''Der Schwächste fliegt!'' is the German version of the game show ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'', literally meaning ''The Weakest one flies'' (

colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conver ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

for: ''is thrown out''). It was first broadcast on 19 March 2001, on RTL. The show premiered on weekdays at 15:00 and was hosted by

Sonja Zietlow Sonja Zietlow (born 13 May 1968) is a German television presenter. Biography Zietlow was born in Bonn. After she graduated from school and before her media career began in 1993, she worked as first officer for the German airline Lufthansa. W ...

(who was already known for a tough-talking style on her self-titled talk show from previous years). Like the British version, the show pitted nine contestants against each other for a pot of DM 50,000 (which had to be donated to charity, the winner picking the exact recipient). But by September of that year, the show was sinking fast in the ratings, to try and counteract the situation, she treated the contestants with more respect. Previously, she had bullied the contestants with insults such as ''"Da wollen wir doch mal sehen, wer unsere kostbare Studioluft lang genug weggeatmet hat!"'' (Let's take a look: who has used up our valuable studio air long enough?) The change in Sonja's behaviour did not save the show, and it was cancelled in December. In February 2002 (after the introduction of the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

as a physical currency), the show was given another chance in the late-night Saturday slot, this time with a newly revamped studio, that now featured an audience, and a higher prize of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

50,000. This version lasted for only two months.

External links

* 2001 German television series debuts 2002 German television series endings German-language television shows German game shows RTL (German TV channel) original programming The Weakest Link {{Germany-tv-prog-stub, date=Dec 2015