Christmas: Märchen

One of the coolest things about being in Germany during the holidays is that classic fairy-tale movies, called Märchen, play almost every single day on TV. Many of them were made in the DDR*, and a few were even made in some other eastern-block communist countries during the Cold War era, so they've got an added nostalgic element to them. Originally filmed in black-and-white, they have now been restored in technicolor, and the effect is really cool. Think of "The Wizard of Oz".



These Märchen are extremely rich in German culture, particularly since many of these stories are derived form those of the "Brothers Grimm"**. Although they may seem a bit cheesy at times, they definitely appeal to the still-innocent inner child. Fairy tales will always be fascinating to me. They're timeless.




A few of my favorites include Das singende klingende Bäumchen ("The Singing Ringing Tree") from 1957, and Das kalte Herz (The Cold Heart) from 1950. However, I haven't seen one Märchen that I didn't like! They're simply impossible not to love.



Surprisingly enough, someone has put the entire "Bäumchen" film on youtube. Even if you don't speak German, I still recommend watching it (or part of it) just to see how cool and nostalgic it is. Check it out!
Bäumchen

I also found the trailer for "Das kalte Herz." It's only about 3 minutes, and it's definitely worth checking out as well: Herz



*DDR is the German abbreviation for "Deutsche Demokratische Republik" (German Democratic Republic, or GDR in English). For those of you not up on your German history, this was the communist East Germany during the Cold War era, before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

**The Brothers Grimm were two brothers who collected German folk and fairy tales in the early 1800s to form the very influential and well-known "Grimm Fairy Tales", which include Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, The Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel, and Sleeping Beauty, among many others.