Terra X (1982-2007)

Television series
Original title	Terra X - Riddle of Ancient World Cultures (1982–1991) Terra X - Expeditions into the Unknown (1992–2000) Terra X (2001–2007)
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Year (s)	1982-2007
Production company	ZDF ZDF Enterprises Atlantis Film ARTE
length	40-45 minutes
Episodes	88 ( list )
Broadcasting cycle	ZDF: Sundays at 7.30 p.m. / Sundays in the night program ZDFneo: sporadically and Monday-Friday 8:15 pm Arte: Saturdays at 8:45 p.m.
genre	History , archeology , documentation
idea	Gottfried Kirchner
First broadcast	January 17, 1982 on ZDF , Arte

Terra X was a documentary series of the ZDF , which dealt with so-called "riddles of history." The first episode aired on January 17, 1982. By the end of 2007, a total of 88 episodes had been produced and broadcast.

In 2008, the parent program brand was ZDF Expedition in Terra X renamed.

history

The first episodes, which were produced in the early 1980s, still largely consisted of recordings of archaeological sites. The attraction for the audience consisted to a large extent in the "virtual journey" to exotic places that seemed inaccessible for most.

In the course of time, more technical possibilities were implemented in the films. After increasingly complex models of ancient sites, the era of computer animation began in 1986 with The Curse of the Pharaoh, with a simple animation showing the inside of the Great Pyramid . In the following films, more and more extensive animations were used. They allow the viewer to e.g. B. to “walk” through palaces and temples, of which only the ruins are left today, or to get an impression of the course of ancient battles .

At the beginning of the 1990s, productions , so-called re - enactments , were added as a further stylistic device. Scenes from ancient times are lavishly re-enacted with actors in order to give the audience vivid impressions of the past.

In the 25-year history of this series, its profile has changed. While the presentation of cultures was in the foreground at the beginning, later it has become more of a “science thriller” that uses technical means to get to the bottom of unsolved riddles and try to shed light on the current state of research.

Through a popular journalistic treatment of the topics and their increasing level of awareness, Terra X succeeded in getting experts to present their results on the show. This cannot be taken for granted, as the often superficial and sensational presentation of modern documentation leads to a rather negative attitude among some scientists.

"Equinoxe Part 3 + 4" by Jean Michel Jarre was used as the theme music for the first three seasons , after which pieces specially composed for the show were used.

Terra X replaces ZDF expedition

Until 2008, all documentaries were broadcast on the Sunday slot at 7:30 p.m. under the umbrella brand ZDF-Expedition . In addition to Terra X - Expeditions into the Unknown, several documentary film series with different names and topics were broadcast under this umbrella brand , including:

• imperium
• Lost Treasure Hunter
• Metropolis - The power of cities
• Schliemann's heirs
• Sphinx - secrets of history
• Day X - turning points in history

For the 25th anniversary of Terra X, ZDF published a new season with seven episodes in 2008 . The anniversary in autumn 2008 was also taken as an opportunity to establish the term “ Terra X ” as a program brand for all programs that will be broadcast on ZDF on Sunday at 7.30 p.m., be it historical, contemporary or scientific topics.

Most of the topics covered in the series are also available in book, VHS and DVD.

