Hans Peter Wilhelm "Hape" Kerkeling (; born 9 December 1964) is a German comedian, TV presenter, author, and actor.

Career

At secondary school in

Recklinghausen Recklinghausen (; ) is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the capital of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and industry in the south. Recklinghaus ...

, Hape Kerkeling and some fellow students formed a band (''Gesundfutter'', meaning: health food) and published a record (''Hawaii''). Kerkeling started his career as a comedian in radio, working for various German broadcasting companies, such as WDR and BR. His breakthrough came in 1984/85 when, still aged only 19, he got a role in the ''Känguru''

television comedy Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first Television in the United ...

show (the German word for ''

kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

'' deliberately spelt without an "h" at the end although this broke the spelling rules at that time). The best-known character in this show was the little boy ''Hannilein'', played by Kerkeling, an irritating child with red hair in a pudding-basin style, dungarees and sitting on giant-sized chairs, who commented on the world of adults. Later came guest appearances and sketches on the

Radio Bremen Radio Bremen (), shortened to RB () is Germany's smallest Public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster and the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes Bremerha ...

show ''Extratour''. Then in 1989, Kerkeling started up his own comedy TV show, '' Total Normal'' (''Totally Normal''), along with pianist Achim Hagemann. This show, a satirical spoof on prime-time TV shows, had a totally new format and was awarded several television prizes such as the

Goldene Kamera The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show was usually held in early February in Hamburg, but also took place in Berlin on occasion. It has been paused ...

, the Adolf-Grimme-Preis and the

Bayerischer Fernsehpreis The Bavarian TV Awards (German: Bayerischer Fernsehpreis) is an award presented by the government of Bavaria, Germany since 1989. The prize symbol is the "Blue Panther", a figure from the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory. The prize money is €10, ...

. On the show, Kerkeling made television history on 25 April 1991 when he dressed up as Queen

Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born ...

on a state visit to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and almost managed to get into Schloss Bellevue to meet the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

for lunch. The satirical song from this show, ''Das ganze Leben ist ein Quiz'' (''All life is a quiz''), made it into the German pop charts. In 1992, Kerkeling's first film came out: ', which he directed and starred in, as well as helping to write the script. In 1992, Kerkeling turned down an offer by the big

public broadcasting Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

company

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

to work on the popular prime-time show '' Wetten, dass..?'' and instead, without his previous partner Hagemann, moved to the independent television sector with the show ''Cheese''. This was similar in concept to ''Total Normal'' and viewing figures were relatively high; still this is considered as his first flop. In the second half of the 1990s, Kerkeling worked once more for ARD, presenting the show ''Warmumsherz'' (''Heartwarming''), and filmed several television films (' (1995), '' Willi und die Windzors'', 1996; ''Die Oma ist tot'', 1997). In 1999, Kerkeling returned to success with his

Sat.1 Sat.1 () is a German free-to-air television channel that is a part of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media Group. It is considered the first privately owned television network in Germany, having been launched in January 1984 as ''PKS'' ''(Programmgesell ...

show ''Darüber lacht die Welt'' (''What makes the world laugh''). He also presented the yearly fundraising gala for the German AIDS fund ''Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe''. In 2003, he was awarded the

Deutscher Fernsehpreis The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming, created in 1999, by German television channels Das Erste, ZDF, RTL (German TV channel), RTL and Sat.1. It was created to be an equivalen ...

(German Television Prize) in the category ''Best Entertainment Presenter''. In January 2004, Kerkeling made another film titled ''Samba in Mettmann'', which is set in

Mettmann Mettmann () is a town in the northern part of the Bergisches Land, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the Mettmann (district), district of Mettmann, Germany's most densely populated rural district. The town lies ...

North Rhine Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. In May 2004, and a year later in May 2005, he presented the ''Großer Deutsch-Test'' (a national test show for German grammar and spelling) and in October 2004 the ''Großer Deutschlandtest'' (a test about people's knowledge of Germany). In April and May 2006, he presented the live TV show ''Let's Dance'', the German version of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

''/''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'', with

Nazan Eckes Nazan Khol ( Üngör; born 9 May 1976), better known as Nazan Eckes, is a German television presenter. Career Eckes, daughter of Turkish immigrants from Eskişehir, completed her ''Abitur'' high school diploma in 1995 in Leverkusen, where her f ...

German broadcaster ZDF started the production of Kerkeling's ''Ein Mann, ein Fjord!'' (''A Man, A

Fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

!'') in May 2008, directed by Angelo Colagrossi and written by Kerkeling, Angelo Colagrossi and Angelina Maccarone. Starring Jürgen Tarrach, Anneke Kim Sarnau, Matthias Brandt and Horst Krause the film portrays Kerkeling as Horst Schlämmer, Uschi Blum and Gisela. The movie premiered on 21 January 2009, on ZDF. In a survey by the television station

Kabel 1 ''Kabel Eins'' (; meaning Cable One) is a German free-to-air television channel that was launched on 29 February 1992 as ''Der Kabelkanal'' (). It is owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. It is largely known for airing classic American films as wel ...

in 2005, Kerkeling made it into the top ten favourite faces on German television; the only other two presenters were

Günther Jauch Günther Johannes Jauch (; born 13 July 1956) is a German television presenter, television producer, and journalist, best known as the longtime host of ''Wer wird Millionär?'', the German version of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' Career ...

and

Thomas Gottschalk Thomas Johannes Gottschalk (born 18 May 1950 in Bamberg) 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 i ...

