After being filmed for the first time while starting school together in Golzow (Oderbruch) in 1961– just a few days after the construction of the Berlin Wall – the lives of the “children of Golzow” took divergent paths after eight, ten or twelve years. Their stories – and insights into different realities – illustrate both a part of GDR history and the history of DEFA documentaries. Both have meanwhile ceased to exist.
Since 1990, this chronicle has documented life in the era of post-German reunification. In 2007, Winfried and Barbara Junge ended the series with the film THEY'RE STILL LIVING HAPPILY EVER AFTER. A long-term chronicle such as “The Children of Golzow” is an innovation that motivates viewers to look carefully and listen, see themselves in fellow human beings and draw parallels to typical contemporaries.

Background

The idea for this long-term chronicle came from Karl Gass, leading director at the DEFA Studio for Documentary Films (1917 – 2009). A new central school had been built in Golzow for the regional communities. This made it possible to gain a ten-year education in the country, too. Single-class schools had become obsolete – especially in the Oderbruch countryside, whose villages, fields and meadows had been devastated by war in 1945. The premise was to offer the young generation an education, thereby actively shaping the “socialist cause”. The future first-graders were already sitting together in the sandbox of the kindergarten across from the school. We liked them. In order to make a film together, we had to become friends. And that has remained true right up to the present day.

After summary documentation on the group, town, land, agriculture, Golzow contemporary history and the chronicle methodology, we then decided to focus on the history and portraits of the individual heroes with a view toward concluding and doing proper justice to our “life’s work”. We returned to the concept that had proven itself as the most correct, essential and expressive. One that had originally motivated us: the biographical as a possibility to reflect on contemporary history through the individual fate. About nine-tenths of the material was available for the last biographies. The aim then was to focus primarily on “how” to conclude the stories of those documented, last footage of individual stories before the “deadline” and especially opportunities and resources for their distribution. This final footage finally answers the audience’s questions: How individual Golzow residents, whose lives we had chronicled for so long, are now faring in the umpteenth year of German reunification. How they think and what has changed in their lives and viewpoints. A long-term chronicle such as “The Children of Golzow” wants to motivate viewers to look carefully and listen. They should see themselves in fellow human beings and draw parallels to typical contemporaries. (Winfried Junge)

Reviews and recommendations

“These films are touching, authentic life stories, as well as unique political and sociological material: Junge and his camera operators succeeded in observing life while on the job.” film-dienst “One is fascinated by the power and vitality of these everyday heroes.” (Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung)

“Not a single sensation in over four hours of film – and yet these LIFE STORIES are a singular sensation.” Tages-Anzeiger (Switzerland) “The Children of Golzow are an adventure with an open deck and an open ending." (epd-film)


IN 4211 A/ DVD1: Golzow 1961-1975
Some Day, When I Go to School Original title: Wenn ich erst zur Schule geh, GDR 1961, 13 min., b/w
The children of Golzow, a little village near the Polish border, are six and seven years old and just finished preschool. They are excited about their first days in school in September 1961, only one month after the Berlin Wall went up.
Shown at festivals in Lisbon and Bologna

One Year Later – Observations in a First Grade Class Original title: Nach einem Jahr – Beobachtungen in einer ersten Klasse, GDR 1962, 14 min., b/w
The children of Golzow celebrate the end of their fist year at school and are proud of their first school certificate. The film focuses on the children during school classes, their experiences and reactions.
1962 Silver Dove, Leipzig International Documentary and Short Film Festival
Shown at Festivals in Oberhausen, Belgrad, Sudney, Melbourne, London Lisbon

Eleven Years Old Original title: Elf Jahre alt, GDR 1966, 29 min., b/w
This episode paints the picture of a fifth grade class in Golzow. What would the children and their teachers film, if they were a director? Both are excited and share ideas about film stories that are set at home or in school. The school is an important part of the childrens’ lives. They learn new things every day and grow up to be young, knowledgable people. But also world politics, including the Vietnam War, are a part of their lives.
1966 Silver Dove, Leipzig International Documentary and Short Film Festival
Shown at Festivals in Oberhausen, London Lisbon, Mannheim

When You Are Fourteen Original title: Wenn man vierzehn ist, GDR 1969, 36 min., b/w
The children of Golzow are teenagers now and don’t want to answer all the questions and feel a little annoyed at being filmed. However, as FDJ youth organization members and candidates for the youth ceremony that would give them adult status, they experience GDR typical events at that age, including a visit of Weimar—the city of the humanistic classical authors Goethe and Schiller—and a visit of the concentration camp in Sachsenhausen. The eight grade is also an important year; the students have to decide if they will leave school and learn a profession or continue in preparation for the university until 10th or 12th grade.

