Original subtitles

(mysterious theme music)

NARRATOR: At a height of 1,917 metres,

Mount Washington is a prohibited area.

Whoever wants to enter has to hold a special permit,

like associate professor Andreas Pfitsch

and his research team from the University of Bochum, Germany.

NARRATOR: It's minus 20 degrees Celsius at the base station.

Further up it's even colder.

A 13 kilometre ride on a snow cat are awaiting the students.

An ascent with the heavy gear would be too dangerous.

They haven't reached their destination yet,

but even here, the wind howls across the plain

at 120 km/h, hurricane force.

The research station is right at the top.

The team wants to look the hurricane in the eye for a whole week.

Mount Washington's special geographical location

makes it the windiest place on Earth.

It lies at the centre of three storm tracks.

That's why it's always windy.

The bare white mountain ridge

pushes the layers of air together causing a bottleneck.

The wind masses have to flow through it.

The so called Venturi effect.

120 days of storm per year!

At top speeds of up to 240 km/h.

To demonstrate the effects the extreme winds have,

the researchers carry out an experiment.

Wrapped in warm clothes,

five students meet a rather unusual challenge.

They intend to have breakfast at the windiest place in the world.

Today's wind speed: just 50 km/h!

As soon as the milk touches the students' clothes, it freezes over.

It's colder than minus 20 degrees Celsius.

The windchill factor turns it into minus 40.

On April 12 1934,

researchers measured the fastest wind of all times here:

231 miles per hour,

which equates a speed of 372 km/h!

Our journey continues on to a mysterious

and deserted place in Germany.

Another mystery lies in Peenemunde,

on a German island in the Baltic Sea, called Usedom.

This ruin was top secret 73 years ago.

This is where the Nazis prepared a new dimension of warfare,

a magic weapon in the war against the Allies.

Today, this area is strictly off limits.

Nevertheless photos of the inside circulate on the internet.

Fascinating pictures, which these two women have taken a shine to.

Anett and Theresa had to wait for three months for their permit.

Today they are finally allowed to do a photo shoot on the premises.

But the adventure is not without danger.

That's why this guide will accompany them.

Plus, they have to wear helmets.

NARRATOR: In spite of the dangers,

the women are looking forward to seeing this forgotten place.

NARRATOR: First of all, Philipp Aumann shows his guests

the way into the building.

Impressed, Anett and Theresa examine the huge ruin.

How old might the building be?

Why is it so large?

When was it deserted?

NARRATOR: Only a few details remind us of what took place here

75 years ago.

There are relics of train tracks on the floor.

Does that mean an actual train

passed through this industrial cathedral?

What kind of machines were attached to these concrete bases?

One thing is for sure, the war has left its mark here.

Anett and Theresa start preparing for their photo shoot.

Soon, a model, who they want to shoot

in front of this unique setting, will be arriving.

Model Paola is already wearing her costume for the shoot.

She is here for the first time as well

and marvels at how spooky this place looks.

It is in fact the location of the infamous

Army Research Centre of the Nazis.

This is the largest building still intact.

In front of it, a rocket case.

This is where the first large rocket of the world was developed,

the much trumpeted "silver bullet,"

which was supposed to help achieve the Endsieg, ultimate victory,

at a time when Germany and its regime were lying in ruins.

NARRATOR: The effort was in fact gigantic.

The Nazis invested half a billion Reichsmark

in the build-up of the Army Research Centre

and the developing of the rocket.

The famous engineer, Wernher von Braun, and his team

needed many, many launching attempts

to finally turn the first large-scale rocket of the world

into a nightmare for thousands of innocent civilians.

In 1942, the engineers celebrated their breakthrough.

The V2 reached almost five times the speed of sound

and flew as far as 84 kilometres.

The rocket was fuelled by an explosive mixture:

alcohol and liquid oxygen.

NARRATOR: For these gigantic amounts,

they needed appropriately huge factories.

The construction of the factory building took more than 2 years.

The facility was finally put into operation in August 1942.

More than 70 years later,

at this once so threatening place, the photoshoot is about to begin.

