' ("The Dream Ship") is a German television drama series by

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

. The series, about a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

that travels to places around the world, debuted in 1981 and became one of the most-watched television shows in Germany. A total of 83 episodes have been produced as of 2019. It was primarily filmed and set aboard the MS ''Deutschland'' cruise ship as it sailed to tourist destinations around the world. The destinations depicted are usually the result of

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...

. In 2015, the depicted ship was switched to the . Television producer is Wolfgang Rademann. MS Deutschland as seen from Stadersand on 13 May 2012

In 2007, a ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine article described the series as a

Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...

"-like cruise liner skein.'Meza, Ed.
ARD, ZDF dominate German ratings
" ''

''. October 5, 2007.

Forerunner

The series repeated some clichés that had already successfully been used in

Heinz Rühmann Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann (; 7 March 1902 – 3 October 1994) was a German film actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th century, and is considered a Ge ...

's feature film '' The Captain'', which had been based on Richard Gordon's novel ''The Captain's Table''.

Premise

The premise of the series resembled the American TV series ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pac ...

''. It presented a place where all kinds of people appeared as guests and could hereby show a variety of extraordinary characters, fates, schemes and relationships. Guests either brought their problems with them or just got into trouble by encountering folks they would not have met under normal circumstances. Still everything would lead to a happy-end in each episode.

Actors

Captain Heinz Hansen was played by

Heinz Weiss Heinz Weiss (12 June 192120 November 2010) was a German film actor. Weiss is best known for playing the role of Phil Decker in the Jerry Cotton series of films and the role of Captain Heinz Hansen in ''Das Traumschiff''. He also played the chara ...

who in younger years had been successful on the silver screen as

Jerry Cotton Jerry Cotton is the fictional character in a series of pulp magazine-type crime novels. The novels have been written by many different writers in German-speaking countries and in Finland over the course of several decades. Overview The novels ...

's best friend and colleague Phil Decker. When Weiss left the character of Hansen in 1999 he was replaced by Captain Jakob Paulsen, played by

Siegfried Rauch Siegfried Rauch (2 April 1932 – 11 March 2018) was a German film and television actor. In a career spanning over 60 years, he appeared in several international film productions and had leading roles in numerous German television productions. C ...

. Rauch left the series in 2014 and was followed by

Sascha Hehn Sascha Hehn (born 11 October 1954 in Munich) is a German actor who participated in many feature films, TV shows, modern theatre plays and the dubbing of big international cinema productions (for example "Shrek") for German-speaking audiences. ...

as Captain Victor Burger with the 2014-screening.

In other media

The series is referenced by several episodes of the drama series ''

Deutschland 86 ''Deutschland 86'' () is a 2018 German television series starring Jonas Nay as an agent of East Germany in 1986, in relation to the Angolan Civil War. It is a sequel to the 2015 series ''Deutschland 83'' and precedes the 2020 series ''Deutschl ...

'' and ''

Deutschland 89 ''Deutschland 89'' is a German television series, starring Jonas Nay as Martin Rauch, an agent of East Germany following the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It is a sequel to the 2015 series ''Deutschland 83'', and 2018 series ''Deutschland 86 ...

''.

References

External links

''Das Traumschiff'' at ZDF
* German drama television series Television series set on cruise ships 1981 German television series debuts 1990s German television series 2000s German television series 2010s German television series German-language television shows ZDF original programming {{germany-tv-prog-stub