That’s also great advice. Thank you.
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Hello Thomas,
I also like the series “Nico´s Weg” from Deutsche Welle, it starts with level A1 and goes up to level B1, with different exercises and glossar. It takes place in a WG (Wohngemeinschaft), so you can see another way to live in Germany.
Enjoy,
Brigitte
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I’d agree with starting with Keinohrhasen because as you will quickly learn there are limited actors in German movies and Til Schwieger is the god of German film. I would say to be careful on some of these to start because there are a few of these with a decent amount of slang (e.g. Herr Lehmann (Christian Ulmann another actor you will see in a lot)) takes place in Berlin and they are drunk the majority of the time. However, I would have to 100% agree with antomoor that anything remotely entertaining (even for children) will be difficult in a new language. You should just start watching things and it will help you. I’ve been doing it for a long time now and I don’t always understand everything, but I’ve picked up a lot and learned what people actually say. You will surprise yourself with how much you’ll understand through the visuals and tones.
That being said I would like to prove with this post that the time I do not spend on Chatterbug is spent watching random things in German on Netflix that might even not be something I’d normally watch. Furthermore, a lot of Germans don’t watch a lot of new German series or German media at all (which I understand, because if I wasn’t trying to learn German I’d be watching American stuff too ;)). Thus, I am going to highlight some of the German stuff in my Netflix history.
A lot of Germans laugh when I say I am a “Mord mit Aussicht” (series/sitcom/krimi) fan but that is the first show I started with and all of the characters who aren’t supposed to be rednecks speak very clear. They also don’t use some of the slang they might use in some of the other more modern / younger audience-oriented media. The series is basically a mix of a crime series and a comedy. It is very lighthearted and you can laugh about the stereotypes of Germans on the countryside. Plus, Frau Haas (die Kommissarin) is my first German character I fell in love with, however, I will save that for another post.
Türkisch für Anfänger (series/sitcom) – This is a chance for you to relive your teen angst in German. It’s about a family comprised of a Turkish father who had a past marriage and a German mother with a past marriage in Berlin. Of course with the clash of these two cultures in a melting pot such as Berlin hilarity can only ensue. As a 28-year-old man watching this alone I felt sort of silly, however, I enjoyed it.
Dogs of Berlin (series) - criminal series taking place in Berlin. There will be a lot of slang in this one and… “adult themes”
Bad Banks (series) - New series about banking in Frankfurt. A lot of the characters are not German, but speak German so it is pretty good high German.
Dark (series) - This is a dark “supernatural” mystery if you will about the disappearance of two children. The story surrounding this is also filled with very dark themes. I’m pretty sure this is internationally popular because I’ve heard friends talking in the states about it.
Sarah Wiener Eine Woche Unter (Docuseries) - This is about a famous Chef in Germany and she goes around to different random places (on a boat, in a camp for young athletes, a military base) and works as a Chef for a week.
Paradies Series (docufilm series) - Haha this is some ridiculously artsy dark stuff from Austria that I found on Netflix. Watch these at your own risk.
Honig im Kopf (movie) - Here is a heartwarming story about a fading grandfather and his granddaughter. Of course, Til Schweiger is there as well.
Blockbustaz (comedy series) - This one is about a Turkish rapper in Berlin. They get into a bunch of ridiculous situations living in a poor neighborhood. You will learn some pretty funny slang here.
How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) (comedy series) – Two bestfriend dweebs in highschool start selling drugs on the darkweb because of the initial intent to impress a girl. Naturally, they soon find themselves in over their heads.
Fack Ju Göhte 1 and 2 (Movies) – These are pretty entertaining, but they are definitely teen movies. The main character is played by Elyas M’Barek who is in the series mentioned above Türkisch für Anfänger and you will see in a lot of movies.
Rabiat (Docuseries) - This is pretty much the German version of Vice. Of course, since it is in German that means that the topics are even more ridiculous and dark.
