- vor 2 Tagen
1975: Ein Jahr das international den Frauen gewidmet wurde.
50 Jahre ist das nun her.
Die WDR-Dokumentation von Martin Herzog blickt zurück auf dieses Jahr in NRW und erzählt die Geschichten von Menschen,
für die dieses Jahr zu einem Meilenstein in ihrem Leben wurde.
Frauen wie die Bonner Studentin Florence Hervé, die sich demonstrierend einmischte,
weil sie nicht einsehen wollte, dass sich Familie und Beruf für Frauen in Deutschland ausschließen sollten.
Oder die Geschichte von Vera Brandes.
Sie lockte den weltberühmten Jazz-Pianisten Keith Jarrett zu einem Konzert in die Kölner Oper,
wo sie den Maestro überreden musste zu spielen, obwohl der versprochene Konzertflügel nicht zur Verfügung stand und beim völlig verstimmten Ersatzklavier die Tasten klemmten.
Das Resultat: ein einzigartiges Konzert und eine der erfolgreichsten Jazzplatten aller Zeiten.
Noch einschneidender wurde das Jahr für die 14-jährige Tu Phuong Le,
die im Frühjahr 1975 zur medizinischen Versorgung nach NRW eingeflogen und ins Friedendorf in Oberhausen gebracht wurde.
Nach Anbruch des Vietnamkrieges verweigerte die neue Regierung Phuong jedoch die Rückkehr in ihre Heimat.
Auch ihre Geschichte mit Happy End erzählt der Film.
Erzählt wird der Film über das Jahr der Frau allerdings von einem Mann: Lutz van der Horst.
Der Comedian und berüchtigte Außenreporter der Heute Show kam im August 1975 in Köln zur Welt. (12.12.2025)
50 Jahre ist das nun her.
Die WDR-Dokumentation von Martin Herzog blickt zurück auf dieses Jahr in NRW und erzählt die Geschichten von Menschen,
für die dieses Jahr zu einem Meilenstein in ihrem Leben wurde.
Frauen wie die Bonner Studentin Florence Hervé, die sich demonstrierend einmischte,
weil sie nicht einsehen wollte, dass sich Familie und Beruf für Frauen in Deutschland ausschließen sollten.
Oder die Geschichte von Vera Brandes.
Sie lockte den weltberühmten Jazz-Pianisten Keith Jarrett zu einem Konzert in die Kölner Oper,
wo sie den Maestro überreden musste zu spielen, obwohl der versprochene Konzertflügel nicht zur Verfügung stand und beim völlig verstimmten Ersatzklavier die Tasten klemmten.
Das Resultat: ein einzigartiges Konzert und eine der erfolgreichsten Jazzplatten aller Zeiten.
Noch einschneidender wurde das Jahr für die 14-jährige Tu Phuong Le,
die im Frühjahr 1975 zur medizinischen Versorgung nach NRW eingeflogen und ins Friedendorf in Oberhausen gebracht wurde.
Nach Anbruch des Vietnamkrieges verweigerte die neue Regierung Phuong jedoch die Rückkehr in ihre Heimat.
Auch ihre Geschichte mit Happy End erzählt der Film.
Erzählt wird der Film über das Jahr der Frau allerdings von einem Mann: Lutz van der Horst.
Der Comedian und berüchtigte Außenreporter der Heute Show kam im August 1975 in Köln zur Welt. (12.12.2025)
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00:041975, the halfway point of the 70s and the first International Women's Year.
00:11It got quite loud.
00:16Also in the state elections.
00:19And in the municipal territorial reform, which came into effect in 1975 after years of dispute.
00:27The war in distant Vietnam reached as far as Oberhausen.
00:32People in Münsterland were completely taken aback, and the same was true in Cologne.
00:38The cathedral treasury was plundered, and this happened shortly after my birth, right around the corner in the southern part of the city.
00:46Allow me to introduce myself: Lutz van der Horst.
01:05The first International Year of Women didn't interest me much at the time.
01:11My mother didn't either, by the way.
01:12She was busy being pregnant for most of the year.
01:19But many women in 1975 also had little use for the year that the UN had dedicated to them.
01:26What personal benefit do you hope to gain from the Year of the Woman?
