Bernd das Brot
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Bernd das Brot ( en, Bernd the bread) is a
puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...
character, star
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
and
cult figure A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. A ...
of the German children's television channel
KI.KA KiKA (contraction of ''Der KinderKAnal von ARD und ZDF''  ARD and ZDF">ARD_(broadcaster).html" ;"title="he Children's Channel of ARD (broadcaster)">ARD and ZDF]) is a German free-to-air television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is man ...
, currently featured in the programs ''Bernd das Brot'', '' Bravo Bernd'', and the KI.KA late night loop program.


Role on KI.KA

Bernd is a depressed, grumpy,
curmudgeon Curmudgeon may refer to: * ''Dyskolos'', sometimes translated ''The Curmudgeon'', an ancient Greek comic play by Menander * ''Curmudgeons'' (film), a 2016 short film See also * '' I, Curmudgeon'', a 2004 documentary film by Alan Zweig * The Comi ...
ly, constantly bad-tempered, surly,
fatalistic Fatalism is a family of related philosophical doctrines that stress the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or destiny, and is commonly associated with the consequent attitude of resignation in the face of future events which are thou ...
,
melancholic Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout History of medicine#Greece and Roman Empire, ancient, medieval medicine of Western Europe, medieval and Lear ...
loaf of pullman bread speaking in a deep, gloomy
baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
. He is small, rectangular and golden brown with hands directly attached to his body, rings around his eyes and a thin-lipped mouth. According to himself, he belongs to the species "Homo Brotus (= 'Breadus') Depressivus". His favourite activities include staring at his south wall at home, learning the pattern of his woodchip wallpaper by heart, reading his favourite magazine ''The Desert and You'', and enlarging his collection of the most boring railway tracks on video. Bernd sympathizes firstly with himself. His favorite expression is ''Mist.'', used in much the same way as the English "crap". His other catchphrases are: "I would like to be left alone," "I would like to leave this show," and "My life is hell." According to the official version, the short-armed bread character made its first appearance as part of an advertising campaign for a bakery chain. When the campaign turned out unsuccessful, Bernd was forced to apply for job at the KI.KA (more specifically, the MDR member of the ARD) which is also the reason for his permanent scowl. Bernd himself does not want to appear on television and thinks it is a "dirty business". Bernd interacts with two co-main characters. One is the chatty Chili das Schaf (''Chili the Sheep''), a female, yellow sheep with flaming red hair. Chili, the show's Gastgeberin (''hostess''), is a Stuntschaf (''stuntsheep'') who finds it exciting to have close calls with accidents. The other main character is the show's technical expert, the always pleasant Briegel der Busch (''Briegel the Bush''), a green, bespectacled bush with flowers and leaves in lieu of hair. Briegel is an inventor who loves to build complicated devices that almost inevitably explode of their own accord - these devices are usually what is sold on the show. In contrast to Bernd, they enjoy adventures and the excitement of life. Bernd doesn't hide that he doesn't think very highly of his colleagues, refusing to call them by name (instead calling them "Bush" and "Sheep" respectively) while they treat him as their best friend, even give him nicknames such as "Bernti". The first show starring Bernd, Chili and Briegel was the 2001
pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...
''Tolle Sachen, die einzige Werbesendung auf KI.KA'' (English: ''Great things, the only advertising show on KI.KA'') (KI.KA is actually a public, commercial-free channel, similar to its parent channels ARD and
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 ...
, and
PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, ...
in the United States). In this show Chili and Briegel would advertise an object that would be tested by a "randomly" chosen tester that would invariably turn out to be Bernd. Shows with Bernd, Chili and Briegel also include pastiches of
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...
,
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
(owned by
ViacomCBS Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. I ...
, owner of the German version of
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
, KI.KA's competitor)
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
and
fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...
.


Production

Bernd was created in 2000 by Norman Cöster and , of the production company Bumm Film in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, Bavaria. KI.KA had asked several entertainment companies to create a new sheep mascot, including
The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...
. Krappweis and Cöster were dining in a pizzeria one night and scribbled sketches on a napkin while watching a bread basket. Cöster said "Bread is funny". Krappweis obtained a square-shaped loaf of bread to which he then gave the face of his colleague Norman Cöster, who also shares many personality traits with Bernd. Upon that idea, Bernd and lateron the other figures were developed Similarly, Krappweis himself served as archetype for Chili the Sheep, who - just like Krappweis himself in his earlier years - gets on people's nerves with nonsensical stunts, while Briegel the Bush was modeled after a further producer of the series, Michael Briegel. He, too, is said to have a predisposition for wreaking havoc - according to an anecdote, he once set fire to an office computer. The actual character designs of Bernd and Briegel are the work of
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
Georg Graf von Westphalen. Bernd is played and voiced by the
puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...
Jörg Teichgraeber.