Tannbach Schicksal eines Dorfes (Miniseries) ZDF production about a village that was split between the Americans and the Russians after WW2. I found this series extremely interesting (I like history) and well made.
Blaumacher (series) – this is basically a German series that is the same plot as the movie American Beauty. A man has a mid-life crisis and tries to break free of what seemed like a German suburban life-style if there is such a thing. I really liked this series.
Manta Manta (movie) – this is a pretty goofy throwback movie with a younger Til Schwieger racing cars and chasing women. This is the kind of thing I’d watch when I didn’t want to fully invest my time, but laugh at something.
Familie Braun (miniseries) – this is a critique of racism/nationalism and is a very quick series. I thought it was pretty interesting.
Vorsicht vor Leuten (comedy movie) – a guy who is down on his luck gets involved with a con artist and the real estate market in Spain.
Wo ist Fred (comedy movie) – Til poses as a mentally disabled person in order to get a signed basketball from a professional player for the son of his girlfriend. The con goes much too far and naturally a bunch of funny things happen along the way…
Pedal the World (documentary) – documentary about a German guy riding a bike around the world.
Wilkommen bei den Hartmanns (comedy movie) – This movie is about a family who invites a refugee to live with them. The cultural biases provide a stage for comedy and of course then we all learn as always that we are beautiful people on this earth together. I found this movie pretty funny.
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Great recommendations @kgeisl1 ! I knew you were the person to go to with this question haha
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Holy smokes! That’s some answer! Cheers kgeisl1!
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Netflix recently came out with a couple new German language series. I’ve only watch Biohackers so far, but it was fairly entertaining and I learned a lot of new scientific words.
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That one is amazing!!
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Hi guys!
For everyone living in Germany you can also check out the media libraries of ZDF and ARD (which are public channels). They produce interesting documentaries, tv series and also children programs that are easier to understand.
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At times, ARD and ZDF have certain restrictions for some countries. But most of the content is available everywhere.
Similar to that is also Deutsche Welle dw.com
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I recommend Türkisch für Anfänger. With German audio and German subtitles
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I´d totally recommend Wissen macht Ah! A total classic, I used to watch it all the time. Super interesting science stuff explained simply, with imagery and stuff.
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For all those who like to learn German with series I have a new tip. After the German production Dark, there is now a new dystopia from Germany on Netflix. Tribes of Europe.
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Thanks Jens! Hope you’ve been doing well. I’ve seen that scrolling through Netflix and been thinking about giving it a shot. I also need to come back here and add some more reviews of what I’ve watched since this post.
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I recommend watching TV and films you already know but dubbed German with GERMAN subtitles! It’s amazing for building vocabulary and getting a feel for “real” German.
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I’m currently watching Tatort and Charité on ARD. I also watched 4 Blocks on Amazon Prime and Der Tatortreiniger. I enjoyed all of these despite not understanding everything that was being said (far from it!) but at no point did it feel like homework!
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The ARD and ZDF Mediathek is also available for persons living outside of Germany. I am here in Argentina and I watch a lot of German series and films by mediathek.
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Hola Brigitte
So do we in Chile! 
My kids used to watch “Die Sendung mit der Maus” und “Wissen macht Ahh!”. They learned a lot about simple daily things!
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Hi there,
another suggestion - at least for younger learners - could te “Tschick”. A quite funny road movie about friendship.
When we moved to Mexico my children picked up a lot of Spanish by watching the same movies again and again. That might not work for adults though …
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Hi @Rliyo
here is the link I was talking about in our Live Lesson today about German movies 
Best,
Melanie
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Janina already mentioned it, but I would like emphasize on the movie „Good Bye Lenin!“. There sure will be some sentences that cannot be understood completely by a beginner, but the strong images of the movie speak for themselves most of the time. 
And it is such a nice movie about a historical event that still affects the German society nowadays! They create super interesting scenes of Berlin in the late 80s. It is a good movie for persons who want to get to know the German culture and society on a deeper level. 
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