Schlangenberg (Smeinogorsk) is located at the the joint borders of Russia, China, Mongolia and Kasakztan. It was Alexander von Humboldt's secret final destination on his expedition of Russia in 1829. Humboldt had already reached the age of 60 at this time, a world-renowned scientist, who had been invited to this enterprise by tsar Nikolai I. Already at the tsar's court in St. Petersburg the explorer predicted the discovery of diamonds in Siberia.
Humboldt's private mail tells about an irrepressible desire for traveling and exploring. He describes the beauties of nature in an almost poetic style. He hardly mentions the incredible hardships of a 17.000 km-voyage in a carriage mostly on unpaved roads and often by night.
We, two film-makers from Berlin/Germany, will travel the old post route from Berlin via St. Petersburg, Moscow, the Ural to the Chineses border on our motorcycles. Our passion for traveling connects us to Humboldt. It is Humboldt's commitment to the poor and weak of society, often annoying the establishment, that we admire.
This will be the basis for a three-part DVD series.