At the exact same spot where Anett is now staging her model,

once stood five huge power units.

We show the present and the past in one picture.

An air separation plant produced the fuel for the rocket.

The air was compressed under extreme pressure

and at the same time cooled down until it liquified

and the oxygen could be separated from the nitrogen.

The entire building was filled with machines, pressure pipes and tanks.

15 tons of oxygen were produced every day.

(steam engine whistles)

NARRATOR: In fact, the plant was so huge

it had room for a whole steam train

pulling several pressure tank wagons.

The liquid oxygen was loaded onto the trains and then transported

to the place where the rockets were being fuelled.

(dramatic music)

NARRATOR: Five tons of liquid oxygen filled the tank of such a rocket.

The V2 was 14 metres high.

With a filled up tank, it weighed almost 13 tons.

Its power plant burned the incredible amount

of 125 litres of fuel per second.

As a comparison, a jumbo jet burns less than three litres of kerosene.

NARRATOR: During the last two years of the war,

the Nazis fired more than 3,000 V2 rockets

at England, France and Belgium.

(sinister music)

Around 8,000 people were killed.

Even more people died during the production process of the V2.

Historians estimate that up to 20,000 forced labourers died.

NARRATOR: Today, the Historic Technical Museum

is just a few hundred metres away from the oxygen plant.

The large building is the former power plant

in which the enormous amounts of current

for the production of oxygen were produced.

The story of what happened after World War 2 is also told here.

In the looming cold war, the Americans had no qualms

about employing the German scientists.

In the USA, the Nazi engineers

were allowed to continue working unmolested.

And the Soviet Union also built their own rocket arsenal

on the basis of the captured V2 technology.

(upbeat music)

NARRATOR: Back to the photo shoot in the oxygen plant.

Anett is happy with the results,

even though the whole thing feels awkward

considering the history of this place.

NARRATOR: What will happen in the future?

Historians would like to preserve this place in its present state,

as a shattered monument which visitors may not enter,

but take a look at.

So far, there is not enough money to preserve the ruin.

But the oxygen plant could soon turn into a valuable memorial

of the Nazi's megalomania.

Our next mysterious place is situated right here, in Bangladesh.

A meadow strewn with thousands of vehicles,

so-called bicycle rickshaws.

What's peculiar is that this place is right in the middle

of a residential area.

Our investigations have revealed

that the bicycle rickshaw graveyard is in Bangladesh.

Normally, rickshaws are the number one means of transportation here.

Has this suddenly changed? And if so, why?

In Bangladesh there are 1,000 inhabitants per square kilometre.

The capital, Dhaka, has 14 million inhabitants.

Traffic is correspondingly chaotic.

Gigantic columns of cars,

but also a great many bicycle rickshaws.

The closer we get to the city centre, the more we encounter.

We get out of the car at a popular crossing.

Do the inhabitants recognise the meaning of this picture?

We ask our way around.

NARRATOR: Maybe a traffic policeman is able to help?

They are all over the place.

And they also regularly stop rickshaw riders.

Some vehicles are even immobilised.

Were they driving too fast?

Maybe here we can find out more about it.

- Hello. Can you show me something. Can you tell me what this is?

NARRATOR: We are kindly invited to the office

and we suspect working conditions for policemen

are very different here.

The government is chronically broke.

Ahmed Ripan has been a traffic policeman for 10 years.

He can be of assistance.

NARRATOR: With the company vehicle.

And this is what a police motorcycle looks like in Bangladesh.

The state pays Ahmed the equivalent of 100 Euros a month,

an average income which is just about enough to survive.

Arrival at the neighbouring district.

An entrance road to a housing area.

And in fact, here they are lying around!

NARRATOR: Most of the rickshaws look like they were fully functional.

There must be tens of thousands of them.

Piles of rickshaws, simply ditched in the courtyard.

It's impossible to tell if anyone is still going to make use of them.

Right in the middle, children playing.

This used to be their backyard playground

until it was turned into a rickshaw graveyard.

Why do the police immobilise such a vast amount of rickshaws?

