Good Times, Bad Times - a German soap

For many, the divisions between East and West Germany remain real enough, for many, years after the Berlin Wall came down and the country was officially reunified.

But in one area at least the divisions no longer seem to matter. "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten", "Good Times, Bad Times", is Germany's biggest teenage soap opera. It's filmed at Babelsberg studios just outside Potsdam, south of Berlin, a location that is full of resonance in the history of German cinema. It was here that the director Fritz Lang made his famous "Metropolis" and Josef von Sternberg "The Blue Angel" with Marlene Dietrich. Today international movies are being shot at the studio such as "The Reader" or "Inglourious Basterds".

Rhea Harder, who until 2002 was one of the stars of "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten", was born and grew up in East Germany. Today, though, she is simply "German". Labels of "East" and "West" are irrelevant, in this context.

The soap opera "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" started in 1992 and is broadcast five times a week, so an entire episode has to be produced every working day. There is no time for anything to go wrong.

The series attracted a number of celebrity cameos including some major German politicians, but the biggest star among them was Gerhard Schröder in 1998 who then went on to become German Chancellor.

Babelsberg film studios takes visitors behind the scenes of "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" and around other sets.
Address:
Filmpark Babelsberg
Großbeerenstraße
14482 Potsdam
Tel: 0049 331 / 721 27 50
Opening hours: 4 April - 31 October daily 10am-6pm

Links:

Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten
Official website of German cult teenage soap "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten" - "Good Times, Bad Times". In German.

Film studio Babelsberg
A tour of the film studio Babelsberg takes the visitor behind the sets of many internationally-known movies, such as Fritz Lang's "Metropolis". In German and English.