A portrait of Pope Pius XII (1876-1958), head of the Catholic Church from 1939 until his death, who, during World War II, and while European Jews were being exterminated by the Nazis, was accused of keeping a disconcerting and shameful silence.
They say it's over 2000 years old, and more than 4,000 miles long. But even today nobody really knows for sure. The Great Wall of China is one of the world's famous buildings but it is still the least known. British writer and historian William Lindesay has lived in China for twenty years. Exploring the Great Wall has become his lifetime obsession.
An exploration of Cologne Cathedral, an emblematic monument and world heritage site. The towering place of worship took over 600 years to complete. Once the tallest building in the world, its ornate facade remains a masterpiece of Gothic architecture - and a reflection of the evolution of Franco-German relations.
On operated by Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck the German Empire is finally founded in 1871 on the floors of Versailles castle, ancestral seat of the French monarchy.
On June 26, 1813, Austrian Foreign Minister Klemens von Metternich went to meet Napoleon Bonaparte at his headquarters in Dresden, in the Kingdom of Saxony. Although the French emperor still dominated Europe, the disastrous Russian campaign had sapped his military power. Could France continue to count on Austria's support? A nine-hour private meeting would decide the fate of Europe.
The story of the Trojan Horse is probably one of the most famous stories ever told: after ten years of bloody war, the Greek coalition decides to lift the siege and depart, but not before leaving at the gates a huge wooden horse, which the Trojans confidently lead into the city. A few hours later, the once invincible Troy goes up in flames. What exactly happened? Is this myth true or false?
Nowadays we associate Johannes Kepler with his famous laws of planetary motion. But the history of his discoveries is a drama of Shakespearian proportions - full of intrigue, passion, depravity and corruption.
The painful story of Ireland and the Irish people, who struggled for centuries to free themselves from the tyrannical clutches of the British Empire; an epic tale of poverty, hunger, despair, violence and unyielding courage.
September 1st, 1939. Nazi Germany invades Poland. The campaign is fast, cruel and ruthless. In these circumstances, how is it that ordinary German soldiers suddenly became vicious killers, terrorizing the local population? Did everyone turn into something worse than wild animals? The true story of the first World War II offensive that marks in the history of infamy the beginning of a carnage and a historical tragedy.
Oceanographers have been gripped by a new spirit of discovery and have undertaken the biggest population census of ocean species ever conducted - a "Census of Marine Life". The quest: to find out when and where it all began. Where did the water come from? How was life created in the oceans? And how did it evolve to the enormous diversity we see today? Join National Geographic as we travel more than 4 billion years into the past to uncover how oceans and marine life came to exist.
In 1938 an airfield was built at the northeastern-most end of America, the descent went slowly but incessantly through the Cold War. This is the story of how its inhabitants gradually moved away from the great world stage and had to reinvent themselves as well as their home town.
Germans colonized the land of Namibia, in southern Africa, during a brief period of time, from 1840 to the end of the World War I. The story of the so-called German South West Africa (1884-1915) is hideous; a hidden and silenced account of looting and genocide.
Around 3,000 BC, the first territorial state in history was created with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. The empire on the Nile was to exist for 3,000 years. The current section focuses on religion, temple economy and the cult of the dead and examines the reigns of Akhenaten and Ramses II. The culture of Ancient Egypt is characterized by religion, temple economy and the cult of the dead. Two pharaohs play an important role in this context: Akhenaten and Ramses II. When Akhenaten ascended the throne around 1,350 BC, religious customs in Egypt had hardly changed for almost 2,000 years. The influential priesthood was organized hierarchically and the rituals were set out in fixed rituals. The temples are not only the spiritual but also the economic centers of the country.
