“Eldorado KaDeWe – Now is our time”: Who plays the leading roles in the unusual miniseries?

The series “Eldorado KaDeWe” spares no more glamor than violence and sex scenes. Those are the four main characters.

First World War, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression and the rise of the National Socialists – against this background, “Eldorado KaDeWe – Now is our time” tells the story of four young people in search of their personal happiness, love, freedom and self-fulfillment. This six-part series does not skimp on glamor, nor on violence and sex scenes. The famous luxury department store “Kaufhaus des Westens”, or “KaDeWe” for short, in Berlin in the 1920s serves as the backdrop. Thanks to the unusual image design, director Julia von Heinz (45, “Hanna’s journey”) achieved a topicality that many viewers might at first seem like a glitch.

All six parts of the historical miniseries “Eldorado KaDeWe – Now is our time” will be shown on December 27th from 8:15 pm on the Erste.

This is what “Eldorado KaDeWe – Now is our time” is about

Berlin in the Weimar Republic: a pulsating metropolis of extremes and upheavals. The traditional “Kaufhaus des Westens” is also facing challenges. Four young people want to promote the urgently needed renewal: the courageous junior boss Harry Jandorf (Joel Basman, 31), his feminist sister Fritzi Jandorf (Lia von Blarer, 29), the reliable “KaDeWe” accountant Georg (Damian Thüne, 25) and the young Hedi (Valerie Stoll, born 1999), who advanced from a fashion saleswoman with a simple background to the face of the luxury department store.

An oath, taken after a dissolute night, unites the four: They want to seek their own happiness in life – in an era of escalating contrasts. National Socialist and anti-Semitic forces mobilize against the emergence of social utopias, a new image of women and same-sex love.

When Fritzi falls in love with Hedi, the two women experience new freedoms, but they also come up against limits: Fritzi’s upper-class mother wants to dissuade her daughter from her homosexuality and Hedi believes she has to marry in order to earn a future income for herself and her younger sister Mücke ( Neele Buchholz, born 1991). For junior boss Harry the road to success as the future “KaDeWe” heir seems already mapped out, but his drug excess and hubris make him a risk factor for the department store. With the rise of the National Socialists, the Jewish Jandorf family was in danger of losing everything anyway …

The occupation

Valerie Stoll as Hedi

Hedi is a saleswoman in the textile department of the “KaDeWes”. Her father is a cab driver and her younger sister Mücke has Down syndrome. The petty-bourgeois family is threatened with decline. Marrying the “KaDeWe” accountant Rüdiger Hartmann (Tonio Schneider, 30) seems to be the only solution. But Hedi wants more out of life: she is carefree, calculating in a charming way and takes everything with her in terms of pleasure – until she falls seriously in love with Fritzi.

Hedi is played by Valerie Stoll from Berlin, who spent her childhood in Spain. At the age of twelve, according to the agency, she returned to Germany with her mother, where she attended a Waldorf school until she graduated from high school. In 2018 Stoll was seen in several productions: in the tragic comedy “We love life” by Sherry Hormann (61), in the mystery thriller “Where no shadow falls” and in the miniseries “Parfum”. This year five productions have been published with her – the highlight of which is certainly “KaDeWe”.

Lia von Blarer as Fritzi

Fritzi is the daughter of the founder and owner of the department store, Adolf Jandorf (Jörg Pose, 62). She becomes the first woman in a management position in her brother’s advertising department, albeit unpaid. Fritzi feels drawn to women and celebrates the new lesbian subculture. Her mother Cordula Jandorf (Victoria Trauttmansdorff, 61) watches her daughter’s tendencies with concern. When Fritzi met Hedi, it was love at first sight, albeit a painful one, that had to survive a breakup.

Actress Lia von Blarer slipped into the role of Fritzi Jandorf. After graduating from high school in Berlin, the Swiss-born artist studied at the Rostock University of Music and Theater. In 2016 and 2017, according to the agency, she was awarded the Migros Culture Percentage Study and Promotion Prize. She completed her studies with an Erasmus semester at the “L’École supérieure d’art dramatique de Paris”, France. The first strip listed in her filmography is the film adaptation of the novel “Feuchtgebiete” (2013).

Joel Basman as Harry

Harry Jandorf is Fritzi’s older brother and the only son – thus also: heir to the Jandorf empire. He returns highly decorated but traumatized from the First World War and suppresses his depression through an excessive lifestyle. Only occasionally does he find redemption in drugs and a sadomasochistic relationship with the brothel owner Erica (Christine Grant, 22). The conflict with his father, whose expectations he does not live up to, drives Harry to increasingly daring business maneuvers.

The Swiss Joel Basman is the most famous actor of the four. He has already received numerous awards, including the German Film Prize for his supporting role in “We are young. We are strong.” (2014). His filmography also includes numerous international titles: George Clooney’s (60) “Monuments Men – Unusual Heroes” (2014) or the series “Homeland” (2015). In “Papillon (2017) he was seen with the later Oscar winner Rami Malek (40). His new movie” The King’s Man: The Beginning “opens in cinemas on January 6th.

Damian Thüne as Georg

Georg comes from difficult circumstances and, with a lot of diligence, made it to the directorate of the department store in a very short time. He has an almost uncanny sense of numbers, his accounting system ensures the department store high credit. It quickly turns out, however, that Harry and Georg complement each other and depend on each other when it comes to leading the glamorous department store through troubled times. But in the end it is the Nazis who will advance Georg’s career in an unexpected way.

Georg is played by the Thuringian actor Damian Thüne. He had his first small TV role in the television biography “Käthe Kruse” (2015). He played his first role in a movie in the multi-award-winning literary film “Youth without God” (2017). He was also part of the much acclaimed Bauhaus series “Die Neue Zeit” (2019). In 2020 he was seen in the episode “Großstadtrevier: Small Sharks, Fat Fish” alongside the late series favorite Jan Fedder (1955-2019).

Documentary “Myth of KaDeWe – The Department Store of the West”

Following the six episodes, the 30-minute documentary “KaDeWe Myth – The Department Store of the West” will be broadcast from 1:10 am. This film can also be found in the media library.

The “Kaufhaus des Westens” founded and opened by Adolf Jandorf (1870-1932) in 1907 became a myth early on. It is said that the Berlin actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) – who would have celebrated her 120th birthday on December 27th – only bought her gloves and skin creams here. The Soviet revolutionary poet Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930) selected silk stockings and lingerie for his Moscow lover during his visit to Berlin, and Hollywood director Billy Wilder (1906-2002) is said to have been a regular customer of the cigar maker …

After the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag building, the luxury department store is the most visited place in Berlin.

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