The Exam Original title: Die Prüfung, GDR 1971, 19 min., b/w
Ten years of school are almost over. The tenth-graders are busy with preparations for their final exams. And they look forward to their final class party, before each of them enters another life’s journey.
Shown at Festivals in Leipzig, Oberhausen, Bologna

I Talked to a Girl Original title: Ich sprach mit einem Mädchen, GDR 1975, 30 min., b/w
The former Golzow students get together for their first reunion. The film focuses on Marieluise, a twenty-year old chemical laboratory assistant. She talks about her professional and personal problems and her search for the right place in life.
Shown at the Festival in Leipzig

IN 4211 B/ DVD 2: Golzow 1979-1986
Spare No Charm and Spare No Effort Original title: Anmut sparet nicht noch Mühe, GDR 1979/80, 107 min., b/w & color
The seventh part of the Golzow long-term observation project that started in 1961 is the first compilation of film material from the past eighteen years. The film team creates a group portrait of individuals who started out together, but who went their own way in their professional and personal lives.
Shown at Festivals in Leipzig, Nyon

These People of Golzow: Analysis of the Circumstances of a Place Diese Golzower – Umstandsbestimungen eines Ortes, GDR, TV 1984/86, 103 min., b/w & color
The village of Golzow, near the Polish border and set in a beautiful landscape, celebrates its 675th anniversary. The film crew tells the story about the history of the village and its people, including the children and their parents.

IN 4211 C/ DVD 3 + 4
Children of Golzow: Individual Portraits Original title: Lebensläufe-Die Geschichte der Kinder von Golzow in einzelnen Porträts, GDR 1980, 257 min., color & b/w
This docuemntary (part eight in the Golzow series of twenty films) draws on filming from 1961 to 1980, creating a social panorama of growing up in the GDR. No DEFA documentary film is as renowned as the personal accounts of the children of Golzow. Interviews with and observations of Brigitte, Jürgen, Marieluise, Winfried and Elke, as well as the other children in the Oderbruch village provide a unique perspective of daily life in East Germany.
This film is part of one of the longest-running documentary projects in film history, which has followed children who started school in September 1961 for almost five decades.
1982 Honorable Golden Dove, Leipzig International Documentary Film Festival
1982 FIPRESCI & INTERFILM Award, Berlin International Film Festival
Shown at Festivals in Lisbon, Bologna

IN 4211 D/ (DVD 5 + 6)
Screenplay: The Times Original title: Drehbuch: Die Zeiten, Germany 1992, 284 min., color & b/w
This is the tenth installment of the Children of Golzow chronicle and the first compilation after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It combines reflections on three decades of filming with material from a reunion with some of the protagonists one year after the German unification. The discussions about the protagonists’ feelings, hopes and fears in the new German society give an insightful picture into the situation for East Germans at that time.
Shown at Festivals in Berlin, Augsburg, Taormina, Amsterdam, Sao Paulo, Vancouver, Lisbon, Bologna, Yamagata

IN 4211 E/ (DVD 7)
Jürgen of Golzow: His Life Original title: Das Leben des Jürgen von Golzow, Germany 1993/94, 176 min., color & b/w
Over three decades in the life of Hans-Jürgen W., who became a wall painter and decorator and still lives in Golzow.
The first full-length portrait of one of the Children of Golzow series that started in 1961 and continued after the Wende gives an important insight into German history.
Shown at Festivals in Berlin, Augsburg, Leipzig


SEE ALSO: kinder-von-golzow.de

Production Period

1969/1970

Production Year

0

color

b/w

Aspect Ratio

1:1,33

Duration

Medium-Length Film (31 to 60 Min.)

Type

Documentary

Genre

Biography / Portrait

Topic

Coming of Age, Education, School, GDR, Film History

Scope of Rights

Nichtexklusive nichtkommerzielle öffentliche Aufführung (nonexclusive, noncommercial public screening),Keine TV-Rechte (no TV rights)

Notes to the Licence

DEFA

Licence Period

31.12.2025

Permanently Restricted Areas

Germany (DE), Austria (AT), Switzerland (CH)

• Wenn man vierzehn ist
• Winfried Junge