Transit - The story of a company

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Television series
German title Transit - The story of a Berlin fashion company
Country of production Germany
year 1992
Episodes 6 in 1 season
genre Historical drama
idea Curth Flatow
German-language
first broadcast		 1993 on ZDF
occupation

Transit is a mini-series that was first broadcast by ZDF in 1993. It is based on the play of the same name by Curth Flatow . Directed by Peter Weck . The first broadcast was on the occasion of the “ Week of Brotherhood ” in Germany.

action

The Jewish businessman Max Salomon is the owner of a small model company in Berlin in the 1930s. The series begins in 1931 and depicts his life, as well as that of his employees and his family, during the Nazi dictatorship , the Second World War and in the period afterwards. The sixth episode in 1991 concludes.

Episodes

Episode 1: 1931

Max Salomon is the owner of a small model company in Berlin. On October 1st, the new commercial apprentice Siegfried Fränkel started in his company. Siegfried is actually not interested in clothing and would rather study archeology. His uncle Richard, who owns several watch shops, arranged the apprenticeship for him. Since Siegfried's mother is unemployed, he takes the job with Max Salomon.

The clothing manufacturer Helmut Naumann, the salesman Ernst Fiedler and the apprentice Monika Helmholtz still work in the company. Monika falls in love with Siegfried, who initially only regards her as a colleague and a little later as a good friend.

Episode 2: 1933

The episode begins with the Reichstag fire . Max's wife Selma would like to emigrate immediately, but Max is against it. He thinks that Hitler will not be able to stay in power for long and is afraid of losing his company.

The salesman Ernst Fiedler immediately joined the NSDAP and warned Salomon that he would now have to hold back as a Jew. A few days later, a Jewish business friend was attacked by rioting SS members. This makes Max aware that it would be better for him to emigrate. He persuades Selma, who prefers to flee to her cousin in New York, to move to her brother in Amsterdam first. He sells his company, which, thanks to financial help from Richard Fränkel, is taken over by Siegfried, Monika and Helmut.

Episode 3: 1934-1938

The company is now run by Helmut and Siegfried. Monika initially got out because she no longer wants to meet Siegfried, who has married another woman. Max, who has returned from Holland (he didn't get along with his brother-in-law in Amsterdam), persuades her to come back into the company. The Nuremberg Party Rally leads to bigger problems, since Siegfried Fränkel is considered a Jew according to the race laws (his father was a Jew, his mother a Christian). The reprisals get out of hand and lead to the “ Reichskristallnacht ”.

Max has now lost his wife Selma, who suffered from cancer. She had kept the disease from him. Max decides to stay in Germany and hopes that everything will turn out for the better.

Episode 4: 1939-1944

The Second World War begins and it becomes more and more difficult for the company to survive. Siegfried is officially no longer a boss, but is still viewed that way by all employees. His wife, a Christian, has since separated from him and also refuses him contact with his child.

When deportations begin, Siegfried decides to flee to England. He succeeds in doing this with the help of Ernst Fiedler's passport, who lost it. Before that, there is a night of love with Monika, because Siegfried has now realized that she loves him. Monika becomes pregnant and is afraid of " racial disgrace ". Max advises her to find a substitute father who recognizes the child as his. Monika can convince her cousin to take on this role.

Episode 5: 1944-1945

The Second World War is advancing and difficult times are dawning for the German Reich. The company is hit by a bomb and burns down. Monika is able to save some of the inventory and moves to Richard Fränkel's old villa. She manages to help Max escape using forged papers. Max experienced the last days of the war in the house of a Gauleiter near Leipzig. There he is arrested by the invading Soviets who take him for the Gauleiter . Fortunately, Max can prove that he is a Jew living in hiding. He returns to Berlin and joins the company again.

Episode 6: 1945–1991

Max celebrates his 95th birthday in 1991. Monika picks him up and both of them remember the past times on the taxi ride. The years 1948, 1961 and 1966 play the main role. The company is now run by Monika's son Klaus.

useful information

The name “Durchreise” refers to the days of the year on which the buyers of the fashion stores visit the model companies to have the collection presented, such as at the Berliner Durchreise trade fair .

DVD

The episodes were released in 2009 in a three-DVD set.

Recording of a 1985 theatrical performance

On December 25, 1985, the SDR broadcast a 150-minute recording from the Theater am Kurfürstendamm in Berlin under the same title . In 1987 there were two repetitions, one of them at 1 plus .

Actor:

Director: Jürgen Wölffer

literature

Web links