years ago, the forest was still healthy in most European countries. But that is over. The habitat for countless animal and plant species is in danger. Yet we need it. It provides us with valuable raw materials, stores water and ensures a good climate.

For some years now, drought and heat have been taking their toll on the trees, pests are multiplying rapidly, illegal logging is lining the pockets of criminal organisations – and even state-subsidised clear-cutting is increasing the profits of industry. That is why there are more and more people fighting for their forests. In our series “The Forest Saviours” we meet people of conviction who are closely connected to the forest and do everything they can to preserve it. We meet the Counts of Bernstorff, who are using innovative methods, courage and experimentation to transform their forest so that it can survive the climate crisis. In Finland, we meet activists who are fighting against deforestation for the paper industry and for the last reindeer herders. We show what Susanne and Pierre are doing in the French Massif Central to fight monoculture and accompany Knut Sturm, who shows what a healthy forest can look like in the Lübeck city forest. And finally, we accompany people in Romania who have declared war on the timber mafia.

plan b: The good milk – benefit for cows, climate and customers

Cappucino, butter, cheese sandwiches: milk is in everything. It can cost a bit more: consumers are increasingly attaching importance to fair wages for farmers, animal welfare and the eco-balance. 

Farmers can hardly live off the low milk prices. Factory farming is cruelty. Cattle are considered climate killers. Good reasons to look for alternatives. “You’re the boss here” is the name of an initiative in which everyone decides for themselves how much a litre of milk should cost.

Consumers were able to vote on this in an online survey. Every click had consequences for production: more animal welfare, more regionality, more money for the farmer – all this was immediately reflected on the price tag. Result: an above-average price for high standards. “We are prepared to pay more for our milk if we can be sure that it contains what it says,” says Barthelmé.Now his milk is on the first supermarket shelves, and it will be exciting: do consumers really buy the milk they have chosen online?

Almost every day a baby calf is born on the farm of farmer Lenz in Saxony-Anhalt.

A high-performance farm with 350 cows. And yet: seeing mother and calf take their first steps together is always a moment of happiness for him. “We farmers don’t want to keep our cows badly. It’s just that we often lack the money for a good life,” says Frank Lenz. Nevertheless, the forty-year-old wants to keep going, and he has big plans for the conventional dairy farm, which he is running in the eleventh generation. His first step: The calves stay with their mother after birth and are not separated from her immediately, as is usually the case. They are then allowed to drink from udders for a whole three months – instead of from buckets in calf pens. Milk that the farmer can no longer sell. But he is determined to prove that it is possible: more animal welfare, even on a large farm. 

Mudar Mannah was on his way to becoming a successful surgeon when he decided to dedicate his life to another task after all: as a climate saver. He wants to help reduce the emission of climate-damaging gases – especially methane, which is many times more harmful than CO2. Cattle produce huge amounts of it. Mannah was therefore looking for a plant-based alternative to cheese. “One that tastes good,” he says. That’s how he came up with the cashew nut. He now makes vegan Camembert from it, and with a good eco-balance, despite the transport of the nuts from Vietnam. “We simply have to rethink,” he says on the subject of climate change, “our planet resents us. We can’t go on like this.”

Produce and consume more consciously – not at the expense of the environment, animals and farmers: That’s what it’s all about. Good milk, that’s what makes it!

Trump, my American family and me

Ingo Zamperoni on the road in a torn country

Ingo Zamperoni knows the USA like few others, not only because he spent formative years here as a student and later reported on Americans as a US correspondent. The presenter of the ARD Tagesthemen is married to Jiff, an American, and has a large family in the States. And they are just as divided about conservative President Donald Trump as the whole country.  Father-in-law Paul elected the controversial Republican to the White House. Zamperoni’s wife Jiff is as appalled by this as her mother Lynn.  Shortly before the presidential election, Ingo Zamperoni wants to find out why not only his family-in-law but the whole country is so torn apart. Zamperoni embarks on a family-political search for clues. He wants to understand what excites his father-in-law Paul about the blustering president? How does he manage to see past the many lies, inconsistencies and lapses? And how does his mother-in-law’s second husband, who is black, deal with racism in Trump’s America? And perhaps even Zamperoni’s wife and mother-in-law, the Democrats in the family, will have to concede certain successes of his policies after four years of Trump? And: how will the relatives vote in November?

Through his personal approach, the celebrity anchor brings us closer to the world of American thought in a unique way. An attempt at explanation that makes you think.

Kaminer Inside: Summer of Culture with Obstacles

Summer, that is the season of festivals, concerts and folk festivals all over Europe. 2020 is different: due to the Corona crisis, major events in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are banned until at least the end of August – and what is possible after that is still written in the stars. Are we facing a summer WITHOUT culture? Is that even possible? Are there alternative concepts? What will happen at the places that are otherwise the venue for prestigious cultural events summer after summer and are overrun by crowds of visitors? What does this mean for the organisers and artists on site, what does it mean for us visitors? What is the mood like on site?

As a writer, Wladimir Kaminer himself is acutely affected: Almost all his readings and events have already been cancelled, private theatre and concert visits are impossible, he has already cancelled his holiday.

He takes the audience on a journey through the three 3sat countries, into the heart of the festival industry: he travels to the orphaned venues and meets artists, organisers and supporters. His journey takes him to three very different places, all of which are among the most visited and renowned cultural venues in Europe: the Oberammergau Passion Play, the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Bregenz Festival.