The Hamburg Syndrome (German: Die Hamburger Krankheit) is a 1979 West German sci-fi disaster film directed by Peter Fleischmann (Hunting Scenes from Bavaria) and starring Helmut Griem, Fernando Arrabal, Carline Seiser, Tilo Prückner, Ulrich Wildgruber, Rainer Laghans, Leopold Hainisch, and Romy Haag. The film depicts the sudden outbreak of a deadly disease in Hamburg and the West German government's attempts to quarantine the city and stop its spread.
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Decontamination Chamber: Ulrike is placed in decontamination tent, where she is forcibly vaccinated before eventually fleeing.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's a film about a disease outbreak in Hamburg.
- Packaged as Other Medium: One DVD cover
◊ is designed to resemble a newspaper article on the titular disease outbreak, with the paper given the generic title HH, which in real life is a license plate abbreviation for vehicles registered in the eponymous city. - The Place: Set in Hamburg, hence the title.
- Recycled Soundtrack: The film's soundtrack consists entirely of tracks from Jean-Michel Jarre's signature albums Oxygène and Équinoxe (but primarily the latter) along with existing jazz compositions by Erich Ferstl.
- Troubled Fetal Position: All of the titular disease's initial victims are found dead in this position.