01:31None yet, because women are always disadvantaged.
01:34And in the year 1975, what has been bad since the birth of woman will not get any better.
01:42I hope I don't end up on television.
01:45I knew perfectly well that this was the year of the woman.
01:47No.
01:48No, I didn't know that.
01:50I'm not that strongly in favor of equality for everyone.
01:53I mean, if a woman isn't active and doesn't engage with life, it can't be true.
01:58Those who are passive and stay at home will not benefit from the Year of the Woman.
02:02I don't know.
02:06Florence Hervé was never one of those women who stayed at home.
02:10In 1975, the Frenchwoman studied German studies in Bonn.
02:14When she heard that the Year of the Woman was to be officially opened here in the Beethoven Hall, she knew what she wanted.
02:19had to do with it.
02:28In principle, the Year of the Woman is a fine thing.
02:31But Florence Hervé warned of evils in the way the federal government was going about it.
02:37Prior to this, there had already been a number of statements from politicians.
02:41And that's what made us fear that the Year of the Woman was simply going to be kept very small under the motto,
02:48Yes, next year, Year of the Dog.
02:50And we had fears that the federal government would not do anything about it.
02:58While Florence Hervé bravely held up her shield outside in the January cold,
03:03Inside, ladies from politics and society, such as Anne-Marie Renger and Mildred Scheel, listened to the opening speech.
03:09They came from a man, obviously.
03:10Most citizens wouldn't object to a little bit of equality.
03:17However, it is commonly believed that full equality is something that is simply not possible due to nature.
03:29And even the official board of trustees for the Year of the Woman included people like employers' association president Hans-Martin Schleyer.
03:36He brazenly declared that women only failed to make careers because they didn't try hard enough.
03:43And he's not the only one.
03:45What bothered us about this board of trustees was simply that there were representatives there who did not represent women's rights at all.
03:55Firstly, they were men, and secondly, men who were known for their contempt for women.
04:05There was plenty to do in terms of equality, for example in the workplace.
04:11More and more women were entering education and the workforce.
04:14My mother did too, of course.
04:16Equal pay for equal work was not a given back then.
04:21Things looked rather bad back then, even worse than today.
04:25Women still have lower wages.
04:27This affects a large proportion of the more than two million female employees in our country alone.
04:33Statisticians found that while women perform a third of paid work, they hold only about two percent of management positions.
04:40And you shouldn't try to gloss over that.
04:42On average, they are paid 30 to 40 percent less than men.
04:47And Germany lagged far behind in childcare.
04:54That was a huge shock for me.
04:57I came from France, where women and mothers working was taken for granted.
05:03And then suddenly I was standing there with two children and then they said, no, now I should stay home.
05:09Should I take care of the children, otherwise I'm a bad mother?
05:12I found this ban on women working or receiving education to be quite dramatic.
05:20Because that also creates a feeling of guilt if you still want to work.
05:26Somehow, I'm not normal or anything.
05:29As you know, dear reader, being a housewife is a complicated and responsible job.
05:36However, the prospect of a life as a housewife and mother deterred very few from starting a family.
05:50Since the beginning of the year, young couples have been flocking to the registry offices.
05:55People have always gotten married in the Federal Republic of Germany.
05:57The only difference is that the faces of brides and grooms in our country have become younger.
06:03Since the beginning of 1975, young people have been of legal age at 18 instead of 21 and were allowed to do so without a blessing.
06:10to marry the parents.
06:11Prom, the number of weddings among young adults skyrocketed.
06:15In North Rhine-Westphalia, the increase was one third, higher than in any other federal state.
06:20The wedding dance in 1975 was usually a hit song.
06:30There were subtle feminist messages from young star Juliane Werding.
06:37Heino from Düsseldorf traditionally sang to the guitar and about women.
06:46And Kraftwerk, also from Düsseldorf, provided the counter-program with electronic sound.
06:58Ah, the gentlemen of Queen from the kingdom.
07:01That was unacceptable to my parents back then.
07:02They tended to stick to domestic costs.
07:09Udo was just the thing for my mother.
07:12At least Greek wine.
07:13This is one of the few records she bought for herself.
07:20Yes, and I have them in my own record collection.
07:27Keith Jarrod's magnificent Cologne concert.
