Top 50 Documentaries in Germany
This curated ranking covers the 50 largest documentaries in Germany, ordered by estimated audience size from Rascasse's anonymized search-behavior signals. Out of 53 documentaries tracked in Germany, the 50 ranked here account for the largest measured audience reach. Yves Saint Laurent (film), POV (TV series) and Vice (TV series) lead the list with a combined estimated audience of 2,224,621 people. Across all 50 entries the average audience size is 64,034, and the largest, Yves Saint Laurent (film), reaches around 1,818,126 people in Germany. Audience size is the estimated number of unique people in Germany who actively engage with each documentary, derived from search demand signals. Rankings reflect search-behavior signals collected across Germany and are refreshed weekly.
Ranking
| Rank | Name | Audience size | Country share | Subtype | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Yves Saint Laurent (film) |
1,818,126 | 12.7% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 2 |  POV (TV series) |
309,214 | 3.7% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 3 |  Vice (TV series) |
97,281 | 3.3% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 4 |  Pina (film) |
94,709 | 11.2% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 5 |  Silent Voices (2005 film) |
92,565 | 8.0% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 6 |  I-Witness |
72,266 | 55.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 7 |  FRONTLINE |
57,843 | 0.9% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 8 |  Anime club |
57,547 | 2.0% | Documentary | Literature |
| 9 |  Walking with Dinosaurs |
54,378 | 5.1% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 10 |  Bowling for Columbine |
46,676 | 9.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 11 |  Earthling |
46,051 | 9.7% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 12 |  The War Room |
39,881 | 25.9% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 13 |  Pumping Iron |
39,188 | 3.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 14 |  The Last Waltz |
34,448 | 7.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 15 |  Frozen Planet |
29,434 | 11.8% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 16 |  The Blue Planet |
27,453 | 8.6% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 17 |  The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus |
26,245 | 16.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 18 |  What the Bleep Do We Know!? |
21,745 | 9.6% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 19 |  Blue Planet |
21,337 | 4.5% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 20 |  Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner |
20,763 | 2.7% | Documentary | Literature |
| 21 |  March of the Penguins |
20,686 | 7.3% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 22 |  Roadkill (Internet show) |
18,134 | 2.5% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 23 |  Deadly Women |
17,485 | 5.1% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 24 |  Man on Wire |
17,250 | 5.8% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 25 |  Aluna |
14,910 | 7.0% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 26 |  Restrepo (film) |
14,415 | 0.9% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 27 |  The Thin Blue Line (1988 film) |
13,696 | 2.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 28 |  Finding Your Roots |
11,599 | 1.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 29 |  Hard Knocks |
10,945 | 2.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 30 |  Hail Satan |
10,624 | 10.0% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 31 |  Elvis in Concert |
7,186 | 17.3% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 32 |  The Story of Stuff |
6,044 | 4.5% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 33 |  Oddities (TV series) |
6,026 | 0.9% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 34 |  Seconds From Disaster |
4,719 | 15.2% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 35 |  Extreme Engineering |
2,485 | 5.3% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 36 |  A Football Life |
2,307 | 2.2% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 37 |  Land and Sea |
2,037 | 0.4% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 38 |  Inside Edition |
1,944 | 0.1% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 39 |  Vegucated |
1,848 | 4.6% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 40 |  American Experience |
1,701 | 0.5% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 41 |  Scared Straight! |
1,679 | 1.5% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 42 |  The Original Kings of Comedy |
1,650 | 0.2% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 43 |  Racing Extinction |
1,310 | 2.5% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 44 |  Living Proof (film) |
814 | 0.6% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 45 |  Zone Interdite (TV program) |
741 | 0.3% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 46 |  Miss Representation |
723 | 0.6% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 47 |  The Acting Class |
644 | 3.2% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 48 |  Living with Wolves |
365 | 2.2% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 49 |  Light Fantastic (TV series) |
332 | 1.5% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
| 50 |  LA EDUCACIÓN PROHIBIDA |
272 | 2.2% | Documentary | Movies & TV |
Frequently asked questions
How is this Top 50 list compiled?
Rascasse aggregates anonymized search-behavior signals across Germany and ranks each documentary by its estimated audience size. Only entries with at least 5 measured entities are listed.
How often is the list updated?
The ranking is refreshed weekly from the latest search-behavior data and re-published as a static page.
What is the largest documentary in Germany?
Yves Saint Laurent (film) currently leads with an estimated audience of 1,818,126 people in Germany.
Methodology
Audience sizes are estimated from anonymized search-behavior signals across Germany. Lists below 5 entries are not published. See methodology for full details.