Episode list

episode	title	A film by	First broadcast
1982 season
1	South Sea islands from the hand of the gods	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: January 17 , 1982 , 7:30 p.m.
2	Silent Ocean - Talking Stones	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: 02/14/1982 , 9:30 p.m.
3	They Didn't Need White Gods The Lost Cultures of Ecuador	Peter Baumann	ZDF: February 28 , 1982 , 7:30 p.m.
1983 season
4th	The feathered serpent expedition through Mexico	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: February 20th , 1983 , 7:30 p.m.
1984 season
5	On the trail of the jaguar Discoveries in Central America	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: January 29 , 1984 , 7:30 p.m.
6th	The trail of the giants Journey through Europe's early days	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: 09/30/1984 , 7:30 p.m.
1986 season
7th	The curse of the Pharaoh The secret knowledge of the ancient Egyptians	Arno Peik Eberhard Thiem Helga Lippert	ZDF: October 19 , 1986 , 7:30 p.m.
8th	Audience with the Queen of Sheba. Lost desert empires in the Orient	Volker Panzer	ZDF: October 20 , 1986 , 10:05 p.m.
9	Mummies in Goldland The legacy of the Incas	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: October 25 , 1986 , 7:30 p.m.
10	Forgotten cultures in the shadow of the Inca sun of South America	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: October 27 , 1986 , 10:12 p.m.
11	Expedition to the Snow Jewel Unknown Tibet	Hajo Bergmann	ZDF: November 2nd , 1986 , 7:30 p.m.
1988/1989 season
12	Advance to Eldorado Expedition through Peru Part 1: The Secret of the Yaros	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: January 7th , 1988 , 7:30 p.m.
13	Advance to Eldorado Expedition through Peru Part 2: From the green hell to the star glacier	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: January 19 , 1988 , 7:30 p.m.
14th	Where was Atlantis ? Finding a Missing Continent Part 1: Old World	Jens-Peter Behrend Eike Schmitz	ZDF: October 23 , 1988 , 7:30 p.m.
15th	Where was Atlantis? Finding a Lost Continent Part 2: New World	Jens-Peter Behrend Eike Schmitz	ZDF: October 30 , 1988 , 7:30 p.m.
16	Sahara - A Lost Paradise To the origin of the desert peoples	Volker Panzer	ZDF: November 6 , 1988 , 7:30 p.m.
17th	The mystery of Shiva holy men in India	Eberhard Thiem Helga Lippert Arno Peik	ZDF: December 18 , 1988 , 7:30 p.m.
18th	In the wake of Sindbad's 5000 years of Arab seafaring	Thomas Schultze-Westrum	ZDF: December 25 , 1988 , 7:20 pm
19th	The Canyon of the Sacred Volcanoes Expedition through the Colca Valley / Peru	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: December 26 , 1988 , 7:30 p.m.
20th	Demons on the Roof of the World Film tour through Eastern Tibet	Hajo Bergmann	ZDF: January 8 , 1989 , 7:30 p.m.
1990 season
21st	Pilgrimage to the island of gods The great ancestral festival in Bali	Hajo Bergmann	ZDF: January 7th , 1990 , 7:30 p.m.
22nd	Under the spell of the Jade - Buddha Journey to unknown Thailand	Tibor Somogyi	ZDF: January 21 , 1990 , 7:30 p.m.
23	The islands of the dragon tree Magical places in the Canaries	Harald Braem Frieder Mayrhofer	ZDF: October 21 , 1990 , 7:30 p.m.
24	Star city in Chaco Canyon The riddle of the Anasazi Indians	Wulfing from pipe	ZDF: November 4th , 1990 , 7:30 p.m.
25th	When the gods fell The Secret of Easter Island	Rolf Picking	ZDF: 11/11/1990 , 7:30 p.m.
26th	The Death Train of the Lancers German Conquerors in South America Part 1: Search for the South Sea	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: December 9th , 1990 , 7:30 p.m.
27	Cruising with Odysseus In the wake of a myth Part 1: From Troy to the island of the wind	Eberhard Thiem Helga Lippert Arno Peik	ZDF: December 23 , 1990 , 7:30 p.m.
28	Cruising with Odysseus In the wake of a myth Part 2: The adventurer's homecoming	Eberhard Thiem Helga Lippert Arno Peik	ZDF: December 30 , 1990 , 7:30 p.m.
1991 season
29	The riders of the golden horde expedition into the realm of Genghis Khan (1)	Hajo Bergmann	ZDF: November 3rd , 1991 , 7:30 p.m.
30th	The riders of the golden horde expedition into the realm of Genghis Khan (2)	Hajo Bergmann	ZDF: 11/10/1991 , 7:30 p.m.
31	The death procession of the lancers German conquerors in South America Part 2: Landsknechte on the gold route	Gottfried Kirchner	ZDF: November 17th , 1991 , 7:30 p.m.