07:30It was recorded here at the Cologne Opera House.
07:35Where renovations are currently taking place, one of the most successful jazz albums of all time was created in early 1975.
07:42Under rather adventurous circumstances.
07:44The fact that the record even exists is all Vera Brandes' fault.
07:49The Cologne Opera is, of course, part of my personal history.
07:55And I come in there and I have the feeling, even though everything is being rebuilt here,
07:59I know every corner.
08:01Because the day on which this concert took place has, of course, remained very vivid in my memory, in all its details.
08:16There almost wasn't a concert at all.
08:20Vera Brandes was still a student in 1975, but already a huge jazz fan.
08:25She had already started organizing concerts at the age of 15.
08:29Under the title New Jazz in Cologne, she brought international stars to the Rhine.
08:35And they gladly came to the young organizer.
08:41The American Keith Jarrods was already a big name in the jazz world at that time.
08:48When I heard that Keith Jarrods was going on a European tour, it immediately popped into my head.
08:54Midnight concert at the Cologne Opera.
08:56And then I called the opera house and said I would like to rent the opera house.
09:00Then, of course, they wanted to know who I actually was.
09:05And thank God no one asked me my date of birth,
09:09Because according to the laws in force at the time, I was actually not legally competent to conduct business.
09:16But quite business-minded.
09:18The 1400 seats in the opera house were sold out in no time.
09:22The evening before, Keith Jarrods played a concert in Basel and then made his way to Cologne.
09:28Together with his manager Manfred Eicher.
09:31They drove all night.
09:34And eventually arrived at the opera house completely exhausted.
09:39A grand piano should be on stage for the solo performance.
09:42However, what they found in Cologne was not quite what they had expected.
09:48Jarrod then opened the piano and just tried to play, without saying a word.
09:53And Eicher didn't say a word either.
09:57So the two of them didn't exchange a single word for ages, like I said, they just kept walking around the piano.
10:04and then every now and then played two or three notes.
10:08The white keys in the lower and upper octaves were stuck, as were the black keys in the middle; the pedal wouldn't come back up and
10:14The thing was completely out of tune.
10:16And after what seemed like an eternity, Manfred Eicher said, "Well, Kies can't play a concert on the piano."
10:24Either you get a new grand piano or the concert cannot take place.
10:29And I was, of course, as if struck by lightning.
10:34Where am I going to get a wing now? On a late Friday afternoon.
10:39While a piano tuner was working on the disastrous grand piano, Vera Brandes desperately phoned for a replacement.
10:47Unsuccessful.
10:48Then, in the twilight, she saw Keith Jarrod get into his car and apparently intend to leave.
10:53I flew down the stairs, opened the door, and looked at him at eye level.
11:00And I said, Keith, if you don't play tonight, I'm going to be truly fucked.
11:06And I know you're gonna be truly fucked too.
11:08We then looked into each other's eyes for what felt like three minutes and he said, okay, okay, I'll play.
11:16But never forget, just for you.
11:20Yes.
11:26And so, shortly before midnight, Keith Jarrod finally appeared before the Cologne audience.
11:31who, of course, hadn't noticed anything about the trouble with the piano.
11:34And he gave the concert on the completely unsuitable grand piano, which the piano tuner had just barely managed to make operational in six hours of work.
11:42had made it playable.
11:48Now, the instrument Jarrod played on was a Stutzvögel.
11:53And of course, its volume is not sufficient to fill a hall like this.
11:59But that was also the secret of the whole story.
12:04Because it was relatively quiet, the audience was very attentive.
12:11Yes, those magical moments do happen.
12:13That's when you know something is happening here that has never happened before.
12:18This also affected the record grooves.
12:21The audio recording was never supposed to be released, after all the controversy.
12:25But Keith Jarrod's Cologne concert also thrilled people who otherwise have little to do with jazz.
12:31Me too. A little later.
12:33Four million albums have been sold to date.
12:37Those who came and sat down and listened to the concert were not the same people who came out of that concert.
12:44went back outside.
12:45It was clear somewhere that something had happened here that had changed everyone to their core.
12:53And the fact that music has this power has shaped my entire life like nothing else.