We are invited to accompany Ahmed on his next police operation.

A year ago, the rickshaws were banned

from the much frequented main roads.

Some have to pay a fine and just continue on afterwards.

But some are turned upside down. Why?

NARRATOR: Which is in fact very tricky.

More and more accidents are occurring

between motorised vehicles and rickshaws.

Every day, 2,000 new cars are registered in Dhaka.

In order for them to be able to move freely,

the rickshaws are banned to the side streets.

There they jam the roads.

At present, there are about 400,000 rickshaws on the move in Dhaka.

But only 90,000 of them hold a license.

But it's the easiest way to find work in the city.

We accompany Shiraj Miah.

He's been holding a license for many years.

NARRATOR: And since thousands of illegal rickshaws

are competing as well, prices have even gone down.

Shiraj's most important tool: his bell.

The locals don't use the bell to express their anger,

but to draw the other road users' attention to themselves.

But hardly anyone looks in their rear mirror here.

NARRATOR: Shiraj has to cope with the dangers of his job, every day.

NARRATOR: A high risk for a minimal wage.

On top of that continuous trouble with the police,

if he sometimes does use a banned road.

The first customer of today: 50 cents.

Then, two ladies: 70 cents.

Shiraj transports people around town for 10 hours a day.

His daily wage, not even 3 Euros.

Life in the capital is too expensive for a rickshaw rider.

That's why Shiraj and his wife live on the other side of the river.

Ten years ago, this was all fields and villages.

Now, you find lots of illegal slums.

But the government can't simply pull them down.

There are simply too many people seeking their fortune here.

(rickshaw bell rings)

NARRATOR: This is Shiraj's home,

a typical backyard slum.

10 rickshaw families live here . 50 people in total.

They cook outside. Life in the tightest of spaces.

Buli Miah, his wife, has prepared dinner for him.

NARRATOR: The 6-square-metre hut is only for rent.

NARRATOR: Shiraj sweetens his tough everyday life by chewing betel nut.

Minced betel nut is the everyday drug number one in Bangladesh.

It cheers you up. Too bad it's bad for your teeth

and is highly addictive.

NARRATOR: Shiraj also has to pay for his rickshaw.

It's not his, but he hires it from a lessor,

to whom he has to give about a third of his earnings on an average.

For this, Shiraj receives a vehicle with a bicycle drive,

fossil technical equipment and a colourfully ornated guest area.

The bicycle rickshaw was invented by a British priest.

It hasn't changed appearance since then.

Bishu Sarwar is Shiraj's elder cousin.

He is over 70 and has been riding rickshaws in Dhaka for 50 years.

He experienced how the work became harder and harder.

NARRATOR: The rickshaw riders of Dhaka.

They are facing dire straits,

and it looks like there is little hope for improvement.

The poor rural population migrate to the city in growing numbers.

The amount of illegal rickshaws increases faster and faster.

And the police is losing more and more control of the situation.

There isn't much space left on theformerplayground

for additional rickshaws.

NARRATOR: That's the end of this rather sad story

about this mysterious place.

Our destination is the city of Nowa Sol.

On our journey, suddenly this appears over the tree tops...

A gigantic statue of the Polish pope, John Paul.

It was built in the city of Nowa Sol.

Originally we didn't intend to come here, to this gigantic pope.

It is standing in a pilgrimage city called Czestochowa

It's quite a long detour, but since we're here anyway,

we may as well stop to look at it.

Who in Nowa Sol built this spectacular statue?

The statue of the pope is situated in an amusement park.

A staff member tells us it's the tallest in the world,

just short of 14 metres and completely hollow.

90 % of the Polish people are Catholic and deeply religious.

They adore their late pope and are happy about his canonization.

The statue was even officially blessed after it's erection in 2013.

And the employee is able to tell us who in Nowa Sol made it.

Back on the road, we can hardly believe our eyes.

Another giant statue!

This time, it's the highest Jesus in the world.

With 36 metres, it's even higher

than the famous one in Rio de Janeiro.

On site, we are told that the priest who had it built,

lies buried at the foot of the hill.

