“Following in the Footsteps of My Ancestors” is a personal documentary by Ute Köhler exploring her family history. Through travel, interviews, and historical research, the filmmaker traces her family’s migration from Germany to Eastern Europe.
About:
“Following in the Footsteps of My Ancestors” is a personal documentary film by Ute Köhler about her family history. The filmmaker embarks on an extraordinary journey to retrace the emigration route of her ancestors, who emigrated from southern Germany to Galicia (present-day Poland) in the 18th century and later to Volhynia (Ukraine).
The film begins with Ute Köhler’s own hike from Dolgesheim to Ulm in southern Germany, followed by a bicycle tour along the Danube to Vienna (Austria). This is the same route taken by her ancestors from five generations back, 240 years ago. Through interviews with witnesses such as her great-uncle Ludwig Zimmermann, who was born in Volhynia in 1902, as well as conversations with historians and archivists in Poland, the moving emigration story of German colonists unfolds.
The documentary shows how her ancestors lived as farmers in German colonies, for example in Hohenbach and Reichsheim in the Vistula triangle in Galicia and later near the city of Lutsk in Volhynia in the 19th and early 20th centuries, until they were forced to flee again during World War I. Ludwig Zimmermann’s family was deported to the Russian interior in 1915 and returned to Germany in 1918. The film combines personal investigation with historical analysis and culminates in Ute Köhler’s decision to process this family history into a novel, a literary tribute to her courageous ancestors.
Director Biography – Ute Koehler, Katherin Wermke:
Ute Köhler, born in 1980 in Berlin, has completed several courses in “Creative Writing” and training as a novelist at the “Novel School” (Romanschule). She has been writing poetry and prose since the age of fourteen and published her poetry debut “Timeless Dreams” (Zeitlose Träume) with Dahlemer Verlagsanstalt in 2013. Inspired by her own family history, the idea for her first multi-part novel series emerged. “Following in the Footsteps of my Ancestors” is Ute Köhler’s first documentary film and has already received incredible recognition and awards at film festivals worldwide in the summer of 2025.
Katherin Wermke, born 1977 in Germany, is an internationally renowned photographer based in Barcelona, Berlin, and New York. She founded Barcelona Photographer and specializes in commercial, corporate, and portrait photography. Educated at IEFC Barcelona and NYC’s School of Visual Arts, she has worked for major clients including Deutsche Bank, Mercedes Benz, Nestlé, and Wall Street Journal Europe. She teaches photography workshops and is developing an artistic career focusing on travel, street photography, and social issues, particularly through her work with NGO Street Heroes of India. She’s expanding into film direction of photography.
Cast/Crew list & Technical Details:
A PRODUCTION BY KÖHLER & WERMKE
Direction / Screenplay Ute Köhler
Cinematography/ Co-Direction Katherin Wermke
EDITION: José Sanabria
FILM MUSIC: Wellenfänger Andreas Koch
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Jordi Arcaz
Narrator: Ute Köhler
Year of Production: 2025
Format: 4K 25fps
Acknowledgements:
WE’D LIKE TO THANK FOR THE SUPPORT:
Katharina Abel (†), Ludwig Zimmermann (†), Inge Thieslack (†), Stefanie Reer (geb. Thieslack), Dr. Lesek Hońdo, Dr. Włodzimierz Gąsiewski, Krystyna Gargas-Gasiewski, Urzula Rzeszut-Baran und Dr. Janouz Radwanski, Magda Rzeznik, Jan Wareda, Leon Getinger, Janina Markowsky, José Sanabria, Jordi Arcaz, Andreas Koch (Wellenfänger), Michael Fischer/ Dahlemer Verlagsanstalt, Maikel Menéndez, Leandro Torres Pérez, Damian Makowski, Luca Palma, Dayli Steinhoff, Miriam Boyer, Maribel Santin, Hartmut Meyer-Ohrt, Blanca Knodel, Katharina Nobis, Hotel Schloss Dolgesheim, Verein “Die Galiziendeutschen – Geschichte und Erinnerungskultur e. V.”, “Historischer Verein Wolhynien e.V.”, Freilichtmuseum Kolbuszowa/ Polen, Archiv Tarnov/ Polen.
My special thanks go to the photographer and filmmaker Katherin Wermke and to my parents, Gundela Köhler & Edgar Köhler (†), who always inspire me and whom I carry in my heart.