13:04In her search for this power, Vera Brandes later studied music effects research and has since been involved with the medical aspects of music.
13:13Music.
13:13Today she successfully uses it to treat depression, burnout and sleep disorders.
13:19And all because of this one concert. In January 1975.
13:29Yes, and this too is music with therapeutic effects. Carnival in the Year of the Woman.
13:36And while the women took over the power in Cologne's Alter Markt, the WDR invited two women just a few meters away.
13:43for the debate on equality.
13:54Feminist Alice Schwarzer debated with antifeminist Esther Villar, known for her book The Manipulated Man.
14:01Villar's bold thesis is that it is not the woman who is oppressed by the man, but the man by the woman.
14:08What I'm doing is a way of redeeming my gender. And I believe that if someone betrays my gender, then...
14:14You and your clique.
14:15Who are my friends?
14:17Because the feminists you're with... I get the impression that you're something like their intellectual leader.
14:22of German feminists.
14:24They're flattering me too much. We don't actually have any leaders. And no female leaders either.
14:28For example, I don't understand how women can accept something like a woman's "yes." I find that so unbelievable.
14:35Even if women were oppressed, such a thing should never be accepted, because it is simply against honor.
14:43goes.
14:44I must honestly say, I was appalled by Esther Villar's position. It's partly ridiculous.
14:49The fact that this is even shown on television, in my opinion, demonstrates that there is indeed a certain number of
15:00There are people who approve of such views.
15:05The Bild newspaper had announced the debate as the television battle of the year.
15:10This was truly an attempt to ridicule women's demands and women's rights.
15:41Cologne-Bonn. In the 1970s, North Rhine-Westphalia's gateway to the world and the world's gateway to North Rhine-Westphalia.
15:48Ten thousand kilometers away, the Vietnam War had been raging for years. Seemingly far away.
15:54But this is where they arrived. Victims of incendiary bombs and shrapnel.
15:59A lucky few. Children and teenagers.
16:05In early March 1975, another transport from Saigon landed with more than 20 children on board.
16:12They were not refugees. They were to receive medical care, perhaps even be cured, and spend six months here in peace and safety.
16:19spend
16:20and then back to their homeland. Back to their families.
16:26A Vietnamese woman wrapped me in a blanket on the plane.
16:31I remember they carried me out somehow, because it was really cold.
16:38We got off the plane, then we were on the bus, and then we drove for a long time. I
16:46I don't remember anymore.
16:48It was long and the road was so different. It was so wide, everything was so fast, it was so
16:56There were many cars there.
16:58I've never actually seen so many cars in my life.
17:02The destination of the long journey: Oberhausen. The Peace Village International. Erected by a private initiative.
17:11Since the 1960s, full-time and volunteer staff have been caring for up to 300 children and young people from war zones there.
17:18of this world.
17:19And my mother told me she signed a contract for six months. Then I'll come back.
17:24I left Vietnam with the attitude of, okay, here, I'll just go next door.
17:31It wasn't really a goodbye or anything, because I said, yeah, I'm going to be gone for about six months.
17:37I'll come back. Like I'm coming back from a big trip.
17:40Two months earlier, Le Thuf Wong had heard on the radio about an organization in Germany that might be able to help her.
17:47The Peace Village.
17:51Now she was here in Oberhausen to alleviate the effects of her polio.
18:04Le Thuf Wong became seriously ill with polio when she was two years old. In Vietnam, there wasn't much that could be done for her.
18:11A series of operations should now straighten Fwong's crooked legs.
18:17I couldn't even touch the ground with this leg. It was tilted to the side, too. And I
18:25I then had to walk with two sticks. That was very difficult for me.
18:31But no sooner had Fwong arrived in the peace village than she received disturbing news.
18:39North Vietnamese troops had captured the capital Saigon and occupied the presidential palace.
18:44The new rulers severed all ties to the outside world. This included the ties between the children in Oberhausen and their parents, between Fwong and the outside world.
18:51and her mother.
18:53And that was awful for her. I only found that out later, she wrote to me. I was almost driven crazy.
18:58I became obsessed because she thought she would never see me again.
19:04What should happen next here in the Peace Village?
19:12The sixth sense. Always at the forefront when it came to gender issues.
