With the six-part Christmas series from 1979, ZDF followed up on the previously celebrated Advent quarter series such as “Der Seewolf”. Until the late 1990s, they were street sweepers for whom the whole family gathered in front of the television. One series was even continued in the cinema.
Just a few more days and it's that time again: the presents and the banquets are over, the time between the years begins – and now? In many families, everyone spends the evening until the end of the year in different ways. The father watches a bit of TV while the mother surfs the Internet on a laptop. The older daughter is constantly checking social media on her smartphone in order to go further soon. The younger son plays online games on his video game console.
And that's all well and good. But some nostalgic middle-aged people look back wistfully to a time a few decades ago when things were very different.
As is well known, today's fragmented oversupply of entertainment in all its facets did not exist back then. The world was analog, and instead of hundreds of TV channels, there were only a few. Not all of their shows were good. However, there were always big highlights that no one wanted to miss.
These “street sweepers” with enormous ratings were a genre that is now almost extinct. They brought the whole family and friends together and gathered together in front of the screen. Something when Saturday night shows like “One Will Win” were on. And once a year there was a TV event that children and young people in particular, but also their parents, looked forward to: the Christmas series on ZDF.
Since the 1960s, ZDF had been broadcasting elaborate multi-part adventure series in international co-production every few years, mostly during Advent. These were well received, especially “The Sea Wolf” from 1971 with Raimund Harmstorf in the title role caused a sensation and became a classic. The four-part film, directed by Wolfgang Staudte and Sergiu Nicolaescu, was about a writer (Edward Meeks) who was rescued as a shipwrecked shipwreck in the Bay of San Francisco at the turn of the century by the “Sea Wolf,” the menacing Captain Wolf Larsen, but then forced out , join the ship's crew. A legendary scene in which Larsen crushes a raw potato with his hand goes down in collective memory (even though Harmstorf, aka Larsen, used a slightly pre-cooked tuber during filming).
The station continued this in 1979 and began the tradition of Christmas series. These told ongoing stories in six parts each and always tell from Christmas Day until the end of the year, usually around 6 p.m. The main characters were young people who experienced exciting and even hair-raising adventures.
It started on December 25, 1979 with “Timm Thaler or The Sold Laughter”. The series was initially broadcast in 13 episodes of 25 minutes each and was then cut in repeats to the standard six episodes of 45 to 50 minutes each for Christmas series.
Based on a novel by James Krüss, the series tells a modern fairy tale in which 13-year-old Timm (Thomas “Tommi” Ohrner) sells his laughter to the mysterious, sinister Baron de Lefouet (Horst Frank), whose last name does not have the “o”. and when read backwards, it is no coincidence that the word “devil” is the same. In return, Timm will win every bet from now on. But he soon realizes that his life is no longer worth living and dares to go on an adventurous journey to get his smile back.
Filmed in Hamburg and Lanzarote, the series was set in the present day – huge sideburns, bell-bottoms and Golf 1 included. Tommi Ohrner became a teen star with “Timm Thaler”, which he continues to this day with his TV and radio career.
The series was produced by Bernd Burgemeister, who also worked as a producer on the majority of the following Christmas series. The screenwriter was Justus Pfaue. The film was directed by Sigi Rothemund and Christian Bruhn, the composer of numerous hits, TV and advertising tunes, contributed the music. With Burgemeister, Pfaue, Rothemund and Bruhn subsequently became the most important designers of the Christmas series, something like the “dream team” of this genre, whose signature gave the productions an unmistakable character.
After “Madita,” a Swedish production, was purchased as a Christmas series the following year, Burgemeister, Pfaue, Rothemund and Bruhn followed up with their second classic for ZDF in 1981: “Silas.” The title role was played by the then 13-year-old Patrick Bach, who, like Ohrner, became a teen star, complete with bags of fan mail and “Bravo” covers. He then starred in three more Christmas series and shaped the genre in front of the camera just as much as Burgemeister's team behind the scenes. Bach is still active today as an actor, radio play and voice actor as well as a dubbing director.
