Storm over Europe/Wandering Tribes / Four parts
2001
Directed by Christian Twente
Customer: ZDF/ARTE/ORF/Discovery
This documentary deals with the mass migration of Germanic tribes at the very beginning of European history, while Ancient Rome raced towards inevitable collapse and a new political centre developed in Northwest Europe.
This period, from the invasion of the Huns in 375 to the conquest of Italy by the Lombards in 568, is one of the most fascinating, significant and complex epochs in history. In 120 BC the Cimbrians and Teutons emerged from Denmark and waged war on the Roman Empire to the south, with conspicuous success. In the fifth century the Goths, Franks and Vandals joined the bloodthirsty Huns, bringing about the final collapse of the Empire. From the ruins arose new kingdoms: the Ostrogoths in present-day Italy, the Visigoths in Spain, the Anglo-Saxons in England and the Franks in modern France and Germany. In 800 AD, when Charlemagne, King of the Franks, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, it marked the beginning of modern European history.
Storm over Europe is a very special journey into the past. The wandering tribes of this period left few visible monuments. There are wonderful treasures such as the Roman-Germanic architecture of Ravenna and Trier; the Germanic corpses from the moors in Northern Germany and Denmark; the Anglo-Saxon ship grave at Sutton Hoo in England; and the Visigoth royal treasure at Guarrazar in Spain - nevertheless, relicts from this period are extremely rare. Consequently the documentary employs special methods to animate this era of early European history.