19:20Hopefully, in this Year of the Woman, men have become a little more chivalrous.
19:24If a woman is hoping for male help when her car breaks down, it is inappropriate to make jokes about the woman driving.
19:30tearing things apart, who understand nothing about engines and technology.
19:32Women usually drive more cautiously than men because they lack experience. This can obstruct the flow of traffic.
19:39Many women avoid wearing a seatbelt because they are afraid for their breasts.
19:44Men often feel strong and superior to women behind the wheel.
19:51See for yourself how easily they can become weak.
19:57Male prejudices were put to rest in the Year of the Woman, and it was officially confirmed that there are women who drive properly.
20:05Well, at least one.
20:07Her name is Cornelia Klein. She is one of the two main winners of the "Exemplary Woman Driver" campaign, in which a total of 600 women participated.
20:14Female drivers from all over Germany participated.
20:19The prize for the winner was a duck. A Citroën 2CV.
20:28North Rhine-Westphalia, an industrial state. In 1975, it had been firmly in the hands of the Social Democrats for ten years.
20:35That shouldn't change in the Year of the Woman, at least according to state leader Heinz Kühn.
20:41Men, I say, follow the rules so your wives can vote. And women, I say, follow the rules so your husbands can vote correctly.
20:48choose.
20:53And with that, the election campaign was underway.
20:56Nothing indicated a change of power.
20:58For although the CDU was ahead in voter support, the FDP remained loyal to the Social Democrats.
21:04Nevertheless, the parties threw themselves into the battle for voters' favor with full enthusiasm.
21:21Support came from federal politics.
21:23The vote in the largest federal state became a test for the next federal election.
21:29Now, in 1975, starting with this election in North Rhine-Westphalia, it is time to set the markers and milestones.
21:39for the election victory in the autumn of 1976.
21:44Please help us!
21:47The CDU came up with quite a few ideas to recommend themselves and their top candidate, Heinrich Köppler.
21:54The song of the political spring. Not beautiful, but rare.
22:10The SPD entered the race without a song, but with Chancellor Schmidt and former Chancellor Brandt.
22:15A home game in the Ruhr area.
22:19For the people of the region, what matters is what actually is.
22:28We can rely on you.
22:31And you, dear friends, can rely on us.
22:37But the SPD also didn't always have good taste in its choice of election methods.
22:41So that everything stays nicely together.
22:43And this in the Year of the Woman.
22:45All of this is part of a campaign against breast cancer.
22:49No, that's clear.
22:52But at least he should win, Heinz Kühn promised, by appointing a state commissioner for women's issues.
22:58For the first time in the Federal Republic of Germany.
23:01The candidate? Barbara von Sell.
23:07Was that the reason?
23:09In May 1975, it was clear that the SPD had succeeded once again in the state elections.
23:15For the third time, a social-liberal coalition was formed.
23:21The FDP brought Burkhard Hirsch from Bonn to Düsseldorf to become Minister of the Interior.
23:26The state parliament used to meet where the NRW art collection is housed today.
23:31I swear that I will use all my strength...
23:38If a country has 15 million inhabitants and you are asked or asked to be the Minister of the Interior,
23:47Then it is a task that one must accept.
23:50That's how it's done.
23:55But how does one become a minister?
23:58Burkhard Hirsch had previously served as a regular member of the Bundestag.
24:05I had never led a ministry before.
24:08Of course, one talks to one's predecessor.
24:11Of course there will be an inauguration.
24:13And then suddenly they're sitting at a desk with several phones and don't know what to do.
24:20You don't actually know the staff, the State Secretary, yes.
24:24And they are presented with files.
24:25And I was amazed that I kept getting the same files presented to me that I had already signed off on.
24:31I didn't know why the same ones.
24:33And I had a secretary who told me, yes, you have to sign in red.
24:40And everyone transporting the files doesn't look at what I've done, but at whether the red mark, the signature, is included.
24:48And then it is passed on.
24:50And that's why I always have; I had to learn color theory myself first.
24:53The new minister also had to learn that trivial administrative issues could cause major conflict.
24:59Hirsch had inherited the municipal territorial reform from his predecessor.
25:03It sounds boring, but it was necessary.
25:05It was about the boundaries of the municipalities and who was responsible for swimming pools, libraries, and all the other facilities.