32	Islands above the rainforest Expedition to the table mountains of Venezuela Part 1: The alien planet	Volker doctor	ZDF: December 1st , 1991 , 7:30 p.m.
33	Islands above the rainforest Expedition to the table mountains of Venezuela Part 2: The search for the dinosaur	Volker doctor	ZDF: December 8th , 1991 , 7:30 p.m.
34	Safari to the Stone Age The skull openers of the Kisii in Kenya	Helga Lippert	ZDF: December 29 , 1991 , 7:30 p.m.
1992 season
35	Forget about Columbus The secret explorers of America	Jens-Peter Behrend Eike Schmitz	ZDF: April 12 , 1992 , 7:30 p.m.
36	Estremadura - the cradle of the conquerors of Spain's forgotten corners	Harald Jung	ZDF: April 19 , 1992 , 7:30 p.m.
37	Aztec Blood Protocol of Destruction	Volker doctor	ZDF: April 26 , 1992 , 7:30 p.m.
38	Odyssey before Galápagos On Inca footsteps with Thor Heyerdahl	Rolf Picking	ZDF: May 3rd , 1992 , 7:30 p.m.
1994 season
39	The ghosts from the river of tombs Indian magic in Colombia	Gottfried Kirchner	ARTE: January 7th , 1994 , 7:32 p.m. ZDF : January 30th , 1994 , 7:30 p.m.
40	The Bounty's Log Book The Truth About A World Famous Mutiny	Hartmut Schoen	ARTE: January 21 , 1994 , 7:36 p.m. ZDF February 6, 1994, 7:30 p.m.
41	The castle of the forgotten mummies bodies for the ages	Jens-Peter Behrend Eike Schmitz	ZDF: February 13 , 1994 , 7:30 p.m.
42	Death in the Red Sea Moses and the wonders of the desert	Helga Lippert	ARTE: 28.01. 1994 , 7:31 p.m. ZDF: March 6, 1994, 7:30 p.m.
43	Chimborazo Reinhold Messner on the Humboldt route	Michael Albus	ARTE: 14.01. 1994 , 7:33 p.m. ZDF: March 20, 1994, 7:30 p.m.
1995 season
44	The treasure of the Knights Templar Searching for traces in Castile	Gottfried Kirchner	ARTE: April 7th , 1995 , 7:30 p.m. ZDF: 10/22/1995, 7:30 p.m.
45	Glacier gold The treasure trove in the Caucasus	Tina Radke-Gerlach	ARTE: October 6th , 1995 , 7:35 p.m. ZDF: October 29, 1995, 7:30 p.m.
46	Caravan to Petra A sunken kingdom in Arabia	Helga Lippert	ARTE: June 2nd , 1995 , 7:30 p.m. ZDF: November 5th, 1995, 7:30 p.m.
47	Dracula's shadow manhunt in the realm of darkness	Martin Papirowski	ARTE: 07/07/1995 , 7:30 p.m. ZDF: 19/11/1995, 7:30 p.m.
48	King Solomon's Goldland The Enigma of Zimbabwe	Dieter Großherr	ARTE: 05/05/1995 , 7:30 p.m. ZDF: 26/11/1995, 7:30 p.m.
49	Morgenlandfahrt expedition through ancient Persia	Hajo Bergmann	ARTE: 09/01/1995 , 7:30 p.m. ZDF: 09/03/1995, 7:30 p.m.
1997 season
50	Ayers Rock Death Trap Australia's greatest mystery	Hans-Joachim Gally	ARTE: April 26th , 1997 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF : October 26th , 1997 , 7:30 p.m.
51	The Frankincense Connection Expeditions in Yemen	Helga Lippert	ARTE: May 24th, 1997, 8:45 p.m. ZDF: November 2nd, 1997, 7:30 p.m.
52	The Mallorca Complott Secret trips in the Middle Ages	Gottfried Kirchner	ARTE: May 10 , 1997 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: November 9, 1997, 7:30 p.m.
53	The Phantom of the Diamond Mountains ghost towns in Brazil	Volker doctor	ARTE: May 31 , 1997 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: November 16, 1997, 7:30 p.m.
54	Via Mala gorge of beautiful horror	André Rueedi Béatrice Bruchez	ARTE: October 4th , 1997 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF : November 30th , 1997 , 7:30 p.m.
55	The Curse of Oak Island Treasure Hunters in Canada	Robert Linnell Andrew Cochran	ARTE: October 11 , 1997 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: December 7, 1997, 7:30 p.m.
1999 season
56	The flood came sharp at 12 noon minutes of a world catastrophe	Martin Papirowski Luise Wagner	ARTE: May 15 , 1999 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: October 24, 1999, 7:30 p.m.
57	Sword Brothers The Templar Coup of Portugal	Gottfried Kirchner	ARTE: May 1st , 1999 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF : October 31 , 1999 , 7:30 p.m.
58	Babylon Tower Divine Throne on the Euphrates	Helga Lippert	ARTE: May 8th , 1999 , 8:40 p.m. ZDF: November 7th, 1999, 7:30 p.m.
59	The Amber Forest Secrets of the Baltic Sea	Gudrun Ziegler	ARTE: 22.05.1999 , 20:45 ZDF: 14.11.1999, 19:30
60	The hunt for the Ark of the Covenant The lost treasure of Jerusalem	Georg Graffe	ARTE: 29.05.1999 , 20:45 ZDF: 21.11.1999, 19:30
61	The desert oracle The magic of the Siwa oasis	Heiner Stadler	ARTE: 06/05/1999 , 8:40 p.m. ZDF: 11/28/1999, 7:30 p.m.
62	Planet of the pyramids Worldwide to the gods	Uta from Borries	ARTE: October 9th , 1999 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: December 26th, 1999, 7:15 p.m.
