GRENZGANG (2020 - 2021)

In everyday life in Germany, something like this is really difficult to imagine: How can you walk 13,000 km to Tibet - and that without money? In four years Stephan traveled through Southeast Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran and India. When he finally gets there, Tibet is no longer the thing. Absolute freedom and direct encounter with total strangers still kick him, so he wants to go again in summer 2020. From your own front door and on foot, but with a long-term destination Peru - and accompanied by a partner and freshly baked offspring.

Photojournalist Lutz Jäkel traveled to Syria again and again until the outbreak of the Arab Spring uprisings in March 2011. The Levantine country and its people impress him with their cultural diversity and great tolerance, with fine architecture and rich cuisine - the rich legacy of countless peoples, here at the hinge of Orient and Occident. In the GRENZGANG live stream, the eloquent photojournalist describes his best memories and encounters in the carefree everyday life before the war.

The marine biologist and research diver Uli Kunz has gotten into the animal kingdom with some loudmouths in recent years. He has dived with sharks, orcas and beluga whales and has had unique encounters with the largest fish on earth. He enthusiastically plunges into the ice water of the Arctic, into water-filled caves and tropical coral reefs and listens to the songs of humpback and beluga whales. In our stream, Uli reports on adventurous expeditions, of brightly colored nudibranchs in underwater forests, curious seals in the North Sea and huge humpback whales, by which he was almost swallowed in wintery Norway.

Christine Thürmer has already covered an unbelievable 45,000 kilometers on four continents, making her the most hiked woman in the world. In her lecture, the former manager and bestselling author explains how you too can find your ideal long-distance hike and how best to prepare for it. Too old? Not enough money or time? Too much fear? Christine Thürmer clears up myths about outdoor life and uses facts and figures to explain why most obstacles only exist in the head. She demonstrates her ultra-light equipment live in front of the camera, gives entertaining and unconventional practical tips for everyday life on tour and answers your questions live. But in addition to planning methods, logistics strategies and tour tips, you will learn one thing above all in this lecture: Long-distance hiking makes you happy!

No fixed income, no fixed place of residence, just have what fits in the bus: Martina Zürcher and Dylan Wickrama have been living in a VW bus in Norway, Spain, Tajikistan, Russia or Mongolia since April 2016. They made the world their living room and took the job with them on their journey because their vanlife never had an expiration date. After more than three years as bus nomads, the two no longer want to trade the freedom that this minimalist way of life makes possible for anything. Not even against a bathroom with a bathtub. In the live stream, Martina Zürcher and Dylan Wickrama tell authentically what it means to be at home as modern nomads in Europe and Central Asia and the motives behind the decision to get off the hamster wheel and try an alternative way of life, how enriching it is to meet strangers to trust to take every day as it comes and why for them to have less means much more wealth.

Large anteaters move slowly, have poor eyesight, and are not the brightest candle on the cake. So it seems almost a miracle that they roam the South American savannahs and tropical forests to this day instead of being extinct. That's what someone says who needs to know. Because Lydia Möcklinghoff, zoologist, science journalist and science slammer, has dedicated a good part of her life to researching these adorable animals in the wild west of Brazil. In the GRENZGANG stream, she tells expert, rousing and funny about the work and adventures of her everyday outback between cowboys and jaguars in the Pantanal. She describes the efforts to protect the unique endangered natural area and of course the “sparkler” - the giant anteater! "I don't know anyone who talks about anteaters so beautifully and touchingly as Lydia Möcklinghoff." Markus Lanz, TV presenter

Hitchhiking around the world in two years: For Stefan Korn, traveling without money, finding your way in unknown regions and communicating with people without a common language is pure adventure. Without any sailing experience, he travels across the Atlantic to the southern tip of South America and hitchhikes to the northern tip of North America. It goes back to Germany via China, Iran and Finland. Love, crises, fear of death and freedom - life as a hitchhiker offers many facets.

The five-person artist collective leavinghomeffunktion has completed their studies and is taking an unusual step in their careers: they move the household goods, buy Ural motorcycles, announce the long-term destination New York - and steer the old Soviet machines in the wrong direction: to the east! Because the Big Apple should be reached by land - and that has consequences. The travelers chug two and a half years through deserts, swamps, swarms of Siberian tiger mosquitoes and the jungle of bureaucracy ... 972 mishaps promote contact with locals and promote creativity. Thanks to healthy attitudes, the 5-man combine survives all the dangers of the 40,000 km with some scars, but mentally unscathed: challenges invite you to explore unknown regions within yourself and are an opportunity to make yourself an expert - whether for motorcycle repairs or boat building , Letterpress or pulling teeth ...

This is what awaits you: “What now ?!”, Andreas Pröve asks himself desperately when he wakes up with a broken spine at the age of 23 after a motorcycle accident. “Can I ever travel again?” India is the dream land and the ultimate benchmark for him. Because if you succeed in exploring the chaotic subcontinent as a paraplegic, nothing will stop him. Three years later, thanks to the help of the locals, he mastered his first wheelchair trip and thus came particularly close to the country and its people. This in turn enables an adventurous life as a travel journalist: Andreas follows the Ganges across India, from Calcutta to the source.

