Starting today (Monday, January 3rd, 2022) a multi-part series is running on ZDF. The dance spectacle and family drama of “Der Palast” are embedded in the historical context of the crumbling GDR.
Berlin – The flood of historical miniseries on German TV just doesn’t want to end. Starting today (Monday, January 3rd, 2022), ZDF is taking its viewers to Berlin in the late 1980s. As in other large-scale productions à la “Das Adlon” (ZDF), “Charité” * (ARD) or, most recently, “Eldorado KaDeWe” (ARD) *, the makers are knitting a dramatic family story around one of the many almost legendary places in the capital.
In this case, the choice fell on the Friedrichstadt-Palast revue theater – called “The Palace” for short in the series title. There, dancer Chris suddenly stands across from her twin sister Marlene – whom she doesn’t know because she grew up on the other side of the wall. Until Wednesday (January 5th, 2022), ZDF will show two of the six series episodes at 8:15 p.m. Is it worth it to tune in? We look at the content, actors, locations and reviews of “The Palace”.
“The Palace” from today (03.01.2022) on ZDF: That is the plot of the new TV series
1988, East Berlin. Dancer Christine Steffen is preparing for her big moment in the Friedrichstadt-Palast. She is to appear solo at an anniversary show for the 40th anniversary of the GDR. Then something happens that throws your life apart. She meets the West German entrepreneur’s daughter Marlene Wenninger – her previously unknown twin sister. Why and how were the sisters separated?
For the women, a risky search for clues begins, in the course of which the German-German conflict inevitably plays a central role. The twin sisters keep exchanging passports and identities in order to travel across the border and immerse themselves in each other’s lives. Christine is looking for the father, Marlene for the mother. For the former, more than just their dance career is at stake, while the latter is targeted by the Stasi.
“The Palace” from today (03.01.2022) on ZDF: Information on locations and production
The production conditions for “The Palace” were adverse due to the corona pandemic. Filming was interrupted five times, lasting a total of 77 days spread over ten months. The shooting ended in May 2021. The shooting locations were in Berlin, Bavaria and Poland. Most important backdrop: the Friedrichstadt-Palast itself, which was renovated at the same time. The crew therefore filmed a large part of the scenes in the theater at night.
Media library and documentation
“The Palace” is also available in the ZDF media library. The three parts that ZDF will broadcast on Monday (January 3rd, 2022), Tuesday (January 4th, 2022) and Wednesday (January 5th, 2022) are divided into six episodes of 45 minutes each. You can also see a documentation about the historical background of the series here. This will also run regularly on TV today (03.01.2022) from 7:25 p.m.
The director was Uli Edel. The 74-year-old filmmaker has a wealth of reputation and experience. His best-known works include “We Children from Zoo Station” and “The Baader Meinhof Complex”. In 2012 he shot a similarly epic family saga for ZDF with “Das Adlon”. Even then, Edel was working on an “Adlon” episode with author Rodica Doehnert, who this time contributed the entire script for “Der Palast”.
“Der Palast” from today (03.01.2022) on ZDF: The actors of the new TV series
The star of “Der Palast” is 28-year-old Svenja Jung. The Berliner by choice plays both twin sisters. For the role of Christine Steffen she trained revue dance for weeks. The actress is known for her appearances in the daily soap “Unter uns”, in which she played one of the protagonists for a year. Apart from that, Jung mainly played smaller TV roles in public service series such as “Tatort”, “The Old One” or “Our Wonderful Years”.
With Anja Kling and Heino Ferch, ZDF has also brought two very well-known film faces on board for the family saga. The 51-year-old Kling plays Rosa Steffen, the mother of the main character. Born in Potsdam, she was the youngest woman to fled the GDR with her sister herself. The 58-year-old Ferch is the father and company boss Roland Wenninger in “Der Palast”. At the time of reunification he was engaged as a young actor at the theater in West Berlin.
| role | Actress or actor |
|---|---|
| Christine Steffen / Marlene Wenninger | Svenja Jung |
| Rosa Steffen | Anja Kling |
| Roland Wenninger | Heino Ferch |
| Alexander Bachmann | Hannes Wegener |
| Georg Weiss t | August Wittgenstein |
| Bettina Wilke | Luise Befort |
| Richard Steffen | Hermann Beyer |
| Elisabeth Steffen | Ursula Werner |
| Doris Wenninger | Inka Friedrich |
| Wilhelm Wenninger | Friedrich von Thun |
| Regina Feldmann | Jeanette Hain |
| and more |
“The Palace” from today (October 3rd, 2022) on ZDF: This is how the reviews are
- Those who prefer “strict history TV” could not be happy with “Der Palast”, suggests Eric Leimann in his review for the media magazine “Prisma”. But if you can overlook the sometimes “adventurous” plot and the freedoms that the ZDF series takes, you can have “enjoyable hours” with it.
- Björn Strauss feels the historical drama in a similar way. “Coherent depth” is not to be expected from “Der Palast”, he writes for the “Tag24” portal. The East-West conflict has “seldom been described in such a simple way”. In return, the cast and the variety scenes are “very good”.
- The verdict in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” is friendlier, where Harald Hordych states that “The Palace” has become “an entertaining and sensitive GDR-BRD moral painting” with “rousing dance performances”. He especially liked leading actress Svenja Jung.
Other historical series
Drama and adventure series, embedded in German history, have been experiencing a real boom for a long time. The 50s love drama “A touch of America” (ARD) *, the 20s family epic “Eldorado Kadewe” (ARD) *, the Jules Verne remake “Around the World in 80 Days “(ZDF) * and the controversial Kaiserin Elisabeth interpretation” Sisi “(RTL) * their first broadcasts on German television. Like “The Palace”, they are available in the respective media libraries.
(ag) * giessener-allgemeine.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
