Arte Geschichte

Editorial tone

Analytical, contextualizing, serious. History as key to understanding the present. Sober, but never dry. Source-based, with room for witnesses and personal memory. Nuanced in presentation, no black-and-white narratives. European perspective.

What this format covers

• ●Political history of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries
• ●Economic and social history
• ●Historical context for current debates and conflicts
• ●European history and its global entanglements
• ●Cold War, World Wars, decolonization, European integration
• ●Oral history and witness documentation

What this format does NOT want

• ●History before the 19th century (belongs to Abenteuer der Menschheit)
• ●Story-driven / emotional narratives (belongs to Donnerstagsdoku)
• ●Popular-science or entertainment-oriented treatment
• ●Biographical portraits without political/social context
• ●Purely military-historical accounts without analysis
• ●Conspiracy theories or revisionist approaches

Visual expectations

High-quality archival material, professionally restored and colorized where appropriate. Witness interviews in suitable settings. Re-enactments possible, but restrained and stylized. Computer animations for maps, troop movements, data visualizations. Historical locations today. No docu-soap aesthetic.

Expected exposé structure

1. Title + subtitle (precise, not sensationalist)
2. Logline (2–3 sentences: period, question, contemporary relevance)
3. Exposé body text with clear historical argument
4. Source situation and archive access
5. Witnesses / experts (named specifically)
6. Contemporary relevance and significance
7. Visual execution / archive concept
8. Production company, author, contact

Example productions

• Krieg der Träume — 1918-1939
• Europas Muslime — Geschichte und Gegenwart
• Wer hat Angst vor Alice Schwarzer?
• Die Mauer — Geschichte einer deutschen Grenze
• Kalter Krieg — Die unsichtbare Front