Bernhard, the story of a German

Documentary accompanying the new book 'Bernhard: A Hidden History' by author Annejet van der Zijl. The book provides a historical reconstruction of Bernhard zur Lippe Biesterfeld's German childhood. For this, Van der Zijl spent five years researching the archives of, among others, Bernhard's German family and his secondary schools, and spoke with friends and acquaintances from his time in Germany. NOS reporter Arjan Nieuwenhuizen interviews Van der Zijl and returned to Wojnowo, now located in Poland but German territory at the time, and the place where Bernhard grew up on the Reckenwalde estate. Arjan Nieuwenhuizen unexpectedly stumbled upon unique private footage of Bernhard himself, filmed during his childhood and the first years with Princess Juliana. Excerpts from this can be seen in the documentary.

• Prince Bernhard of the NetherlandsSelf (archive footage)
• Arjan NieuwenhuizenSelf
• Annejet van der ZijlSelf
• Armin zur LippeSelf
• Queen Juliana of the NetherlandsSelf (archive footage)
• Armgard von CrammSelf (archive footage)
• Leopold IV, Prince of LippeSelf (archive footage)
• Emperor Wilhelm II of GermanySelf (archive footage)
• Queen Wilhelmina of the NetherlandsSelf (archive footage)
• Queen Beatrix of the NetherlandsSelf (archive footage)