The labyrinth of death

Spiegel TV documentation of the static warfare of the first world war. The war should have claimed totally about 15 million victims- hundreds of thousands on the fields of flandern near the Belgian city of Ypern. After no side was able to gain terrain the war solidified to a static war. The soldiers took cover from the continuous danger by enemy fire with grenades, toxic gas and rifles and so they digged out fox holes and trenches which builded, after some time a whole system of defence. So, bit by bit there was build a labyrinth of trenches, supply lines and bunkers with a total length of 24.000 kilometres and which became the only safe place in the industrial war. But also in the trenches dangers lurked around. Beside the “natural” enemies water and rats there were developed some special techniques and tactics to overcome the static war. Snipers, tanks and well directed bombardments posed a threat to the soldiers even in this sophisticated system of defence.
An excavation team archaeologists and historians now took in hand to excavate these subsurface battlefields before a planed freeway annihilates the last traces. Ten days the team tries to explore the life and death of the soldiers in the trenches. They hope to gain new insights in the difficulties of the trench warfare and the adaptation of soldiers’ life to these difficult circumstances. Spiegel TV accompanies the team and illustrates the results of the work. Re-enactment-scenes exemplify the Battle and the life of the soldiers in the trenches.