The BEST episodes of The Germans season 1
Every episode of The Germans season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Germans season 1!
Each episode recounts a selected epoch of German history. Historical events are recreated through a combination of live action scenes and computer generated animations. The series was filmed at over 200 different locations in Germany, Malta, and Romania at a cost of approximately €500,000 per episode.
#1 - Robert Blum and the Revolution
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/2008
A revolution—in Germany? And certainly not, as Lenin later smugly claimed of the Germans, with a proper platform ticket in their pockets! In March 1848, law-abiding subjects became determined barricade fighters.
#2 - Frederick the Great and the Empress
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/11/2008
After the Thirty Years' War, the “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation” resembled a territorial puzzle. Because there was no central authority, new powers emerged on the periphery: Prussia and Austria.
#3 - Napoleon and the Germans
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/16/2008
It was, of all people, a foreign emperor who catapulted Germany into a national era: Napoleon, France’s ruler for a century. Through his conquests and reforms, the Germans found a greater sense of unity than ever before. He achieved what no one had accomplished before: the political awakening of the “German nation.”
#4 - Wallenstein and the War
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/9/2008
It is a struggle for religious and political dominance in the Empire and in Europe: Catholics versus Protestants. One man is tasked with defeating the supporters of the Reformation on behalf of the Emperor: the general Albrecht von Wallenstein.
#5 - Barbarossa and the Lion
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/2/2008
He is the King of the Germans and seeks to rule the Western World as emperor: Frederick Barbarossa of the House of Staufen. The empire extends as far as southern Italy. Yet his rule is contested. Powerful rivals challenge the monarch—including his former ally, Henry the Lion.
#6 - Luther and the Nation
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/4/2008
At first, he was just an ordinary monk, a doubting and conflicted theologian. He went on to become an epoch-making figure who, like no other before him, both united and divided the German people—without intending to: Martin Luther.
#7 - Otto and the Empire
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/26/2008
During the German tribes’ struggle against the Hungarians, a sense of unity began to emerge under the leadership of King Otto I. By assuming the imperial title, he laid the foundation for a unique system of government.
#8 - Heinrich and the Pope
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/28/2008
It is a power struggle unlike any that has ever been seen before: king versus pope. Who is the stronger? At stake is power in the Kingdom of the Germans and in the Christian West—and a unique gesture the likes of which has not been seen since: Henry IV’s “Walk to Canossa.”
#9 - Bismarck and the German Empire
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/23/2008
Following the Revolution of 1848—a futile attempt at “unity from below”—“unity from above” now took hold. Prussia's Prime Minister, Otto von Bismarck, paved the way for the first German nation-state.
#10 - Wilhelm and the World
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/25/2008
The German Empire at the beginning of the 20th century: too small to rule over others and too large for the balance of power in Europe. Emperor Wilhelm II wants to be a world power.