25:12public duties.
25:13We had over 3000 really small municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia.
25:17If you want a modern, citizen-oriented administration that is affordable,
25:23Then you cannot order the full range of municipal skills, needs and administrative capabilities in over 3000 municipalities.
25:32The number of small communities had to be drastically reduced.
25:38But many people didn't like it.
25:40Even before this, there had been protests all over the country, and the anger had not subsided.
25:45Although the territorial reform had already been in effect since the beginning of the year.
25:49Several municipalities had filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court against being swallowed up by their larger neighbors.
25:56The Interior Minister had to be on his guard at town hall meetings.
26:02Before the meeting, so many people insulted me that my escort officers, who I had with them, drew their weapons.
26:10I was surprised by how emotional and profound it was.
26:17I have learned in this way that when all living conditions change, the way of life, the environment, the population changes.
26:26Life in big cities is becoming increasingly anonymous.
26:27When something familiar is taken away, it's more important than I thought.
26:38Economically, things also became uncomfortable in the West in the mid-1970s.
26:42The biggest economic crisis since the war hit the coal and steel industry along the Rhine and Ruhr rivers hard, which was undergoing structural change.
26:50was battered.
26:54Things looked bleak for miners and steelworkers, but also in other industries.
26:59In the construction industry alone, 90,000 jobs had been lost in recent years, and the outlook was bleak.
27:06The situation on the labor market has worsened further. This also applies to North Rhine-Westphalia.
27:13The statistics released today by the state employment office in Düsseldorf show that the number of unemployed and short-time workers continues to rise.
27:20The number of job vacancies is increasing.
27:24But as always, the culprits were quickly found: the so-called guest workers.
27:30In 1975, every second German believed that foreigners were taking away our jobs and were therefore to blame for unemployment.
27:39Some things never change.
27:42In North Rhine-Westphalia, they now make up seven percent of the resident population.
27:47That means 1.7 million foreigners out of a total population of 17.2 million.
27:54Although foreign workers are referred to as guests, they are perceived as stopgaps and a means to an end.
28:00Until a few years ago, during the economic boom, companies were still recruiting workers for their industries abroad.
28:06But the workers had long since become neighbors who felt at home here.
28:10A recruitment freeze had been in place for two years. Now the authorities have resorted to more drastic methods.
28:17The recently formed special commission, consisting of officials from the Düsseldorf immigration office and members of the criminal investigation department, is checking accommodations for foreigners for illegal guest workers.
28:26Control is difficult because the foreigners help each other.
28:34And you still want to go to Gustav-Pönchen-Straße.
28:38Yes, that needs to be checked.
28:39Come along.
28:42Düssel 180444, 1823, a review.
28:46Mohammed Ali, Ben, born in 1931, if I know him here.
28:53In this situation, Chemnade Castle near Bochum became a symbol of defiant self-assertion by the foreign workers and their families, who
29:02lived here.
29:07The first foreigners' congress in Germany took place here behind thick walls.
29:13Including discussion and the Chemnade International cultural festival.
29:18Motto?
29:18We're still here.
29:24East Anatolian dances performed on a German manor.
29:28Clash between peasant-proletarian and feudal culture.
29:32The encounter between the vibrant present of foreign workers and their families and German history.
29:37And it became clear that the people from the Mediterranean countries were not only still there, they were going to stay.
29:48Otherwise, 1975 didn't feel particularly southern European up to that point.
29:54It snowed near Winterberg in the Hochsauerland region.
29:57And that's in June.
29:58Something's changed with the weather.
30:07The entire spring had already been ruined by hail.
30:10Just like the entire year 1974.
30:13What should one do?
30:15Sing.
30:16We didn't need to travel far back then.
30:22We got a tan on Borkum and on Sulz.
30:26Smoke, smoke, smoke.
30:28But today, the brown ones are only white.
30:32Hurry, vacation's already over, why bother with Sonnenhand?
30:34Because here you just get frozen solid.
30:38Unfortunately, one cannot change God or nature.
30:40Then it will finally be summer again.
30:44A summer like it used to be.
30:50Yes, with sunshine from June to September.
30:56And not as wet and Siberian as this year.
