Northrhein Westfalia at 75: Unser Bundesland - A History

North Rhine-Westphalia turns 70 and looks back on a unique history. A history peppered with great emotions and moments of happiness as well as disasters and failures. Charged with numerous myths, wishes and legends. Founded in 1946 by the British occupying forces under the code word "Operation Marriage," North Rhine-Westphalia has shaped Germany's history like no other state. And over the decades, it has itself undergone numerous transformations. It was the people of North Rhine-Westphalia who filled the state with energy, ideas and stories, thus giving the map-forming and hyphenated state its unmistakable shape and identity. In "Unser Land" (Our State), BROADVIEW TV tells the exciting story of NRW's development in a 90-minute film, as in the successful six-part TV series: from the ruins of the war, through the years of the economic miracle and times of crisis, to the great moments and new horizons in the technology and creative industries. Featuring the voice of Annette Frier, the production takes viewers through the various decades of a multifaceted and changeable protagonist: the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which the filmmakers portray as a collage of exciting locations, dazzling characters and impressive original footage from the era. To kick off the series "Unser Land" (Our State), WDR and BROADVIEW TV take a look at NRW in the 1950s. Fresh from its baptism after World War 2, the state also became the center of West Germany only a short time later as a result of the Bonn Republic. The 1950s tell like a modern fairy tale: North Rhine-Westphalia, the newly created artificial hyphen state on the Rhine and Ruhr, becomes the largest and economically strongest state in less than ten years - not only in the young Federal Republic but in all of Western Europe. From conceivably poor starting conditions, NRW manages to achieve an unimagined flight of fancy out of nowhere. The Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne, for example, which has led across the Rhine since imperial times, became a post-war symbol in the early 1950s, telling of reconstruction and connection. While just a few years ago the first carnival was celebrated in ruins around the destroyed bridge, Westphalians and Rhinelanders have now come together in their first joint federal state. The rebuilt Hohenzollern Bridge leads to the state's largest train station and connects Cologne with the rest of the country. From Bonn, Konrad Adenauer initiates a liberal economic policy. Meanwhile, in the state capital Düsseldorf, the first NRW Minister President, Karl Arnold, is elected to office, following Adenauer's credo: "The economy should serve people and not the other way around." Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach and Berthold Beitz also bring about the upswing in "our state" NRW. Under their leadership Krupp AG becomes the leading steel producer and NRW one of the richest German states. At Villa Hügel the group's bosses receive political and business leaders from all over Europe. The renowned building makes Essen the representative center of the state's economic development. The rapidly blossoming prosperity also boosts consumption. People stroll along Düsseldorf's Königsallee, spend money or marvel at the rich displays. Furs and pearl necklaces provide glamour and beauty - the West Germans present themselves with self-confidence. Even the first Miss World comes from NRW in 1956: In London, Petra Schürmann from Mönchengladbach is crowned the most beautiful woman in the world. Between the ruins of war, steel construction and new wealth, great stories and small anecdotes unfold - an exciting journey through time that is just one part of the diverse history of North Rhine-Westphalia brought to life by the "Our Land" series.