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Neuschwansteincastle-NEW

Uncle Matt visiting Castle Neuschwanstein.

Adidas-Adicolor-Kermit-Ad-Berlin-(2005)

Kermit the Frog in Berlin for an Adidas ad (2006).

Germany-co-production-training-for-puppeteers

Kevin Clash, overseeing the training of German Muppeteers for Sesamstrasse.

The Federal Republic of Germany, or the Bundesrepublik Deutschland in German, is a country in central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea, to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic, to the south by Austria and Switzerland, and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Within its borders are a portion of the Alps mountains, the famous Rhine river, and the Black Forest.

Germany is a democratic parliamentary federal republic, made up of 16 states (among them, the city states of Berlin and Hamburg), which in certain spheres act independently of the federation. Historically consisting of several sovereign nations with their own history, language (distinct dialects), culture and religion, Germany was unified as a nation state during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/1871.

The country is a member state of the United Nations, NATO, the G8 and the G4 nations, and a founding member of the European Union. It is the European Union's most populous and most economically powerful member state.

The German language is one of the world's major languages. It is spoken by more than 120 million people in 38 countries of the world. It is — like English, Spanish and French — a pluricentric language with Germany, Austria and Switzerland as the three main centers of usage. Therefore, the following Muppet co-productions aired in all three countries:

Muppet Connections[]

BigBirdandTiffy

Big Bird and Tiffy on Sesamstrasse's 750th episode.

2 Sesamstrasse 30 Jahre

Sesamstrasse celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Dms mross-NEW

Mary Roos on Die Muppet Show.

Germandoc

Doc and Sprocket on Die Fraggles.

PizzaMitBiss-Dinner

Some of the Pizza mit Biss spin-off cast.

JimHensons-AnimalShow-(RTL)

Promotional image for Jim Hensons Animal Show mit Stinky und Jake (including an RTL network hat).

Dankeschön

Peter Alexander präsentiert Spezialitäten.

JetztGehtDiePartyRichtigLos-MissPiggy&UdoJürgens-(1978)

Miss Piggy performing on Jetzt geht die Party richtig los.

Nasowas-henson

Jim Henson with Thomas Gottschalk on Na sowas!

BMW-JohnAndreas&Kermit

Kermit shooting a German BMW commercial.

USO-Elmo&RositaEducationTour-Germany2010-Sesame Day2 3

Elmo & Rosita's USO Education Tour in 2010.

DieMuppets-GermanPremierePressConference-Berlin-(2012-01-18)03

James Bobin, Kermit and Piggy in Berlin in 2012.

VerleihungDerGoldenenKamera-HapeKerkeling&MissPiggy-(2012-02-04)03

Miss Piggy at the Golden Camera in 2012.

MMW-Sightseeing-Berlin2

Piggy & Kermit at the Brandenburg Gate in 2014.

MMW-LolaPaltinger-(2014)-Montage03

Piggy & Kermit in Bavarian gear by designer Lola Paltinger for Muppets Most Wanted (2014).

Berlinwall

Baby Gonzo at the Berlin Wall in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (produced right around the time it fell).

SesamstrasseCastSesameStreetStaysUpLate

German characters on Sesame Street Stays Up Late.

Co-productions[]

