''Ein Kessel Buntes'' ("A Kettle of Colour") was a

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...

in the former

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. It broadcast from 1972 to 1992. A total of 113 shows were made, six per yea

It was sent at first from the Friedrichstadtpalast theatre, and later from the

Palast der Republik The Palace of the Republic (german: link=no, Palast der Republik) was a building in Berlin that hosted the ''Volkskammer'', the parliament of East Germany, from 1976 to 1990. The Palace of the Republic, also known as the "People's Palace", was ...

, as well as from other prominent music halls in other East German cities. Its

title sequence A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with visu ...

showed a series of famous clocks in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

, such as that on the

Rotes Rathaus The Rotes Rathaus (, ''Red City Hall'') is the town hall of Berlin, located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the home to the governing mayor and the government (the Senate of Berlin) of the state of Berlin. The ...

and the ''Weltzeituhr'' at

Alexanderplatz () ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...

displaying the time of broadcast, 8 p.m. (scheduled to clash with the main evening news on ARD) ''Ein Kessel Buntes'' was originally hosted by actors Horst Köbbert (who spoke

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

from the north), Lutz Stückrath (a speaker of the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

dialect), and Manfred Uhlig (who spoke

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

from the south), whose satirical commentary during the live broadcasts often criticised the East German government. They were soon replaced by a rotating cast of celebritie

The show was meant to compete with those on West Germany, West German television (which most East Germans were able to receive, and often watched). To this end it was fairly successful even attracting a following in parts of West Germany which could receive Eastern TV. Its production values were high. Apart from song and dance numbers and appearances from East German celebrities, almost every broadcast featured well-known stars from the west, often after their popularity had peaked in their home countrie

After

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, and the dissolution of

Fernsehen der DDR Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF; German for "German Television Broadcasting") was the state television broadcaster in the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) from 1952 to 1991. DFF produced free-to-air terrestrial television programming ...

, the concept and name of the program were taken over by ARD and broadcast on

Das Erste Das Erste (; "The First") is the flagship national television channel of the ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. ''Das Erste'' is jointly operated by the nine regional public broadcasting corporations that are member ...

, following the main news programme

Tagesschau (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 ...

. In its final two years of "Ein Kessel Buntes", Karsten Speck hosted the show on January 12, 1991, a total of ten times. At one time, Frank Schöbel moderated the program. The last show ran on 19 December 1992. It is still popular in

rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word ...

s and best-of shows. Numerous international stars were invited to participate:

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 1939) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress, and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s, and went on to model for Paco Rabanne, Ossie Clark, and ...

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

Bad Boys Blue Bad Boys Blue are the German pop group formed in Cologne in 1984. The group performed many international hits including "You're a Woman", " Pretty Young Girl", " I Wanna Hear Your Heartbeat", and "Come Back and Stay". The group became massive ...

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...

Karel Gott ) Sinatra of the East( cs, Sinatra Východu, link=no)Divine Charlie Dara Rolins Dara Rolins (born 7 December 1972) is a Slovak recording artist and entrepreneur. Her music career began at the age of nine, after being cast in the television musical ''Zázračný autobus'' (1981). The early role established a formula for he ...

Helena Vondráčková Helena Vondráčková (born 24 June 1947, in Prague) is a Czech people, Czech singer whose career has spanned five decades. Early life/career Beginnings Vondráčková spent her childhood years in the town of Slatiňany. She took piano lesso ...

Zsuzsa Koncz Zsuzsa Koncz (born Zsuzsanna Koncz) (, born 7 March 1946, Pély) is a Hungarian pop singer, whose lyrics (mostly written by János Bródy) were sometimes highly critical of the country's pre-1990 political system. Her career started after her p ...

Alla Pugacheva Alla Borisovna Pugacheva, ) (born 15 April 1949), is а Soviet and Russian musical performer. Her career started in 1965 and continues to this day, even though she has retired from performing. For her "clear mezzo-soprano and a full display of ...

Sofia Rotaru Sofiia Mykhailivna Yevdokymenko-Rotaru (born 7 August 1947), known as Sofia Rotaru ( uk, Софія Михайлівна Ротару ; russian: link=no, Софи́я Миха́йловна Рота́ру; ro, Sofia Rotaru), is a former Ukrainia ...

Kati Kovács Kati Kovács (born Katalin Anna Sarolta Kovács 25 October 1944), is a Ferenc Liszt and Kossuth Award-winning Hungarian pop-rock singer, performer, lyricist and actress. She is one of the most famous singers of Hungary with dozens of recorded ...

and others.

External links

Stern article about East German television
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060101194022/http://users.cybercity.dk/~bse5560/kessel.html Fan description in English*

Literature

*''Das war unser Kessel Buntes'', Hans-Ulrich Brandt, Angela Kaiser, Evelin Matt, Günther Steinbacher () *''Ein Kessel Buntes und mehr'', Hendrik Petzold () {{DEFAULTSORT:Kessel Buntes Television in East Germany 1980s German television series 1972 German television series debuts 1992 German television series endings Variety television series German-language television shows