Product Description

Two of Germany’s most scenic and historic regions unfold from a bird’s eye view

Experience the fairy tale beauty, natural wonders, and rich history of southern Germany. Shot in high definition from a helicopter-mounted camera, each tour is accompanied by a poetic narrative and evocative soundtrack of regional music, including works by native sons Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Wagner, and Johann Strauss.

Visions of Germany: Bavaria—Take a journey filled with royal intrigue, Alpine majesty, and charming villages where the past merges with the present. See the Mediterranean flair of the Bodensee, the "German Riviera"; the old walled city of Rothenburg; King Ludwig’s fanciful castles; snow-covered mountain resort towns; and more.

Visions of Germany: Along the Rhine—One of the world’s great rivers, the Rhine provides the perfect route to explore southwestern Germany, from Lake Constance to Cologne, with side trips to the Black Forest of legend and lore, the rich wine region, historic Bonn, the romantic string of castles like beads on a necklace at Koblenz, Heidelberg, and more.

Includes bonus footage not seen on public television.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37477 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-01-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 156 minutes

Amazon.com
Utilizing aerial shots and a soundtrack that includes folktunes as well as classical masterpieces by Beethoven, Wagner, and Strauss, Visions of Germany is a feast for the eyes and ears. Broken up onto two discs, one 79-minute segment tackles the bucolic sections of Germany along the Rhine, while the other (clocking in at 77 minutes) showcases Bavaria and southeastern Germany. The angles caught by the helicopter-mounted camera are impressive, though at times it would be nice to catch a street-level shot or two to shake things up. From the storybook-esque castles to the pristine gardens that rival any in England or Japan, the imagery in this travel documentary is stunning, lush, and often times breathtaking. Where the set fails is in the narration. While soft and calm, the speaker's voice is so devoid of any sort of expression that viewers may be better served watching the footage with the sound turned off. --Jae-Ha Kim

DVDTalk.com, January 30, 2007
RECOMMENDED - Superb documentary that offers alot of information about various parts of Germany while providing stunning photography of the countryside.

Brattleboro Reformer, February 1, 2007
Provides some breathtaking shots of dense woods, towns, castles, and some of the most spectacular gardens this side of Eden.

Customer Reviews

Very nice aerial journey along the Rhine and Danube
I purchased this video set not really knowing the details of what it contained, but having travelled extensively through Germany by bicycle in the 1980s I was hoping to rekindle some memories. I was not disappointed.

This DVD set takes the viewer on a helicopter tour along the Rhine north from the Swiss border to around Cologne, then generally along the Danube, again from the Bodensee (Lake Constance) until it flows into Austria. Since these areas were the focus of my first German cycling trip I was familiar with many of the sights along the way.

The scenery is beautiful and the camerawork is great. Shot and mastered in high-definition, then transferred in standard format, the video plays on a standard DVD player but retains very good image quality for those of us who own up-converting DVD players. I own a 61" TV and although the image is not as good as a high definition broadcast it is by no means bad, and on a smaller TV the difference in image quality will be negligible.

There are just a few minor criticisms: firstly, the DVDs don't cover some beautiful parts of Germany - conspicuously absent are the beautiful towns of Regensburg and Nurnberg, which I would have thought would have made it into the Danube show. Also, Bremen, Kassel and parts of North Germany are not covered. Perhaps these towns will make it into an upcoming set (the former East Germany, including Berlin, is - obviously - also not covered). Secondly, the narrator's voice is a little off-putting, being annoyingly melodious and almost soporific. But maybe this is just my own preference. Finally, a very minor annoyance is that the Rhine video's subtitles are often misspelled and occasionally German and English spellings are mixed in the same caption - anyway, that's hardly worth mentioning.

Highlights of the programs were Burg Eltz (a few kilometers from the Rhine along the Mosel) and Neuschwanstein - I'm a sucker for fairytale castles.

All-in-all the video is excellent. The sound is great, with classical and folk music being mixed together almost seamlessly. Occasionally I wanted to see some shots inside the towns from the ground, but I think that including that level of detail would have forced the producers to make the video set at least twice its length - not that I would complain, but it might be beyond the scope of what the producers were aiming for.

I can't wait to see another set of DVDs in this series - I hope many more are forthcoming. Having lived in Austria for a few years I'm hoping the producers of this show might be working on an Austrian DVD. I'd also like to see Italy given the same treatment (currently there's only a 1.33:1 version available) and perhaps France and Spain.

Flying With The Valkyrie ~ A German Adventure
Much like most of you out there I first became acquainted with the `Vision Series' of aerial travelogue features on PBS television. Whenever I came upon one while channel surfing I'd immediately put the remote down and sit back and relax. It wasn't long before I decided these programs were something I'd never tire of watching and needed to be added to my private DVD collection.

Containing two program on two DVD discs, `Visions of Germany' is the fifth high altitude tour in the series following `Visions of ... Greece / Italy / England and France'. As with the previous four this '07 release whisks the audience away far above the maddening crowd to view Germany in all its incredible architectural and agricultural glory. Add to the visuals an robust German soundtrack and informative narration and your ready for departure!

Excellent
I first saw (and made a VHS tape of) this great traveloge during a local PBS pledge drive a couple of years ago.
Obviously, my original VHS tape quality cannot compare with this DVD version.
The photography is fantastic, and the aerial "bird's eye" view adds a whole new perspective to the many familiar sites that many of us have seen before either in person or through photos.
After viewing it I get the feeling that I should be raising my liter stein and saying, "ein prosit der gemutlichkeit."