Goodbye to Babylon Berlin, the 1920s TV drama that has eerily foreshadowed real-life politics
The long-running drama reaches Hitler’s rise to power in its final season as its creators reflect on the unsettling parallels between Weimar Germany and the present day
TL;DR
- Babylon Berlin, a TV series set in 1920s Germany, is releasing its fifth and final season, depicting the rise of Adolf Hitler.
- Creators of the show note unsettling parallels between the Weimar Republic's democratic struggles and current political pressures in democracies worldwide.
- The series's themes of societal transformation, the fragility of democracy, and the threat of extremism are seen as eerily prescient.
- The show's production timeline coincided with the rise of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party in Germany, adding to the sense of historical resonance.
- Babylon Berlin has been praised for its scale and ambition in European television drama, reaching a global audience with its cautionary tale.
- The series explores universal themes of human-centered political systems always being under threat, and the tension between transformative societal change and its destruction.