Why, for God's sake, is Nils Straatmann running through the political powder keg of the Middle East? Quite simply: the moderator, author and slam poet wants to find out what Jesus was like as a person, through which areas he must have walked, but also what he would have thought of the current situation in the Holy Land. And since Jesus was traveling as an itinerant preacher, it must be on foot. He is on the road with his school friend Sören for two months on this road trip between Jordan, Jericho and Jerusalem. They sleep with Orthodox Jews, eat with Muslim resistance fighters, snap Christian Instagram pilgrims and drink with Druze in the Golan. In the end, Nils Straatmann understands: The Middle East is much more beautiful and multifaceted than generally assumed, its hostile cultures unite much more than divides them. And: Jesus is seen much more politically in his homeland than in Europe.

Gereon Roemer is a close observer. One who chases the light, the perfect picture - and the special "Spirit of Scotland". Those who enjoy hard liquor are most likely to associate it with Scottish whiskey. But for Gereon Roemer, life in Scotland is shaped by the special mixture of tradition, ancient myths and eventful history, on the other hand by its residents full of a thirst for freedom, closeness to nature and hospitality. The third formative power of Scotland are the unique landscapes and dreamlike nature. And the excellent photographer shoots them with spectacular pictures, whether he is trudging through the largest moor in Europe, climbing the highest mountain in Great Britain, paddling in a kayak from the west to the east coast of Scotland or experiencing a mystical fire festival on the wintry Shetland Islands, whose origin lies in the time of the Vikings.

At some point it’s enough to wait! Lena and Tobi have been infected with the Africa virus for too long and only dreamed of their great journey. But then they buy an old Land Rover and swap their apartment for a tent to travel for a year through 19 countries from Tanzania to the Cape of Good Hope and from there all over Africa home. Their route measures a total of 57,000 kilometers. With this GRENZGANG stream you take a seat in the back seat of your Landy and experience Africa up close! You cross the green rainforests of the Congo, climb the red dunes of the Namib Desert and swim in the turquoise ocean off Zanzibar. On the way you will meet Malawian children, Sudanese melon sellers and Ethiopian cattle nomads, but also giant bull elephants, furry mountain gorillas and curious giraffes. It is the beauty, diversity and craziness of Africa that draw the likeable couple from Cologne to a declaration of love with words and pictures to our southern neighboring continent.

For Bernd Römmelt, it is a magical line that runs at the exact latitude of 66 ° 33‘55 ‘N: The Arctic Circle! Beyond that stretches a vast, wild land, the beauty and fragility of which are beyond our imagination. In the summer months, the midsummer nights banish darkness for a few weeks, while the land sinks into eternal gloom in winter. The nature photographer spends over 450 days on 22 journeys in the extreme north of the globe to capture this magic in unreal images. In the GRENZGANG stream, he shows you his best photographs from the polar region of Europe. In the West Fjords of Iceland he hunts arctic foxes and puffins with his camera, in Swedish Lapland he accompanies the life of the Sami indigenous people and on Finland's outermost edges he dares to venture among wild brown bears. Bernd Römmelt is also a passionate storyteller who is able to captivate the audience with his enthusiasm.

When someone goes on a trip, they have a lot to tell. And if someone has been on the road with a motorcycle and camera for 35 years, they have to think carefully about which of their stories and pictures to dig out of the packed aluminum suitcases. Dirk Schäfer's best selection leads you to places of longing and through dreamlike landscapes, to the Orient, around the Mediterranean, to Africa, New Zealand and California. On the way he describes special moments with people of all stripes. And he pokes at his own story, which turned an unsuspecting photo clipper into a sought-after photographer, filmmaker and storyteller. No wonder, because nobody knows how to stage the feeling of motorcycling with meticulousness and creativity, time lapse, film clips and drones as perfectly as he does.

To be alone in the Icelandic highlands for days, surrounded by breathtaking nature and unlimited space, is an elementary experience. And that hits nature filmmaker Stefan Erdmann right in the heart! He then returns almost 30 times to explore the island in the North Atlantic on foot, by off-road vehicle, but also from the air. He is always on his own, but usually has two cameras and over 100 kilos of equipment in his luggage. Iceland presents him with breathtaking shots of thundering waterfalls, calving glaciers, hissing geysers, brightly colored mountains, ember-spewing volcanoes - and sheer extraterrestrial lighting moods. With the same obsession for months - you can't put it differently - he composes a medial symphony of images, music and narration from his enormous stock of materials in the production studio.

In his early years as a wildlife filmmaker, Andreas Kieling had to face great challenges and dangers for up-close recordings in the northwest of the American continent. In summer the tundra offers food in abundance, a land of milk and honey for herbivores and large predators. In winter, however, it turns into a repellent, icy wilderness. There is a temperature difference of almost 100 degrees between these climatic extremes, which forces many animals to take long hikes - and thus also the picture hunter Andreas, who constantly follows their tracks on foot, with skis and packing sleds. Cold, wetness and other deprivations are just as much a part of his work as the approach to the wild animals in the open landscape, which can quickly become dangerous without cover.