  • Sesamstrasse is the German-language, and first international co-production of Sesame Street. It began to air as a dubbed version in 1973, and received its first German set and puppets in 1977. The show is being produced in Hamburg. Several Sesamstrasse Specials were locally produced as well.
  • Die Muppet Show is the German-language co-production of The Muppet Show, which featured one German guest star for English speaking audiences, Elke Sommer, and a second one for German audiences: Mary Roos, who appeared in a locally altered version of episode 121 in 1977.
  • Die Fraggles is the German-language co-production of Fraggle Rock, featuring its own Doc, debuting in 1983. The German segments were produced near Munich.
  • In 1994 The Secret Life of Toys was shot in Monheim, Germany, as a co-production between Jim Henson Productions, BBC, WDR (West German Broadcast), and Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen (the North Rhine Westfalia Film Foundation). It aired in Germany as Die Spielzeugbande ("The Toy Gang") in 1997.
  • For Sesamstrasse's 30th anniversary special in 2003, Ernie and Bert were shipped to Germany to make special appearances not only on the special, but every now and then throughout the coming seasons. The Elmo puppet was used on promotional photos, but not during the actual show. Kevin Clash brought the puppet along, while overseeing the training of Ernie and Bert's German Muppeteers. A Little Bird, and other Sesame Street puppets have also made sporadic appearances from Sesamstrasse's 30th season onward.
  • Eine Möhre für Zwei, the first German Sesame spin-off show, was produced in Hamburg in 2010 to air in 2011. A second season followed in 2012, a third season in 2012/2013, a fourth season in 2014/2015, a fifth season in 2016/2017, and a sixth season in 2018.
  • Elmo joined the cast of German Muppets in 2012, for the 40th anniversary of Sesamstrasse. Other Muppets from the American street made special guest appearances henceforth.
  • Pizza mit Biss, the second German Sesame spin-off show, and itself a spin-off to Eine Möhre für Zwei, was produced in Hamburg in 2017.

German language dubs[]

Most Henson TV shows, theatrical Muppet movies, a number of Television specials and a few direct-to-video productions were released or aired dubbed in Germany. This list mainly focuses on the first two categories:

TV shows[]

Theatrical movies[]

Non-theatrical movies and specials[]

Special appearances[]

  • In May of 2005, Kermit the Frog appeared in a BMW commercial, exclusively shot in South Africa for the German market. The commercial was later dubbed for other European markets.
  • In early 2006, Kermit the Frog appeared in an ad for Adidas to promote their Adicolor line, shot in winterly Berlin. For the 4:30 min promo he visited the Brandenburg Gate, adored the Berlin Wall, took a test run at the Olympic Stadium, mused about the arts at the Adicolor Studios, and attended Berlin Fashion Week on January 29, 2006.
  • Sesamstrasse characters Samson, Rumpel and Finchen have made multiple appearances both on German TV and in front of live audiences over the decades. Along with Ernie and Bert, Samson regularly appears at the KI.KA Sommer Tour.
  • On January 18, 2012, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and James Bobin traveled to Berlin to promote Die Muppets, which premiered the following day. At the press conference, Miss Piggy announced that she would appear at a photo op for Berlin Fashion Week, where she would dress in a robe exclusively designed and tailored for her by German designer Michael Michalsky. Several more stops for the duo were the morning show SAT.1 Frühstücksfernsehen and the radio.
  • Miss Piggy made several more trips to the country while promoting the film throughout Europe, most notably to appear on neoParadise on January 26, and on the film and television awards show Verleihung der Goldenen Kamera on February 4 (with Kermit to appear beside her on-screen, initially), where she performed the duet "Somethin' Stupid" on stage with host, comedian and award-winner Hape Kerkeling.

Appearances on US-productions[]

Print publications[]

DieZeit-IchHabeEinenTraum-MuppetEssays-(2012-01-25)

Piggy & Kermit at the Ritz for Die Zeit in 2014.

Germany has a long history of translating Muppet, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and Muppet Babies books, as well as several books from the greater Henson cosmos, such as Dark Crystal and Labyrinth books. The following publishers have contributed to these releases:

Henson-related interviews and articles have appeared in German-language publications such as Bild, Bravo, Bunte, Bussi Bär, Familie&Co, Fix & Foxi, Gong, Hörzu, Junior, Micky Maus Magazin, POP/Rocky, Siehste, Der Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, TV Movie and Die Zeit. Further, the country issued official German Stamps (and other philatelic merchandise) to commemorate Sesamstrasse in early 2020.

Other connections[]

Muppetsmonsterandmagie

Muppets, Monster & Magie exhibition companion

See also[]

Wikipedia has an article related to:
  • Berlin, and its Muppet connections
  • Hamburg, and its Muppet connections

Sources[]

External links[]

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