31:02Someone in the right place must have heard Rudi back then.
31:07For almost two weeks the sun has been shining brightly and temperatures have reached midsummer levels.
31:13This will not change in the coming days.
31:26And so a heat wave came to North Rhine-Westphalia.
31:29Tires burst on the highways because the road surface was boiling.
31:36The swimming pools were naturally packed given the temperatures.
31:46Yeah, right, I like it.
31:48The animals in zoos in the west suffered from the sweltering heat.
31:51We do too, or rather, my family does.
31:53We all hate heat.
31:54And that's just when I was on my way.
31:59And here I am, right at the end of the heat wave.
32:03Lucky me.
32:04My father had bought a Super 8 camera just in time,
32:09to ceremonially mark my arrival.
32:20At the same time, a few kilometers downhill.
32:23There was also a celebration where the Kaiserswärter ferry docks.
32:27In Meerbusch.
32:28The small town on the Lower Rhine between Düsseldorf and Krefeld had only existed as an independent city for five years.
32:35And his story almost came to an end in 1975.
32:44Now the Altbier was flowing here, because the young city was spared from the regional reform.
32:49Meerbusch remained independent.
32:51That was the ruling of the country's highest court.
32:55News of the trial's outcome spread like wildfire.
32:59In some households, the bottles were put in the refrigerator.
33:03The people of Meerbusch were overjoyed.
33:05A resounding defeat for Interior Minister Burkhard Hirsch.
33:08He took it in stride.
33:10That's life.
33:13I noticed the emotions associated with it and that it prompted political reactions.
33:19But you have to endure it.
33:20That's life.
33:21It is impossible to be loved completely.
33:27Warendorf in Münsterland from a bird's-eye view.
33:31I've never understood why people jump out of perfectly intact airplanes without any apparent need.
33:37But whatever.
33:38Some people here have achieved mastery at it.
33:43Even for the World Cup.
33:57And for the world premiere.
34:00The first World Championships in formation skydiving started here in September 1975.
34:11For the Federal Republic of Germany, the Remscheid club starts here in the ten-person formation with a ground-based exit drill.
34:17Remscheid are the reigning German champions.
34:20In competition, the time is measured from the first jumper's takeoff until the complete figure is formed.
34:27And the jumpers from Remscheid were world-class.
35:05And what else happened in the middle of the decade?
35:10Why don't you give them a call?
35:12The postal service came up with this great slogan in 1975.
35:17Making phone calls. That was a big thing back then. Even for personal use.
35:22Okay, Mr. Brinkmann, that's it. That's ready. You can make your phone call now.
35:25The number of the year? 50%.
35:27This is how many households in the state now have a telephone in North Rhine-Westphalia.
35:33No talking allowed in taxis. According to the law, talking was no longer permitted.
35:37The Scout took over the schoolyards. Everyone had to have one. I think I was the only one without a Scout.
35:47Then it was autumn in 1975.
35:51Le Tufuang has now been in Oberhausen for half a year.
35:55She should have been on her way home long ago.
35:58Actually.
35:59After the surgeries and physiotherapy, she was already feeling much better physically.
36:03But still, I was homesick. It was so uncertain. And then it just kept going on for longer and longer.
36:11So, at the beginning, it was quite difficult for me to feel so homesick here in Germany.
36:17Because somehow it was clear I would come back. And this was just a transitional period.
36:24But the news that Le Tufuang saw on television offered little hope.
36:29The new government celebrated in Saigon.
36:32And for Fuang and 100 other Vietnamese children in the peace village, it finally became clear that they were stranded in North Rhine-Westphalia.
36:42There was hope that things would be okay again someday.
36:48But for the moment, it was such anxiety.
36:50So what about me now? What happens next?
36:54I was at school there. I said, okay, go to school. Just do an apprenticeship and see what happens.
37:13This is the house.
37:16This is the house.
37:19Easy, well. Fuang had to learn German, to somehow find his way around this country.
37:24She graduated from high school and studied mathematics.
37:27In the peace village, she met a conscientious objector doing his civilian service, with whom she became friends.
37:33Eventually, she reconnected with her family.
37:37Today Fuang lives in Essen, has two grown children and a husband, a conscientious objector from the Peace Village.