Reception

Although Bernd was created in 2000, and has been on television since 2001, he first rose to fame in 2003. Until then, KI.KA was sharing its satellite channel frequency with the Franco-German channel
Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...
, but after 2003, KI.KA got the frequency for itself. As a children's channel, KI.KA did not air programs between 9pm and 6am, but instead of putting a simple test card, programmers decided to air a late night loop program starring Bernd every night. In the 2005 version of the program, Bernd constantly stated that he had had enough of television and was going home and advised the viewers to do likewise. The night loop program continues to this day. This program allowed late-night adult viewers to discover Bernd; those viewers would then discuss the bread loaf on Internet forums, buy Bernd-das-Brot merchandising and CDs although none of them were advertised, and participate in Bernd-themed KI.KA competitions alongside children. How many adult viewers watch Bernd remains unknown, because KI.KA is a children's channel whose programs officially end at 9pm and thus no audience measurement is made for KI.KA during the night, at the time the Bernd night loop program airs. Furthermore, KI.KA's main audience being children, adults are not counted even in audience measurements performed during official airing times. Bernd has thousands of child and adult fans in Germany and is greatly popular. Jeremy Wasser of ''
Spiegel Online ''Der Spiegel (online)'' is a German news website. Before the renaming in January 2020, the website's name was ''Spiegel Online'' (short ''SPON''). It was founded in 1994 as the online offshoot of the German news magazine, ''Der Spiegel'', wit ...
'' wrote that "Bernd epitomized the fundamental pessimism felt by many, if not most, Germans about, well, almost everything. (...) That Germans would take to a character like Bernd and be willing to engage in this form of self-analysis and self-mockery should, in my view, be commended. That the people of the land of
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
and
Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...
would choose as their guide in this spiritual exploration a clinically depressed loaf of bread, is, perhaps, just another improbable element of the German
Zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' () ("spirit of the age") is an invisible agent, force or Daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. Now, the term is usually associated with Georg W. F. ...
". David Frogier de Ponlevoy, also of ''Spiegel Online'', commented that Bernd shows were "a successful mix of
slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
and irony that irresistibly brings families in good mood." The ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...
'' wrote that the idea of making a depressed loaf of bread the star of a children's channel was crazily funny. In 2004, Bernd das Brot won the
Adolf Grimme Award The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme. for representing "the right to bad mood" and resisting "the reign of good mood that endlessly drones out of the television". The ''
Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...
'' commented that "most likely the jury realized just how subversive Bernd das Brot's attitude is when many human beings these days are willing to do almost anything to achieve fame and fortune on TV". The Adolf Grimme Award is the German equivalent of the
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
.


Kidnapping

In fall 2007, KI.KA donated a statue of Bernd to the German city of
Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
, Thuringia, where KI.KA is based, to celebrate the channel's tenth anniversary. The statue is high, weighs and is made of plastic. It stands on the Fischmarkt (English: ''Fish market''), the city's main square, next to the neo-gothic town hall and is a tourist attraction. On 21 January 2009, the figure disappeared. It was next seen in a video released on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, in which a group of activists calling themselves "Team 129 A" claimed responsibility for its kidnapping. Bernd expressed solidarity with the activists in the video, prompting several media to joke that he had developed
Stockholm syndrome Stockholm syndrome is a condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors. It is supposed to result from a rather specific set of circumstances, namely the power imbalances contained in hostage-taking, kidnapping, an ...
. The activists were
squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
in the abandoned
Topf and Sons J. A. Topf and Sons (german: J. A. Topf & Söhne) was an engineering company, founded in 1878 in Erfurt, Germany by Johannes Andreas Topf (1816–1891). Originally, it made heating systems and brewing and malting equipment. Later, the company div ...
factory, where ovens and gas chamber ventilation systems for the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp were manufactured. The occupation was to prevent the city of Erfurt from redeveloping the area into apartments and office space. They opened a literary cafe and were giving lecture events. The negotiations broke down when the activists rejected an offer for alternative housing. The squatters themselves denied involvement in Bernd's kidnapping, claiming a group of sympathizers might be responsible for it. The public broadcaster
Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR; ''Central German Broadcasting'') is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. Established in January 1991, its headquarters are in Leipzig, with regional studio ...
, which owns the rights to Bernd das Brot, quickly forced YouTube to remove the video from the site by having their lawyers claim copyright infringements. Steffen Kottkamp, head of KI.KA, strongly criticized Bernd's kidnapping. Krappweis called for the figure's return, stating that "Kidnapping, even of bread loaves, is the wrong means of achieving political goals". Fans set up an online petition calling for the return of the statue in Erfurt. The Bernd figure was eventually found intact by chance on 1 February 2009 in the basement vault of a disused barracks in
Nohra Nohra is a village and a former municipality in the Weimarer Land district of Thuringia, Germany. Since December 2019, it is part of the municipality Grammetal. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Utzberg was incorporated by Nohra. Nohr ...
, between Erfurt and
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
. According to ''Spiegel Online'', five children had been searching the area to collect period artifacts before it was demolished. They then discovered the Bernd statue and alerted KI.KA and the police. How the statue ended up there is unknown. After forensics experts confirmed that it was the genuine statue, it was carried out of the basement by six police officers and ultimately brought back to its original location on the Fischmarkt in front of Erfurt's town hall.


Works


Music

* 2003: Tanzt das Brot (Single) * 2003: Rockt das Brot (Album)
Chili-TV-Rap / Ich habe ein kleines Cha Cha Cha / Ich sage NEIN / Zu spät / Bluesbrot Bernd / Briegel, komm / Ich will wieder heim / Tanzt das Brot / Saulaut (gesungen von Chili dem Schaf) / Bielefeld / Easy Briegel / Schreit das Schaf (gesungen von Chili dem Schaf) / Buschig, brotig, chilischarf / Geht einfach alle weg / Dubididum * 2004: Bernds Balkon (Single) Exklusives on Sampler: * 2001: Was geht ab? (on the Sampler ''KiKA-Hits'') * 2007: Tanzt das Brot (Party-Mix 2007) (on the Sampler ''KiKA Hits – Das Beste aus den ersten 10 Jahren'') * 2007: P… wie Party (on the Sampler ''KiKA Geburtstagsparty'') * 2008: Fußball Fußball Hey Hey Hey (on the Sampler ''KiKA Fußball-Hits'')


Video games

* ''Kikania'' (2001, Ubisoft) * ''Bernd das Brot und die Unmöglichen'' (2013, Deep Silver)


References


External links

* * (in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernd Das Brot German television personalities Children's television characters Puppets Fictional food characters Mascots introduced in 2000 Male characters in television Male characters in advertising Television mascots Grimme-Preis for fiction winners