Northrhein Westfalia at 75: Unser Bundesland - A History

In the fourth part of the series "Our State", WDR and BROADVIEW TV take a look at NRW in the 1980s. In probably no decade has North Rhine-Westphalia been so battered as in this one: Heavy industry takes its toll, environmental disasters in the form of toxic rivers or smog clouds cast gloomy shadows over the state. At the same time, heavy industry is finally going under. The Rheinhausen rolling mill, for example, is forced to close. But the state becomes a stronghold of pop and rock music, new cultural venues spring up - harbingers of a new North Rhine-Westphalia. Johannes Rau promises "We in NRW" - and gives the state a soul. Nena from Hagen becomes a world star. In general, the small town at the gateway to the Sauerland region, with the Humpe sisters and Extrabreit, shapes the soundtrack of our state far beyond the 1980s. Just like Herbert Grönemeyer with his hymn to Bochum, the Düsseldorf-based Toten Hosen and Cologne-based BAP. What a decade! Hundreds of thousands gather in Bonn to protest against rearmament. Citizens understand that "our country" needs a better environmental policy. In Wuppertal, Ursula Kraus is elected the first female Green mayor. From a party that had just been founded. Rheinhausen becomes synonymous with protest; for months, the miners from Duisburg strike to keep their steel mill open, blocking bridges and highways. The country stands behind them, but they are not successful in the long term. Large sections of the youth, however, are losing their taste for politics. Poppers, punks, skins or ecos - never has a generation been as fragmented as this one. In Cologne, the Museum Ludwig is built and creates another crowd puller right next to the cathedral: The museum houses one of the world's most impressive Pop Art collections and not only forms an exciting counterweight to the historic cathedral, but also sets the direction for NRW. The state must become more modern, must reinvent itself. The poisoned Rhine, which flows under the Hohenzollern Bridge right by the cathedral and Museum Ludwig, is a reminder of this. The end of the decade makes it clear that nothing will be the same after the 1980s: While the traditional Henrichshütte steel mill is closed, the state parliament moves into a new building. It is glassy and transparent, seeming to symbolize the need for a new openness in times of upheaval. In Berlin, the Wall is falling, Germany is changing. And like the entire country, NRW will have to face new challenges and reinvent itself completely in the coming decade. Between environmental sins and times of upheaval, great stories and small anecdotes unfold - an exciting journey through time that is just a small part of the diverse history of North Rhine-Westphalia brought to life by the series "Unser Land".