2001 season
63	Fata Morgana Natural wonders and magic spooks	Michael Engler	ARTE: July 14 , 2001 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF : November 4 , 2001 , 7:30 p.m.
64	In the shadow of the pharaohs sensations in Egypt's desert	Renate Beyer	ARTE: 09/29/2001 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: 11/11/2001, 7:30 p.m.
65	The America riddle On a secret course into the new world	Wolfgang Wegner Michael Gregor	ARTE: July 21 , 2001 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF : November 18 , 2001 , 7:30 p.m.
66	Lawrence of Arabia archaeologist on a secret mission	Richard Andrews Georg Graffe	ARTE: 07/07/2001 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: 16/12/2001, 7:30 p.m.
67	Death code from Peru The curse of the Inca gold	Krysztof Lang	ARTE: July 28 , 2001 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: December 30, 2001, 7:30 p.m.
68	Operation Sethos With high-tech into the tomb of the Pharaoh	Helga Lippert Barry Nye	ARTE: December 15 , 2001 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: January 1, 2002 , 7:30 p.m.
2003/2004 season
69	Focus Qumran The Dead Sea Scrolls	Renate Beyer Claudia Moroni	ARTE: 13.09.2003 , 8.45 p.m. ZDF: 02.11.2003, 7.30 p.m.
70	The Delphi Syndicate The Secret Power of the Oracle	Tamara Spitzing	ARTE: 08/30/2003 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: 11/9/2003, 7:30 p.m.
71	Beyond Eden Lifestyle in the Stone Age	Gerhard Thiel	ARTE: 08/02/2003 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: 11/16/2003, 7:30 p.m.
72	Messengers of Death from Alamut The secret society of the assassins	Helga Lippert Klaus Kastenholz	ARTE: March 10, 2005 ZDF: December 14, 2003
73	Odyssey to Easter Island The raft trip of the Inca prince	Rolf Picking	ARTE: 09/20/2003 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: 12/28/2003, 7:30 p.m.
74	The stolen gold of Yahweh's search for Jerusalem's temple treasure	Georg Graffe	ARTE: 09/06/2003 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: 01/01/2004, 7:30 p.m.
75	Labyrinths Magical lines made by human hands	Michael Engler	ARTE: 09/08/2003 , 20:45 ZDF: 04/01/2004, 19:30
2005/2006 season
76	Flames over Qatna A sunken palace in Syria	Jens Afflerbach	ARTE: 08/27/2005 , 8:40 p.m. ZDF: 11/20/2005, 7:30 p.m.
77	Pyramids in America The cult buildings of the Indians	Michael Engler	ARTE: August 13 , 2005 , 8:40 p.m. ZDF : December 25 , 2005 , 7:30 p.m.
78	The mines of Hephaestus High-tech in the Copper Age	Gerhard Thiel Gerhard J. Rekel	ARTE: 09/17/2005 , 8:40 p.m. ZDF: 01/01/2006, 7:30 p.m.
79	The Chiemgau comet Zero hour in the Celtic Empire	Sven Hartung Jens Essig Guido Weihermüller	ZDF: January 8 , 2006 , 7:30 p.m.
80	Secret acts of sacrilege The myth of Rennes-le-Château	Georg Graffe	ZDF: January 15 , 2006 , 7:30 p.m.
81	The fall of Jesus The Galilean in the sights of research	Renate Beyer	ZDF: January 22 , 2006 , 7:30 p.m.
2007/2008 season
82	The Nibelungen code code name Siegfried	Georg Graffe	ZDF: December 23 , 2007 , 7:30 p.m.
83	The Nibelungen Code Kriemhild's death game	Georg Graffe	ZDF: December 26 , 2007 , 7:30 p.m.
84	Cleopatra's black sisters The queens of Kush	Renate Beyer	ZDF: December 30 , 2007 , 7:30 p.m.
85	Incense for the Pharaoh on their way to Punt	Tamara Spitzing Peter Reichelt	ZDF: January 1st , 2008 , 7:30 p.m.
86	The Phantom of Uruk wanted to find King Gilgamesh	Peter Moers Frank Papenbroock	ARTE: 08.09.2007 , 8.45 p.m. ZDF: 06.01.2008, 7.30 p.m.
87	The giant Goliath On the trail of the sea ​​peoples	Friedrich Klütsch	ARTE: 15.09.2007 , 8.45 p.m. ZDF: 13.01.2008, 7.30 p.m.
88	Under the spell of the Priest- King Search for the "Three India"	Martin Papirowski Heike Nelsen-Minkenberg	ARTE: 09/22/2007 , 8:45 p.m. ZDF: 01/20/2008, 7:30 p.m.

Web links

• Terra X in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Ralf Döbele: Cheers, Terra X! 25 years of sophisticated documentaries with cult character . In: Wishlist.de, December 22, 2007
• Georg Graffe: Terra X: The series through the ages . In: ZDF.de, June 8, 2012

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Imperium at Fernsehserien.de
2. ↑ Hunter of lost treasures at Fernsehserien.de
3. ^ Metropolis - The power of cities at Fernsehserien.de
4. ↑ Schliemann's heirs at Fernsehserien.de
5. ↑ Sphinx - Secrets of History at Fernsehserien.de
6. ↑ Day X - turning points in history at Fernsehserien.de