But the giant Jesus is not made of plastic.

It's made of cement and wasn't made in Nowa Sol.

But one thing is for certain,

the Polish have a knack for gigantic statues!

Finally, we're in Nowa Sol!

We have an appointment with the production manager of the plant,

but we've lost our way once more

and end up on this scary graveyard for figures.

(dog barks)

The watch dogs seem to be quite alive, though.

Let's get out of here!

After a few phone calls, it finally works out,

This is Michal, the production manager of the company

who built the statue of the pope.

But before we look at the production,

Michal wants to show us Nowa Sol's landmark,

the largest garden gnome statue in the world!

We can hardly believe it.

It's in the Guinness Book of Records and a tourist magnet.

The giant gnomes are standing in an amusement park full of figures.

The entrance is free.

But how has Nowa Sol become the capital of statues?

NARRATOR: Made it!

We finally arrive at the company which makes these figures!

Their portfolio covers a total of a thousand different models.

In this room, new figures are in the making,

a total of 25,000 a year.

This employee is grinding giant Christmas tree balls

as decoration for department stores.

This tea pot is for a large manufacturer of ceramics.

And this ice-cream cone will soon be standing

in front of a German coffee shop.

The still hornless rhino is destined for an English amusement park.

All of these cows go to France as part of a worldwide art project.

NARRATOR: Everything started with these: garden gnomes.

The company still has some larger models on offer.

But meanwhile, the garden gnomes are being produced

for far lesser money in the Philippines.

The Polish are unable to compete with their dumping prices.

NARRATOR: A very individual hotdog figure is in the making here.

The first production step is a drawing.

Because each customer wants to have his figure a little bit different.

After that, a first clay draft is modelled.

That sometimes takes weeks of handcraft.

It is scanned in order to create a 3D model.

That's necessary to later be able to produce the figure

in every possible size

This machine costing 250,000 Euros

produces several models made of Styrofoam or wood in varying sizes.

These prototypes also serve as patterns for the casting moulds.

The actual figures are made in old-fashioned handcraft.

These employees are in the process of mixing resin.

With this, they also fill in the moulds

and spread the pulp evenly.

This has to be done quickly since the sticky resin

dries within minutes.

The glass fibre mats go on top,

saturated in a mix of synthetic resin and lime powder,

which makes the surface nice and smooth.

That, too, must be done quickly.

That's why several men work on it simultaneously.

This production step is called laminating.

This is how glass fibre reinforced plastic,

colloquially called fibre glass, is produced.

It is weather-proof and resistant.

After all, the figures are made for being outside.

By the way, boats are made in exactly the same way.

Next, the moldings are put together.

Now it becomes clear that the figures will be hollow,

and for that reason, relatively light.

But it still doesn't look like a hotdog,

more like the egg of an alien.

After half an hour, the men open the structure

and the figure gradually becomes apparent.

The men wear gloves because the fibre glass is still very hot,

a chemical reaction of the plastic ingredients.

Our hotdog man is born!

The structures are not thrown away, but safely kept for future figures.

Our freshly shaped hotdog man

still has protruding resin remains at the joints.

After it has cooled off,

an employee removes those and neatly grinds them down.

Now, colour comes into play! The first step is the spraying.

Yet another employee is responsible for the precision work.

Lips, eyes, tongue, the 50 stars of the US flag,

and many small details. Everything hand painted!

That takes several hours.

We didn't expect such an effort. Our cameraman has to sit down.

At some point, everything fits into place.

10 people have worked for several weeks on this figure.

The owner of the German snack bar

will pay just about 400 Euros per piece.

Soon, our hotdog man will stimulate people's appetite.

And now we know the secret of our little Polish village.

Our next mysterious place leads us to China.

This is how we normally see China:

huge housing blocks with tiny apartments.

But we are looking for a village.

Allegedly, the richest village in the world!

After a two-hour trip we have arrived.

And even from far away, the village looks quite unusual.

The entrance to the village looks special, too.

The writing on the golden arch reads:

"Huaxi, the first village under the sky.

The richest and best Chinese village."

