On the 30th of September 1989, from the balcony of the German Embassy in the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague,  Hans-Dietrich Genscher announced that all the refugees from East Germany who had gathered here - several thousand of them - would be allowed to travel on to West Germany. The rest of his words were drowned in cheers.
With this, the most moving moment of his life and the high point of his career, Mr. Bundesrepublik initiated the incredible chain of events which ended with the reunification of Germany. This film demonstrates that Genscher’ name is associated not only with the great political career. When he left the German cabinet in 1992 he had been a minister for 23 years: four years as Minister of the Interior and 18 years as Foreign Minister. In international politics his name represents the epoch when the Cold War came to an end and Europe came to have no more fear of a united Germany.
On that balcony in Prague, as the film shows, things came round in a circle. Genscher, born on the 21st of March 1927, was approaching his 80th birthday. He was born in the east German city of Halle, which always remained his home, the place which influenced him most and to which he always returned. His youth was spent in the Third Reich: the Hitler youth, military service, a soldier who had to flee as the Russians advanced. His family were as middle-class and Conservative. A normal German background. Not much of his political beliefs can be deduced from all this.
Genscher left the east of the country very early and joined the Liberals in the West because he wanted to avoid economists broadcast. He became a lawyer and - almost by accident - a professional politician. He was an apprentice, but the Federal Republic of Germany is also going through a learning process. A parallel development. The film explores these years. In 1969 he sat at the Cabinet table for first-time, and at the side of three chancellors – Brandt, Schmidt, Kohl – this "born number two" become somebody who belongs at the very head of the country. He played a crucial role in every key development. Always as "man from the middle", which is what he wanted.
The main witness here is Genscher himself, talking predominantly about his political life. A severe case of tuberculosis almost knocked him out, and this sickness frequently returns. He learns to control it. He leads a life of strict self-control. We hear verdicts from key figures about the drama he was involved in and about himself: Gorbachov and Kissinger, Richard von Weizsäcker and Helmut Schmidt, schoolfriends, Genscher’s “young people” Verheugen, Kinkel and Baum, his close colleagues in the Foreign Ministry. He is the first to be closely involved with the media, and journalist Friedrich Nowottny describes the side of his gregarious nature, while his spokesman openly describes everyday life for the Foreign Minister in immediate democracy.
There are two occasions when he is in danger of losing control, when failure appears imminent. And he describes both these situations to the camera. In 1972, at the Olympic Games in Munich, Palestinians kidnap Israeli athletes, and A during a failed rescue attempt there are all killed. Willy Brandt refuses to accept his resignation. In 1974 Günter Guillaume, an east German spying in the Chancellor's office, is finally exposed, it is the biggest spy scandal in West German history. Once again it is Brandt who will not accept his resignation. He has closer links to Brandt than to any other Chancellor, speaking about him with great admiration. His relationship with Schmidt was always cool, although they agreed on fundamental matters. He has a warmer association with Kohl, despite the fact that there were often disagreements between them.
He provides "legal" advice on Brandt and Scheel’s Eastern Agreement, but "his" „ eastern policy produces the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Helsinki in 1975. It is subsequently referred to by dissidents and human rights activists in eastern Europe: Sacharow, Havel, Michnik. Many people underestimated this event, as a Kissinger also agrees. His method developed in this way: a network of trusts reaching throughout Europe. And dinner politics with Ria Maternus in Godesberg. The Federal Republic of Germany is to become the most European of all countries, withdrawn, not domineering. However, he is in agreement with Schmidt: the worst will have two threaten a new round of rearmament if both sides are seriously to the arm. The peace movement, supported by Brandt, vehemently opposes this, and this vehemence is also directed against Genscher. Not only the SPD but also broad sections of the FDP are in conflict with the government. It collapses in 1982. Lambsdorff was responsible for that, not Genscher, says Schmidt to the camera. He was very unfairly treated, says Genscher in turn. The Socialist-Liberal coalition, a healing experiment for the West German state, had objectively reached its end, says Gesine Schwan. The wounds still remain.
During the dramatic 1980s Genscher, ever cautious, becomes increasingly clear in his position: now he stands for continuity, which is what the Christian Democrats oppose. They argue against almost everything he considers correct: Kohl’s party  oppose the Conference for Security and Cooperation, refuse to recognize Poland's western border and, during the second Cold War of the 1980s, they want an increase in armaments spending, which Genscher delays. The film depicts this conflict, which was never openly displayed. It became obvious to everybody when Kohl comparedGeneral Secretary Gorbatchov in Moscow with Goebbels – and  Genscher quickly claimed that Gorbatchov  should be taken at his word.
He is convinced to this day that without a climate of defused tension, Gorbatchov would never have come along, and without him the reunification of Germany in 1989 would have been impossible. This, at the end of the Cold War, "did not come out of the blue in 1989". This film describes the back story which led to these events, contradicting the view expressed by Kohl.
Against resistance from almost all sides, both at home and abroad, he had to fight for "unity": this is how Kohl describes this moment. Only with the help of everybody who had came to trust the Germans -- and him -- was "unity" possible: this is Genscher’s version. The network of trust came through, and he was able to cash in his chips.
The crucial point is that when Genscher  stepped down it was not Kohl but the current Foreign Minister who campaigned for a grand tattooed to be held in his honour, the biggest military ceremony, never before awarded to a Foreign Minister. The Cold War is at an end, but so is the era of Genscher. His Federal Republic is a story of success. There is no more division in the country – and “Genschman” has become a comic cult, not only in Halle.