Season 3

Autumn 1989. The Iron Curtain is falling. Political power is shifting at a breakneck speed. No one knows for sure if the Velvet Revolution will really remain peaceful or erupt into violence. The changing times take their toll on the Kupfer family as well. Martin Kupfer tries to get his daughter back with the aid of a West German reporter. His brother Falk Kupfer belongs to a group of hard-core Stasi officers who are prepared to do anything to preserve Communist power. His father, General Hans Kupfer, opposes doing anything that could get out of control. Dunja Hausmann and Vera Kupfer are fighting for democratic reforms amid the ranks of the Civil Rights movement. But they're not the only ones hiding skeletons in the
closet...

Season 3 of ARD's acclaimed East German drama series WEISSENSEE got off to a running start on its debut Tuesday, Sept. 29, with 4,93 million viewers and a share of 16.5% overall, making it the top-ranked show that day.

Taking its name from the locality in the then divided city that houses the notorious Stasi secret police-run Hohenschönhausen prison, the series tells of young police officer Martin, from a loyal Party family, who falls in love with the beautiful young and rebellious Julia, from a family of dissidents: a Romeo & Juliet saga of two lovers struggling against prejudices and the social and political odds.

Grimme Award 2016
German Screen Actors Award 2014
German TV Award 2011 for Best Series
Nominated for Prix Europa 2011  
The first 6 episodes to be screened at Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) New York in April 2011.

PRESS REVIEWS

  • Family saga Weissensee recounts what life in East Germany was like, in a DALLAS style. (Der Spiegel, Sept. 13, 2010)
  • Weissensee (...) is simply a well-made drama, which profits from a tight story arc, a superb cast and terrific set design. (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Sept. 14, 2010)
  • Behind the surface story of two families in 1980s Socialist East Germany - replete with romance, intrigue and betrayal - a piece of real life emerges: authentic, dramatic. (Welt Online, Sept. 14, 2010)
  • A courageous effort - which pays off handsomely. Beneath the soap opera plot, a complex web of desires and wishes emerges, of self-deception and patronizing. (Spiegel Online, Sept. 14, 2010)
  • A highly original TV series. (Leipziger Volkszeitung, Sept. 6, 2010)
  • Germany's biggest newspaper BILD headlined "The most spectacular TV series of the year." (Sept. 11, 2010)