Wind force 8
The ARD - series " wind force 8 " is a multi-part documentary series / docu-soap from a living history series , which in 2005 during the First broadcast and from WDR was produced. In June 2007, a secondary exploitation followed with a slightly different composition, which consisted of 16 episodes.
In 2005 the series tried to realistically reproduce and depict the living conditions on an emigrant ship in the mid-1850s. More than 5,500 adventure enthusiasts from all over Germany applied to travel with them. In the end, 18 experienced sailors, 14 passengers and five children were selected for this adventure. There was also a camera team with six members on board.
The film title comes from the nautical classification of wind strengths according to Beaufort . The Beaufort scale, based on phenomenological criteria, characterizes the wind when crossing the Atlantic at strength 8 as follows: fairly high wave peaks, whose heads are blown away, strips of foam all over the sea .
The Fridtjof Nansen was used as the film ship, which was rebuilt and changed for the shooting so that no modern equipment was visible.
action
In 1855, 43 people set out for New York in Bremerhaven on the Bremen , a sailing ship converted into an emigrant ship . The ship is led by 18 people. In 69 days the Atlantic will be crossed on the historic southern route.
6-part publication
- Part 1 - Departure
- The passengers come on board, the adventure begins.
- Part 2 - Refuge
- The course aims towards the Atlantic. But the time travelers first have to get under land before a strong storm over the English Channel.
- Part 3 - quarrel
- Over 40 people on board, each with strengths and weaknesses and peculiarities: a heated argument about the division of labor flares up.
- Part 4 - Homesickness
- Six weeks at sea, weeks of calm, no news from home - the homesickness becomes overwhelming.
- Part 5 - Hope
- Finally it goes on! But the arrival in New York will be dramatically delayed. The mood on board: on the verge of a rebellion. The captain must act!
- Part 6 - Arrival
- Meter-high storm waves around the Bremen - a mast break threatens. Shortly before arriving in the New World, everything is once again at stake. And then finally there is a hot shower again.
There is also a 16-part extended version from 2007.
Contributors
As in real life, the non-professional actors involved came from all over the country. There were artisans , theologians and farmers among them . Age and marital status were also mixed, but the 15 to 30 age group predominated, as did the single group who longed to build a new future.
music
Gerard Stokkink & Tom Bachmann (Oblique Music4Media)
literature
- Friedrich Steinhardt: Wind force 8. The emigrant ship. Vgs publishing company. ISBN 3802534662
See also
Web links
- Research Center for German Emigrants to the USA: Letters, Diaries and Memoirs of Emigrants from the 19th Century