Trailers
Season 4 Teaser
A sweeping, gripping family saga of conflicting loyalties, love and betrayal, set behind the Iron Curtain in 1980s East Berlin. Uwe Kockisch (Donna Leon’s Brunetti) stars as Hans Kupfer, a Stasi officer whose youngest son, Martin, falls in love with Julia, the daughter of a dissident singer. Their courtship threatens the safety of both families, and sets into motion tumultuous events which play out over the course of the subsequent decade.
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Season 3 Trailer
Season 2 Trailer
A sweeping, gripping family saga of conflicting loyalties, love and betrayal, set behind the Iron Curtain in 1980s East Berlin. Uwe Kockisch (Donna Leon’s Brunetti) stars as Hans Kupfer, a Stasi officer whose youngest son, Martin, falls in love with Julia, the daughter of a dissident singer. Their courtship threatens the safety of both families, and sets into motion tumultuous events which play out over the course of the subsequent decade.
Streaming exclusively MHz Choice
Cast
Hans Kupfer
A former general at the Ministry for State Security, Hans long ago became disillusioned with the Stasi and its methods. Estranged from his son, Martin, and with his marriage long left for dead, Hans becomes convinced that the only way to move forward is to fully face the past and open the Stasi archives to the public. But powerful forces stand in his way.
Martin Kupfer
Martin and his girlfriend, investigative journalist Katja Wiese, live together in the West with Martin’s daughters Lisa and Anna. In the turmoil of the transition to a capitalist economy (the West German Deutsche Mark is coming!) Martin finds himself responsible for the formerly state-owned furniture company where he works, as well as the fate of all its employees.
Falk Kupfer
Falk, confined to a wheelchair after the events of Season 3, sees his professional services much in demand after the fall of the Wall. Under the name “Mr. Schmidt”, Falk takes a job with a West German insurance company looking for an inside man in their scheme to take over former East German government assets.
Vera Kupfer
In the spring of 1990, Vera decides to take the plunge into politics and runs for a seat in the Volkskammer (People’s Chamber) in East Germany’s first (and, as it turned out, only) free democratic election. She loses, but shortly after is offered a job with the Treuhand – the privatization agency set up to take control of the formerly state-owned East German companies to be integrated into the new, unified Germany.
Marlene Kupfer
Marlene’s marriage to Hans is irreparably damaged, and she has no contact with her son Martin. The disintegration of the Communist Party and the fall of the Wall threaten her family’s financial well-being, and she hatches a scheme with Hans’ former boss Günther Gaucke to smuggle party assets out of the country for laundering.
Nicole Henning
Nicole is Vera’s best friend and sister of the late pastor Robert Wolff. A real go-getter who makes ends meet by selling sandwiches on the street, Nicole later teams up with Peter Görlitz and goes into the used car business with him. But she’s never been able to get over the suspicion that her brother was murdered at the hands of the Stasi – and becomes obsessed with finding out the truth.
Katja Wiese
A freelance journalist from West Berlin, Katja lives with Martin and his two daughters – Lisa, from Martin’s first marriage, and Anna, his daughter with Julia. The fall of the Wall means opportunity for Katja – a new series of articles, “Faces of the GDR”, and research into the Stasi archives.
Peter Görlitz
Görlitz is a sergeant with the Volkspolizei, and Martin’s former colleague. The two are still good friends, each providing support for the other through the years. To Görlitz, the fall of the Berlin Wall means opportunity – specifically, buying cars in the West and selling them in the East to supplement his meager police salary!
Episode Recaps
Production Stills
Trivia & Points of Interest
Quiz - How Well Do You Know Weissensee?
The Weissensee Saga Map
Articles