Based on the novels by Cecil Bødker, “Silas” is set somewhere on a not-too-distant coast (filmed in Brittany and Normandy), circa the early 19th century. Silas, who ran away from the traveling circus, experienced a variety of adventures in which evil adults gave him a lot of trouble. Some people who watch the series today are surprised at how rustic and dark it is. Various crooks and the infamous Horse Crows (Ingeborg Lapsien) are constantly trying to kill Silas and steal his noble, large horse “The Black”, which the penniless boy won in a bet.
Silas has to go through a lot, but he never lets it get him down; on the contrary, he is cheeky, even towards the few who mean well for him. His favorite curse is “Verdigris and duck droppings!”, which he says in every episode whenever he is annoyed or surprised. He doesn't allow himself to be bent and ends up riding away on the black with his best friend Bein-Godik (Lucki Molocher), even though he would have had the chance to stay with a rich family.
In addition to his acting talent, Bach also demonstrated courage and athleticism in the series, for example when he galloped at breakneck speed on the big horse, even though he was barely holding the saddle. That recommended him for further roles, and the next one came the following year with the title role in perhaps the best of all Christmas series: “Jack Holborn”.
Based on the novel by Leon Garfield and realized by Burgemeister's proven team, the series begins in Bristol in the late 18th century. The little orphan Jack really wants to become a cabin boy and sneaks as a stowaway onto the sailing ship Charming Molly, on which he has vague memories from his early childhood. The charismatic pirate captain Sharingham (Matthias Habich) knows something about Jack's mysterious origins, but he will only reveal his secret if Jack manages to save his life three times.
“Jack Holborn” had everything that made young adventurers' hearts beat faster: pirate action and ship battles on the high seas, privateers with tricorn hats, eye patches and sabers. A talking parrot named Bartholomew on the shoulder of pirate Wronski (Andreas Mannkopff). A treasure chest full of jewels and valuables (including the mythical giant diamond “White Lady”). Daring, betrayal and loyalty – and a big secret. The lavish production was shot in exotic locations: on the sea, in Yugoslavia and on the Pacific island of Rarotonga. And a 50-man orchestra was brought in for Christian Bruhn's great film music.
A lot of effort was also put into the following Christmas series in 1983: “Nesthäkchen”. Burgemeister, Pfaue and Bruhn were on board again, and Gero Ehrhardt, the son of Heinz Ehrhardt, made his debut as a director. Based on a template by the writer Else Ury, who was murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz, the series was about the little doctor's daughter Annemarie Braun (as a six-year-old played by Kathrin Toboll; as a ten-year-old then with Anja Bayer in the role), who grows up in Berlin-Charlottenburg during the imperial era and shortly before the First World War he was sent to the North Sea island of Amrum for treatment because of scarlet fever. When it comes to the production equipment, a lot of attention was paid to details; No expense was spared when it came to the historically accurate furnishings of sets, locations and clothes, as was the case with “Jack Holborn”.
“Patrik Pacard”, “Oliver Maass” and “Mino” continued the success story of the Christmas series until 1986. “Anna” was released in 1987, again with Patrick Bach and Silvia Seidel in the title role, who tragically died in 2012. The series about a teenager who was seriously injured in a car accident and who fights her way back to life and wants to become a dancer was so successful that it was even continued in the cinema at the end of 1988. “Anna – The Film” opened on 350 screens and landed in the top 10 of the most successful films of the year in Germany with 1.8 million viewers.
Year after year, ZDF continued the tradition, but over the course of the 1990s the charm of the Christmas series began to wane. Instead of the old “dream team”, producer Burgemeister recently only hired other collaborators for writing, directing and music, and the previous magic of the series was lost. The ratings fell, competition from private television and digital entertainment grew, and after the Christmas series “Two Alone” (1998) it was finally over. The broadcaster's reasoning: “Changed viewing habits of the audience”. But the former audience hits live on on DVD (and five of the series, including “Timm Thaler” and “Anna”, are running in marathon programming this year from December 21st to 25th on ZDFneo). Some nostalgic people still celebrate them today on Christmas holidays and between the years.
For WELTHistory looks Martin Klemrath In addition to classic historical themes, we also regularly look back at pop culture phenomena from past decades. Including German television classics like “One will win” and die legendary radio plays the 1970s and 80s.
