When you referred to the German short version, you had me confused because it's frequently referred to as the Japanese Laserdisc cut.
As far as the different versions go, for some reason I was of the mistaken assumption that the U.S/German versions were a cut down Director's Cut that he later recreated/update as the Trilogy. Anywhere, here's the full low down (From Wikipedia):
Wenders apparently foresaw his struggles with acceptable running time and kept the original elements rather than surrendering them to distributors. After the film's theatrical release, Wenders worked with internegative copies and, with the cooperation of Sam Neill, who recorded additional narration, completed a 280-minute version of the film. The 280-minute cut, which Wenders regards as the definitive and complete version of Until the End of the World, unfolds as a trilogy and is presented in three parts (the opening titles appear three times). This version of the film has been screened publicly numerous times, including U.S. screenings at the University of Washington in 1996, at least two presentations at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, by way of American Cinematheque, once at the DGA Theater in New York City, by way of the American Museum of the Moving Image, once at the USA Film Festival in Dallas, Texas, once at the Walter Reade Theater, by way of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, in New York City, and once at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, NY. Wenders has been present at all of these screenings but the USA Film Festival screening and the Walter Reade Theater screening.
The 158-minute theatrical cut of Until the End of the World was released on VHS and laserdisc (widescreen) in the United States. In addition, a 179-minute "European cut" was released on laserdisc (letterboxed) in Japan, accompanied by a 58-minute featurette shot in Tokyo entitled Dream Island by Sean Naughton, who had worked with Wenders on the HD sequences in Until the End of the World. The 280-minute "trilogy" version of Until the End of the World made its first DVD appearance in 2004, with an Italian 4-disc edition featuring outtakes, bloopers, trailers, and interviews with Wenders. In 2005, a 3-disc DVD edition was released in Germany. Both editions feature new digital transfers that were personally supervised by Wenders.
Anchor Bay Entertainment had once announced that it would be releasing the director's cut of Until the End of the World in North America, but has since switched hands and abandoned interest in Wenders' catalogue. Currently, there are no known plans to release the film on DVD in North America.
