The Wonders of the North

What does the Lübeck Holsten Gate have in common with the Taj Mahal?  The Viking settlement of Haithabu with the ruins of Machu Picchu? And the Wadden Sea with the Great Barrier Reef? They are all UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Around the world, there are currently 1,092 unique cultural or natural sites of “universal value” that bear this title. They are under special protection against destruction, but also against change.  Twelve of these UNESCO World Heritage Sites are located here in the North. They are grandiose buildings, milestones in the history of technical development, but also landscapes that rival the famous natural beauties on other continents.

We are going on a voyage of discovery to our wonders of the world in the north: To the old town of Goslar, the Rammelsberg mine and the Oberharzer Wasserwirtschaft.  To the cathedral and St Michael’s Church in Hildesheim. To the Faguswerk in Alfeld, to Bremen’s town hall and Roland statue, and to the old towns of Wismar, Stralsund and Lübeck.  We visit the fascinating old beech forests on Rügen’s chalk coast, the Wadden Sea, Hamburg’s Speicherstadt with its warehouses and the “newcomer”: the Viking settlement of Haithabu, recently designated a World Heritage Site.

The film “The Wonders of the North” discovers the uniqueness of these places, which secures them a place on the “Noah’s Ark” of cultural and natural assets. We show people who fight for this heritage, secure its existence or live and work in it.

A journey full of history and stories, with a focus on the extraordinary, the unique in this world.

Broadcast date:Pfingstmontag, 10. Juni 2019 um 15 Uhr auf N3
Length:60 Minuten
Written and directed by:Dagmar Wittmers
Camera:Thomas Frischhut
Editor:Andreas W. Spengler
Editorial advisor:Annette Plomin, NDR
Production:Lilia Schulz, Christin Gumpert
Line producer:Ulrike Schwerdtner
Executive producer:Brigitta Schübeler