Plot

The married couple Heidi and Peter lived in East Germany as children and now, after more than 40 years they are returning to the former DDR, which partly resembles a large construction site. Are west and east compatible? Great emotions

Heidi and Peter Hebestreit are in the focus of the documentary. Both are returning to East Germany for the 3rd anniversary of German reunification, as they both lived there as children. Significantly, the couple met on the day the Wall was built in August 1961. First they are driving to Vacha, where Heidi and her mother were evacuated to during the world war. A compilation of Leipzig follows and we see construction sites everywhere. Construction noise and jackhammers dominate the scenery. In a gold rush mood Eastern real estate is currently being advertised everywhere to the market. Peter returns to Merseburger Street No.1, where he lived as a child in the 1950s. True to style, the couple had chosen DJH youth hostels for their journey through the east. Weimar is visited and the viewer hikes in the footsteps of Goethe. The Trabbi is still rattling through the streets. A spirit of optimism. Everywhere "Wind of Change" by the Scorpions is played. The comparison of capitalism and socialism and citizens of East and West meet each other. An exciting, unvarnished insight into the former GDR in 1993. For more content please read the synopsis below.

Heidi and Peter Hebestreit are the main characters in the documentary film and they are returning to East Germany for the 3rd anniversary of German reunification, as they both lived there as children. The start of the film is Heidi's birthday. In the kitchen at breakfast, Heidi expresses her wish to see Vacha in Thuringia again. Her husband Peter cannot refuse his wife any wish. The daughter Kerstin then adds that Peter can take the opportunity to look at his old apartment in Leipzig. It is decided to take October 3rd, 1993 as an opportunity to go east. A quick compilation of Heidi's birthday is then shown, which is accompanied by the song "Welch ein Tag" by Mario Jordan and ends with the guests toasting the birthday child.

A time jump occurs one month further. Eastern real estate is currently being advertised everywhere and real estate agents are trying to bring those in a gold rush mood to the market. Peter has already had several VHS videotapes sent to his office unintentionally. These VHS cassettes contain commercials for properties in East Germany, that can be bought cheaply and only need to be completely renovated. Heidi and Peter are loading the car for the trip to the east, while Heidi's voice tells the love story with her husband from the off. Significantly, the couple met on the day the Wall in Germany was built in August 1961. At first they are driving to Vacha, where Heidi as a child and her mother were evacuated to during the world war.

The couple walk down Vitusstreet, where Heidi had lived, and visit the Johannes Church, where she was baptized. Then they find the well she jumped around the day of her baptism. The Ratskeller, where she loved to eat potatoes as a child, is also shown. As a child she would have always been hungry because there was hardly anything to eat during the war. The Rhön is shown where her mother swam with her as a toddler. Soft music can be heard in the background. Heidi shows a picture, tears come to her. Memories flood up from loved ones who have passed away. She is dissolved and her husband Peter hugs her lovingly and, frightened, fetches her a fish roll at the market. A pan across the market square follows and before the scene gets too sentimental, there is a hard cut.

A large poster of the boy band "Take That", which is currently being attached to a construction site fence in Leipzig, can be seen in a long shot. "Cursed island monkeys," a man's voice rages into the microphone in Saxon. In the reverse shot, we see a retired couple grumpily examining the large poster. The man continues to grumble, "There would have been no such thing before reunification. What's that shit about?", while his wife gesticulates wildly: "Oh my God Hubert, they are all gay". Yes, capitalism and socialism meet here. A compilation of Leipzig follows and we see construction sites everywhere. The city will be completely renovated. Construction noise and jackhammers dominate the scenery. For a photo, Heidi pulls out the tap at an ancient gas station and immediately a grumpy tenant comes out of the little house, who yells at the couple and probably does not understand a joke. Apparently the East ticks differently than the West. The mood often seems chilled. Peter returns to Merseburger Street 1, where he lived as a child in the 1950s. Once again he goes through the stations of his former escape. Fled from East Prussia to Leipzig as a baby, with his siblings and their mother, and watched the national uprising in 1953 from the balcony of this house. He was 11 years old and holding a sandwich in his hand. Schoolmates from his older brother would have been killed in the riot. Russian tank drivers jump out later and gave candy to the children. A few years later he would have taken the train from Leipzig to Hamburg with his sister and his mother because his mother had an aunt there. Two years in a refugee home and camp school, which would have started again after six months with the same learning material. Disappointed that the house in Leipzig looks the same inside and out as it did 40 years ago, he walks down the hall of the big house, stunned. Back then, in the yard, men would have killed rats with swords and he and his friends would have blown up condoms, cause they mistook them for balloons. Peter then stands speechless in front of the property and pans across the Karl- Heine- Canal, which is right in front of the house. We hear Peter from the off. Everything would be so run-down as no one would look after state property in socialism. Nobody would have taken responsibility . Heidi makes it clear how beautiful it all must have been once. Peter lets out a cynical "Bau auf, Bau auf" and we hear the song by the FDJ off screen, while we accompany the couple on a stroll through the dilapidated city center and along the Leipzig Opera. True to style, the couple had chosen DJH youth hostels for their journey through the east and are now staying at the youth hostel in Leipzig. The Trabi rattles along everywhere. The manager of the hostel, Klaus, has a sense of humor and tells his relationship to the "Wessis". In the evening we go to the cinema in Erfurt and the couple is watching "Jurassic Park". When they are driving with their Audi between the eastern cities, the landscapes are shown through the window. In addition, the song "Wind of Change" by the Scorpions sounds, which was played over and over on the radio stations at the time.

Weimar is visited and the couple hiked in the footsteps of Goethe. A historian gives a guided tour and you can also briefly settle down in Goethe's garden house and philosophize about life. An east-west comparison is made and the tourists have the feeling that many people from the east would rather have stayed in the GDR. Apparently everything would have been better in the past. Then you can explore Weimar on foot and there, too, renovations are going on everywhere, but the spirit of optimism does not seem to have caught on with the population. The tour ends in the Duchess Anna Amalia Library. At the end there are short interviews with those involved in the tour and two citizens of Weimar.

The night is spent in the youth hostel in Thuringia. The next morning, young people from East and West Germany are interviewed in the dining room over breakfast. Then it goes to the Wartburg. A must visit for every Lutheran. Peter and Heidi are also visiting the room where Luther translated the Bible and allegedly threw an inkwell at the devil. A tourist guide comments on the scene. The Wartburg is shown from the inside and outside. From the tower of the castle, the extensive Thuringian Forest is shown in a pan. Peter and Heidi then leave the castle holding hands and we see them from a bird's eye view as they stroll to the car. We hear a short exchange of words from before in the off. The voice of a girl on the Wartburg asks: "Are East and West again Germany, like it used to be in old days?". A young man replies: "Germany did not exist when the Wartburg was built." Peter replies: "Countries, empires and their borders are not important, only the people who live in them are significant". The Audi limousine with the Hebestreit couple drives off and the credits roll over the screen.

This documentary inspired the filmmaker to write his later screenplay "Dream of Being", which he wrote in 1998. The screenplay showed the true story of an NVA soldier who dared to escape from the republic via the Swiss embassy to West Germany in 1983. Coming from socialism, Thomas could not cope with capitalism and his own career as a fashion photographer with extravagant parties including coke.