What does that mean? We are curious.

Apparently we are not the only ones.

Near the entrance, we spot a group of tourists.

We join them to get a first impression.

Four Euros for a ticket and we're on board.

The richest village in China is a true tourist magnet.

Two and a half million visitors come here every year

and marvel at Huaxi's prosperity.

NARRATOR: In fact, everything looks the same from the outside.

But for now, we are not allowed to step outside and take a closer look.

The Chinese tourists don't mind, they are delighted.

NARRATOR: Until 40 years ago, Huaxi was an ordinary village.

But then, industrialisation began,

people became incredibly rich and built hundreds of mansions.

The Chinese government considered this a fine example

and declared Huaxi to be a role model for all,

a communist model village.

Communism means everyone works for everyone else.

All are equal, and that's why everyone feels fine.

After three hours, the tour ends on the city tower.

From up here, we enjoy a bizarre view,

more than 200 mansions, all exactly alike.

But what do the houses look like from the inside?

We encounter the first obstacle.

China's Communist Party keeps the model village like a state treasure.

It takes endless discussions to convince the keepers

to grant us permission to travel to the village centre.

And they keep following us around.

Huaxi's residential area.

Every day between 8 AM and 5 PM,

the inhabitants have to listen to propaganda

blaring from loudspeakers.

(tune plays on loudspeakers)

Huaxi, seemingly a closely guarded secret

we want to discover step by step.

How do people live here?

The Chinese government sends us to visit an especially selected family.

They live at the edge of the village

in Huaxi's brand new luxury housing area.

Built for the best and most hard-working inhabitants of all.

Our host: the Dschings.

Like everyone else in Huaxi, they own 4 TVs and luxury equipment.

The amount of money each single family in Huaxi

has at their disposal: around one million Yuan,

a bit more than 100,000 Euros.

By the way, in the communist model village,

everything is owned by the village community.

Which means, if you leave Huaxi, you lose it all.

The cars. The house. The money.

The inhabitant's abundance exists only on paper.

Hua Dsching shares the 600 square metre mansion with her daughter

and her son-in-law, Long Dsching.

NARRATOR: Long Dsching works as a chief engineer

in one of the 80 factories at the edge of the village.

All the inhabitants of Huaxi

have top office jobs in senior management.

Two bathrooms on each floor are absolutely normal

for these luxury mansions.

Long Dsching tells us that everyone in Huaxi works 7 days a week.

Mostly in the steel, tobacco, and textile industry.

So, who works on the assembly line?

Long Dsching's response:

cheap contract workers from all over China.

NARRATOR: The flip side of the coin,

there are 50,000 workers living on the edge of the village.

They slave away at the assembly line

and get a nice view of the abundance on the other side.

The communist party allows us to visit the factories.

To be more precise, a textile factory especially selected for us.

This is where carpets and synthetic fibres are produced.

Every factory worker works 365 days a year.

And earns about 200 Euros a month.

More than the average Chinese,

but considerably less than the inhabitants of Huaxi.

NARRATOR: Allegedly, every hard-working worker

is given permission to live in Huaxi after many years of work.

NARRATOR: Everyone's working, but only a chosen few are rich.

That doesn't seem to be the perfect communism.

We want to know who is responsible for all of this.

So, we apply for an audience with village-chief Wu Xien.

NARRATOR: So, that's why Huaxi builds more and more

tourist attractions,

Aa exact copy of the Parisian triumphal arch,

and of Beijing's Forbidden City,

ten kilometres of the Chinese Wall,

and a replica of Sydney's Opera House.

Huaxi's latest symbol: A gigantic luxury hotel.

Here, we experience a touch of Dubai.

The tower was completed right on time

for the 50th anniversary of Huaxi.

The hotel is 328 meters tall,

the same height as the tallest skyscraper in Beijing.

(dramatic instrumental music)

All of this was built thanks to fast industrialisation.

And with the help of the contract workers from out of town.

The communist model village Huaxi,

chosen by the Chinese government to be the first village under the sky.

To be the best village in all of China.

Subtitles by Sky Access Services