Veil, Sharia and the rulers of terror: Saudi Arabia is not a country where you think of pleasure travel. And yet there are now tourist visas. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, MBS for short, is hoping for millions of visitors and has given the desert state a drastic modernization. At least that is how it appears on the surface. Germany's best-known couch surfer Stephan Orth wants to know more: He has been traveling the kingdom for nine weeks and spending a lot of time with the locals - in their Bedouin tents, luxury villas and off-road vehicles. His search for the soul of the country leads to an ultra-conservative society in which women live in isolation and strict Islam shapes everyday life. But he also experiences secret rule breaks, for example at forbidden alcohol parties or when meeting surprisingly carefree homosexuals. He dances at an electro festival, is made a sheik and comes to unexpected Snapchat celebrities. But what is real in this country and what is just a facade?

Daring or madness? In a small rubber dinghy, full of supplies and camera equipment, Robert Neu sets out to sail the 3,185 km long Yukon River. With his ultra-light packraft he wants to cross the North American wilderness of Canada and Alaska, and paddle from the glaciers of the source lakes in British Columbia to the mouth of the windswept Bering Sea. This is followed by months of seclusion on and by the river, during which he only sporadically meets people - often native Indians and Yupik Eskimos. Otherwise he is thrown back on himself and leads a touching, original life in nature, which is characterized by simplicity, honesty and breathtaking silence. And from close encounters with beavers, moose, eagles and bears. Significantly, the greatest dangers for his adventure come from an arsonist and a knife stabber who want to destroy his rubber dinghy ... The rousing description of the realization of a lifelong dream - longing and campfire romance included!

On their 30th birthday, identical twins Paul and Hansen Hoepner set off on their longest bike tour. For the huge distance from Berlin to Shanghai, the two only have seven months of sporting activity and hardly more equipment than sleeping mats and a small tent. The journey takes you through Poland and Russia to the wasteland of the Kazakh steppe. You cycle through the bizarrely beautiful landscapes of Kyrgyzstan and the sandstorm-whipped Taklamakan desert, up to 5,200 m high passes in the Himalayas. As much as the two are outwardly similar, their character is just as different: Paul is a forward-looking realist with a penchant for planning and a false bottom. Hansen, the daring adventurer, prefers to leave things to fate. What neither of them knew beforehand: That makes the tour the trip of a lifetime, with moments of greatest happiness and painful crises, during which they get to know themselves and their twin brother in a completely new way.

From Damascus to Dubai, from Libya to Lebanon: reporters Florian Harms and Lutz Jäkel have been traveling the Arab world for over 25 years. For two years alone, they devote themselves to an opulent illustrated book about the millennia-old food culture of Arabia. For the award-winning book, the two Islamic scholars investigate the culinary revelations between the Atlantic and the Euphrates. They not only look into pots and pans, but also into bazaars, coffee houses and unusual restaurants. But above all: into people's souls! The story of their research comes as a knowledgeable live stream full of humor, which sometimes turns our common ideas about the Orient upside down. Spiced with culinary anecdotes, historical backgrounds, music and fantastic pictures, Florian Harms and Lutz Jäkel show not only people, culture and culinary art, but also the tremendous contrast of the Arab countries, between desert and snow mountains, Bedouins and wine lovers, ancient ruins and glittering skyscrapers.

In his travel report “Deep in Africa”, GRENZGANG initiator Hardy Fiebig sets out from the island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean to follow in the footsteps of slave traders and explorers to the headwaters of the Nile. After meeting the mountain gorillas, he travels to the metropolis of Nairobi, to the summit of Kilimanjaro and back to the Indian Ocean. The trip offers an interplay of chasing events, a thoroughly African safari full of hardships and humor, steered by miracles and small catastrophes, shaken by strokes of fate, but gifted by a paradisiacal nature and impressive people. The open-minded traveler experiences cheerful but also tragic encounters with traditional nomads and farmers, rebels and smart capital city residents, in which he lets the audience participate with his sparkling rhetoric and sensitive photographs. Fiebig immerses himself in people's everyday lives like no one else. East Africa is dropping its masks!

A Sahara photo adorns the card of his birth announcement, and only one sentence: "Christo Foerster goes on a voyage of discovery." So far, so borderline-compliant. For a long time, the book author did exactly that, until he realized: the great adventures around the world don't change anything in my everyday life - except that I always want to leave faster! His life takes a new course when he realizes: Little adventures on the doorstep can be easily integrated into everyday life, they neither require a lot of time nor large equipment. Just the ability to make the most of what is available here and now. Christo Foerster throws himself into nightly bike tours, discovers hammock spots in the Hamburg container port and climbs northern Germany's highest mountains, he goes 100 kilometers in a pedal boat and crosses over to Helgoland on a stand-up paddleboard.

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