Der Lottogewinner ("The lottery winner") is a

comedy sketch Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

by German humorist

Loriot Bernhard-Viktor Christoph-Carl von Bülow (12 November 1923 – 22 August 2011), known as Vicco von Bülow or Loriot (), was a German comedian, humorist, cartoonist, film director, actor and writer. He was best known for his cartoons, the sk ...

. It was first broadcast in 1976 in the TV show ''Loriot'', starring Heinz Meier and

Claus Dieter Clausnitzer Claus (sometimes Clas) is both a given name and a German, Danish, and Dutch surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907–1944), a German officer who, along with others, attempted to assassina ...

Plot

The central character of the sketch is 66 years old retiree ''Erwin Lindemann'' (Heinz Meier) who has won 500,000

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

in the

lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

. Sitting in a chair in his living room, he is interviewed by a TV team for the evening news. Lindemann, visibly nervous, is only asked to give this short statement: Because of various technical issues and adjustments made by the increasingly frustrated director, Lindemann is repeatedly interrupted and has to repeat his text several times, which makes him more confused after each

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *''Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 fi ...

. Finally, the

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

warns that

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

is running out, and the director is satisfied with Lindemann's last attempt, which is performed reasonably fluently, but has become completely jumbled:

Broadcast and reception

''Der Lottogewinner'' was the last of 15 sketches in the first episode of the six-part TV series ''Loriot'', first broadcast on 8 March 1976 on ARD. It is considered one of the most famous sketches by Loriot and Heinz Meier's best-known role. Loriot originally intended the character of Erwin Lindemann to speak with a slight

West Low German Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of th ...

accent. Meier, who was from near

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

and perfectly spoke East Prussian (

High Prussian High Prussian (german: Hochpreußisch) is a group of East Central German dialects in former East Prussia, in present-day Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (Poland) and Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia). High Prussian developed in the 13th–15th centuries, ...

) dialect, convinced Loriot of letting speak Lindemann in a slightly East Prussian idiom. According to Jörg Thomann in the ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

'', with the character of the confused Erwin Lindemann, Loriot created "a moving portrayal of the modern individual who is pushed by their fellow human beings (in this case: a director) towards self-denial and, through all their ambitions (such as the gentlemen's boutique in Wuppertal), losing their bearing – until they forget their own name". Loriot, who usually starred himself in his sketches, was referring to the popularity of the character when he said to Heinz Meier: "I have made two big mistakes: I didn't build a basement for my house, and I let you play Lindemann".

Sources

* Loriot: ''Gesammelte Prosa. Alle Dramen, Geschichten, Festreden, Liebesbriefe, Kochrezepte, der legendäre Opernführer und etwa zehn Gedichte.'' Zürich: Diogenes Verlag, 2006. * Stefan Lukschy: ''Der Glückliche schlägt keine Hunde. Ein Loriot-Porträt.'' Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag, 2015.

References

External links

Script of the sketch
Ernst Klett Verlag (PDF, ca. 133 KB) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lottogewinner, Der Comedy sketches Fiction about television 1976 in German television