Magnificent images from the award-winning series Germany from Above place George Frideric Handel’s Water Music, composed in 1717 to entertain royal guests, in a new context. While visitors to King George I enjoyed trips on the Thames to the accompaniment of Water Music in the 18th century, this film invites viewers to marvel at Germany’s beautiful waterways, lakes and estuaries to the same sounds. The fascinating images of Germany from above are precisely edited to match the moods, rhythms and accents of the world-famous music.

Contemporary aerial images play with the baroque sounds of Vivaldi: following the seasons, traffic arteries pulsate, steam locomotives roll in time with the strings, and Baltic Sea ships follow the forte and piano of the Leipzig Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Michael Koehler.
From the Zugspitze to the Wadden Sea, we travel across the country together: springtime blooming landscapes can be experienced from a bird’s eye view, and in summer, the view glides over the North Sea with its beaches and islands together with daring skydivers. At similar speeds, the fingers of solo violinist Holger Engelhardt race across the strings of his violin.
In the second half of the year, the colorful splendor of the forests of the German low mountain ranges invites us to dream, before icy mountain worlds and cities begin to sparkle in winter.

George Friedrich Händel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks was commissioned by King George II of England and performed for the first time in London’s Green Park in 1749. After an calamitous premiere, a version with an expanded orchestra was performed a few weeks later. This version now also allows the opulent fireworks displays from parts of the Federal Republic of Germany to merge into a colorful interplay of emotions in the hearts of the audience.