Best German Movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime (2020)

1. 3 Türken & ein Baby

For something a bit lighter, try this cute comedy set in Frankfurt.

The lives of three dissatisfied Turkish-German brothers running a family bridal shop are turned upside down when one of them suddenly has to take care of his ex-girlfriend’s baby.

2. Systemsprenger (System Crasher)

Engrossing, tragic drama about 9-year-old Benni, who is falling through the cracks of Germany’s child protective services.

Traumatized, violent, and yearning for love,  she bonds with a gruff mentor as child-services workers struggle to find her a home.

Filmed in Hamburg, Lüneburger Heide, and Berlin.

3. Berlin Calling

Legendary electronic music DJ Ickarus returns to Berlin after an exhausting world tour. On the eve of his largest album release, the techno star overdoses at a gig and is admitted to a psychiatric clinic.

With the longest run of any German film, this authentic drama propelled star and real-life DJ Paul Kalkbrenner to instant fame.

4. Das Attentat: Sarajevo 1914 (Sarajevo)

This well-acted German-Austrian TV biopic depicts the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo in 1914. The murder outraged Austria-Hungary and ignited World War I, one of the deadliest conflicts in human history.

Leo Pfeffer, a young magistrate, investigates the assassination. Trying to do his job in a time of lawlessness, intrigues and betrayal, Leo struggles to maintain his integrity and save his love, Marija, and her father, a prominent Serbian merchant.

5. Alles ist gut (All is well)

^{No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer. Watch English-subtitled trailer on Netflix.}

East Berlin-born director Eva Trobisch’s debut film is a painful but compassionate portrait of female trauma.

A woman sexually assaulted by a family member of her new boss tries to move on with her life, but it continues to weigh on her body and mind.

1. Kästner und der kleine Dienstag (Kästner and Little Tuesday)

Germany, 1931. The children’s story “Emil and the Detectives” is being filmed, which will make its author Erich Kästner world famous. An unusual friendship begins between the childless author and fatherless Hans, the 9-year-old playing the character Little Tuesday.

Their friendship is put to the ultimate test in the Third Reich when Kästner’s books are banned and little Hans becomes a Hitler Youth. Based on a true story.

2. Bornholmer Straße (Open the Wall)

A comic look at the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, based on the true stories of the German border guards at the checkpoint.

3. Kleine große Stimme (Little Big Voice)

Touching German-Austrian TV drama that follows ten-year-old Benedikt, the mixed-race son of a US soldier during the Allied occupation.

Benedikt lives as an unloved orphan with his grandparents in the Austrian countryside. He dreams of joining the Vienna Boys Choir because they are planning an American tour. Benedikt hopes to find his long-lost father in the US. On his courageous journey, he faces rejection and racism.

4. Die göttliche Ordnung (The Divine Order)

This inspiring Swiss comedy-drama tells the story of a young housewife from a quiet village who in 1971 organizes the women of her town for the right to vote.

Filmed in the picturesque eastern Swiss cantons of Appenzell and St. Gallen. In Swiss German with English subtitles.

5. In den Gängen (In The Aisles)

Affecting and bittersweet glimpse into the shared connections of a motley group of workers at a big box store.

When the reclusive Christian starts working the night shift at a warehouse supermarket, he becomes enamored by his charming but mysterious coworker Marion. But she has secrets of her own, and when Marion suddenly takes sick leave Christian is tempted to fall into habits from his dark past.

6. Willkommen bei den Hartmanns (Welcome to Germany)

Feel-good German comedy set in Munich. When a wealthy, self-absorbed family takes in a refugee from Nigeria, their insular world is turned upside down.

7. Schweigeminute (A Minute’s Silence)

^{No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer}

This poignant love story takes place in a Baltic fishing village, where the local high school holds a memorial in honour of Stella Petersen, the school’s young English teacher. For one of her students Stella was, however, more than just a teacher; she was his first love.

From 18-year-old Christian’s point of view we relive a magical summer affair between two young people that ends abruptly and tragically.

An adaptation of the bestselling novel by Siegfried Lenz.

8. Bis Gleich (Till Then)

Set against the backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying Berlin, this sweet 20-minute short tells the story of Marta and Albert. These two elderly neighbors share an unspoken connection that deepens when they face the inevitable together.

There’s not much spoken dialogue. However, this touching film is worth a watch for its scenes of Berlin and insights into German culture, such as the disappearing custom of elderly Fensterrentner spending their days observing street life from comfortably cushioned windowsills.