Hurra Deutschland (English: "Hurrah Germany") was a German satirical series running from June 19, 1989 to September 26, 1992, appearing regularly on TV station

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 ...

Overview

''Hurra Deutschland'' was easily distinguished because of its use of rubber puppets modelled on politicians and celebrities, who were poked fun at in various sketches. The puppets were built out of

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...

by GUM Studios, who continue to make puppets even today (many of which were used in the new series). The show was chiefly political in nature, with the main character undoubtedly being a bumbling and moronic

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...

, with supporting characters

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

Hans-Jochen Vogel Hans-Jochen Vogel (3 February 192626 July 2020) was a German lawyer and a politician for the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as Mayor of Munich from 1960 to 1972, winning the 1972 Summer Olympics for the city and Governing Mayor of We ...

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

etc. Puppets from the German popular culture entered the ensemble to public appraisal, such as entertainer

Thomas Gottschalk Thomas Johannes Gottschalk (born 18 May 1950) is a German radio and television host and entertainer. He is best known for hosting '' Wetten, dass..?'', for many years Europe's biggest television show, which he steered to huge success in Germany, ...

, singer

Heino Heinz Georg Kramm (born 13 December 1938), known professionally as Heino, is a German singer of Schlager and traditional Volksmusik. Having sold a total of over 50 million records, he is one of the most successful German musicians of all time ...

and tennis player

Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker (, ; born 22 November 1967) is a German former world No. 1 tennis player. Becker was successful from the start of his career, winning the Wimbledon Championships at the age of 17. He ultimately won six Grand Slam singles tit ...

New Series

A new edition entitled "''Hurra Deutschland - Jetzt erst recht!''" (Literally: "Hurrah Germany - Now more than ever!") ran from June 23, 2003 to July 23, 2004. The show was "hosted" by puppets of

Dieter Bohlen Dieter Bohlen (; born Dieter Günter Bohlen, 7 February 1954) is a German songwriter, producer, singer and television personality. He first achieved fame as a member of pop duo Modern Talking in the 1980s, and has since produced numerous German a ...

and

Daniel Küblböck Daniel Dominik Kaiser-Küblböck (born Küblböck; 27 August 1985 – 9 September 2018) was a German pop singer. He placed third in the television talent show '' Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' in 2003. In September 2018, he went missing at ...

. However, general critical opinion was that the new series lacked the mordacity and audacity that the old one had - another complaint was that it focused too much on celebrities and sporting figures, whereas the original was so popular as a political series. The remake was cancelled after just one season.

Inspiration

The show was modelled on the long-running

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

series ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ov ...

'', where many prominent personalities were also parodied with rubber puppets. The show took many key inspirations from its British predecessor, including use of film parody sketches and musical numbers.

Overview

New Series

Inspiration

See also