Die Brücke was based on the autobiographical novel by Gregor Dorfmeister, where he recollects his own experiences being drafted into the Volkssturm militia and the chaos in Germany at that time. It has been made into two films, in 1957 and 2008.
The story unfolds with seven sixteen-year-old German school friends at the end of 1945. Having never witnessed war firsthand, they are still jingoistic and eager to play their part to defend their country. They are all drafted into a local