37:54I am very grateful to the Peace Village for giving me such an opportunity in life.
37:59I ended up stranded somewhere, but I still managed to make something of it.
38:03But I'm happy with how things are now. What more could one want? What more could I want?
38:09So, I don't want anything more. I just want to be happy. And I am. This is who I am.
38:20November 1975. Ah, Cologne Cathedral. It's been through quite a lot since its foundation stone was laid 800 years ago.
38:29But what happened this year was worthy of a movie. It's strange that it hasn't been made into a film yet.
38:36I already have a title in mind. Oceans 11 at the cathedral.
38:41This is German television with the Tagesschau news program.
38:50Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
38:52Last night, the treasury of Cologne Cathedral, the largest art space in the Federal Republic of Germany to date, was looted.
38:58One of the most brazen and cold-blooded burglaries, in which millions were lost, is causing a stir.
39:04On the night between All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, two as yet unknown perpetrators broke into the treasury of Cologne Cathedral.
39:10and took 15 of the most valuable works of art with them.
39:14He was a man who wasn't after works of art, but quite simply and brutally after gold and precious stones.
39:22searched
39:22and then simply tore apart the most valuable things with his tools.
39:29There were apparently three thieves. They simply left their tools behind.
39:34They took diamonds, sapphires, gold chains, rings, and pearls with them.
39:38They fled abroad, where most of the gold was melted down.
39:42But some of the loot resurfaced. The tip came from Cologne's underworld.
39:48The valuable monstrances were painstakingly restored.
39:51And two years later, the perpetrators deservedly landed behind bars for their brazen robbery.
40:071975. The Year of the Woman was slowly coming to an end with its countless conferences and events.
40:14There were many kind words. But what else? Had anything changed for the women in the country?
40:20The result, as one of us put it, was pathetic and meager.
40:26Practically nothing has changed for women. Only things have gotten worse.
40:36Women are now allowed to wear uniforms in the German Armed Forces.
40:41At least as medical officers. A fine achievement.
40:45No major progress was made in the Year of the Woman.
40:51In December, Barbara von Sell became the first women's representative to resign.
40:55Because although she held the office, she had no authority. At least for Florence Hervé, the Year of the Woman was also a positive experience.
41:03She co-published the calendar "Wir Frauen" (We Women) from 1975 onwards.
41:07In the 1980s, it reached a circulation of over 100,000 copies.
41:12We've received an incredible amount of momentum, a great deal of enthusiasm.
41:17And it was clear to us that we had to continue anyway.
41:20And elsewhere, too, the year ended quite well.
41:26The final decisions regarding the municipal territorial reform were made in Münster.
41:35Such a day has never occurred before at the Constitutional Court in Münster.
41:40More than three million people were affected by the verdicts handed down today in six different lawsuits.
41:46One of the municipalities is Wesseling.
41:49They didn't want to be relegated to a suburb of Cologne.
41:53At 10:20 a.m., after the liberating phone call from Münster, the church bells rang in Wesseling.
41:58and relieved the citizens of the uncertainty of whether they would have to remain suburbanites of Cologne or not.
42:09Today, citizens flocked to the town hall square to celebrate the victory.
42:14A festive atmosphere prevailed all day, with free beer despite the drizzle.
42:20Jubilation and local patriotism at every pub counter.
42:24We are so incredibly happy today.
42:29This is the most wonderful Santa Claus we have ever experienced.
42:33I've been waiting for this day for a year.
42:39And so, for many, the year ended on a conciliatory note.
42:43It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas in 1975.
42:45With everything that goes with Christmas.
42:53The last die cutter in the Rhineland can hardly cope with the flood of orders.
42:58His customers have to accept long delivery times.
43:081975 slowly became history.
43:11And what do people wish for in the new year?
43:14That I feel the same as last year.
43:17Above all, that the economy is on the upswing again, right?
43:19And health. That's the most important thing, I think.
43:22That the super-rich are taxed more heavily.
43:25I would wish for peace in this world.
43:27Peace and health.
43:30What would 1976 bring?
43:33For me, it's mainly new diapers.
43:36But that's another story.
43:38Peace and health.
43:47Peace and health.
43:54Peace and stuff from the potom.
43:56Peace and health.