16x Germany: Thuringia, with Dominique Horwitz

16-part TV series for MDR

Homeland Germany – what does that mean? 16 German actors, TV presenters and reporters discover their provinces with a camera. Each German federal state is being introduced in a 15-minute portrait. 16 times German everyday life, seen through the eye of very different film makers who introduce us to the region which has always been or become over the years their homeland.
At first sight Weimar mainly features museums – its history and architecture reflect German cultural history. In order to attract especially educated tourists the town tries to preserve its classical image and to highlight its rich cultural history. But that is expensive, and there is little money left to discover and promote modern art. Today, Weimar pays the price for its long bygone leading position in Germany’s humanities, arts and culture – the price to renounce modernization and change. Why? Because that is what the town’s tourists expect. But what exactly do tourists want? What are they willing to pay for culture – and for which culture?
The actor, singer, actor and director Dominique Horwitz, born 56 years ago in Paris, lives close to the probably most German of all German towns – Weimar; centre of classicism, the place where the Weimar Republic was founded as well as Bauhaus and the Hitler youth. Administered in its own right, university town and European capital of culture in 1999. Today Weimar has about 63.000 inhabitants. One of them is the coachman Gunter Grobe. He accompanies Dominique Horwitz on his discovery trip through the town that has become his home.