. In 2001, Kerkeling went on a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

, following the

Way of St James The Camino de Santiago (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tra ...

for to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

. In June 2006, his book ''Ich bin dann mal weg'' (''I'm off for a bit, then''), his diary of this pilgrimage, was top of the ''

Spiegel Spiegel is German, Yiddish, and Dutch for "mirror". More specifically, it may refer to: Publications * ''Der Spiegel'', a weekly German magazine * ''Der Spiegel'' (website), the online sibling of ''Der Spiegel'' Political * Spiegel scandal, a 1 ...

'' magazine non-fiction bestseller list. By May 2008, it had sold three million copies. It appeared in English in 2009 with the title ''I'm Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino De Santiago''. It has also been translated into French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Latvian, Spanish, and Chinese. Since early 2005, Kerkeling has presented the show ''Hape trifft!'' (which is ambiguous in the German language and may be translated as ''Hape hits the spot!'' or ''Hape meets!'') show, produced by

's production team ''i&u TV'' on

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

. In 2013, Kerkeling spoke and sang the German version of Olaf, a snowman from the new Disney movie '' Frozen''. A film about his childhood was released in 2018, titled ''

All About Me ''All About Me'' is a British television sitcom starring Jasper Carrott about a multicultural family living in Birmingham. It was broadcast on BBC One from 8 March 2002 to 29 October 2004. ''All About Me'' was created by Steven Knight, who also ...

'', based on his semi-autographic book, with the main character played by Julius Weckauf. The film biography by Oscar-winning director

Caroline Link Caroline Link (born 2 June 1964) is a German TV and film director and screenwriter. She is best known for directing critically acclaimed Beyond Silence, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, and for dir ...

was well-received by film critics and the most successful German film of 2018 in German cinemas, selling over 3.8 million tickets. In 2024, an article in Süddeutsche Zeitung described his efforts to research his ancestry, which led to the suggestion that he is a possible descendant of

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

of England.

Personal life

On 10 December 1991, in a German television talkshow, filmmaker

Rosa von Praunheim Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, producer, professor of directing and one of the most influential and famous LGBT social move ...

revealed that Kerkeling, among others, was gay. Kerkeling's comment on the ensuing fuss (mostly in the gutter press) was that while anyone of a more sensitive nature than him would probably have climbed into the bath with a hairdryer, he could not see the point: they would be dragging another poor soul through the dirt the next day anyway. Kerkeling lived with his life partner and co-author Angelo Colagrossi in Berlin. Colagrossi wrote a large number of texts and sketches for ''Total Normal'' and other shows, and co-directed the films ''Kein Pardon'', ''Willi und die Windzors'', ''Die Oma ist tot'', ''Samba in Mettmann'' and ''Ein Mann, ein Fjord!''. In March 2011, Kerkeling announced that he and Colagrossi were getting a divorce.

Characters

Horst Schlämmer

Horst Schlämmer is one of Kerkeling's current characters (and the most successful), the deputy

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

of the fictitious newspaper ''

Grevenbroich Grevenbroich () is a town in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Erft, approximately 15 km southwest of Neuss and 15 km southeast of Mönchengladbach. Cologne and Düsseldorf are in a ...

er Tagblatt''. His motto is to "get up close and ask tough questions". Dressed in a grey trenchcoat and with a small black

manbag A handbag, commonly known as a purse in North American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag used to carry personal items. It has also been called a pocketbook in parts of the U.S. Terminology The term "purse" originally referred to a smal ...

on his arm, he holds interviews at real events such as the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

elections. Schlämmer speaks to interviewees in an overfamiliar manner, using ''du'' for ''you'' rather than the polite ''Sie'', and addressing them as ''Schätzelein'' (''sweetheart''). He seems to think he is a

sex symbol A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive and often synonymous with sexuality. Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British St ...

, attempting to kiss female interviewees despite his loose false teeth. To impress women, he boasts that he earns three thousand (

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

) net a month. On the ARD's

Harald Schmidt Harald Franz Schmidt (born 18 August 1957) is a German actor, comedian, television presenter and writer best known as the host of two popular German late-night shows. Early and private life A son of refugees who fled from Sudetenland (now Cz ...

show, Kerkeling explained his methods. Before a Schlämmer interview, he said, he pours a few drops of strong liquor over his coat, to give the interviewee the impression he or she is being interviewed by a real reporter, but with an alcohol problem, prompting a real response. The single ''Schätzelein'' came out at the start of 2006, including the songs ''Schätzelein'' and ''Meine letzte Zigarette'' (''My last cigarette''). In May 2006 Schlämmer appeared on ''

Wer wird Millionär WER or Wer may refer to: * Wer (god), an Akkadian god * Wer (film), ''Wer'' (film), a 2013 horror film * Were, an archaic term for adult men * Lemon technique, Weak echo region, in meteorology, an area of markedly lower reflectivity within thu ...

'' (the German ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...

'') as a celebrity candidate, and became the first person to persuade

, the presenter of ''Wer wird Millionär'', into the contestant's seat. The two made 500,000 euro for a good cause (German AIDS Foundation). In 2007 a computer game "Weisse Bescheid?!", based on Horst Schlämmer, was released. In 2009 Kerkeling announced a

mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

about Horst Schlämmer running for German Chancellor. It was scheduled to be released to cinemas in Germany shortly before the German federal election of 2009. According to a BBC piece, Horst Schlämmer would receive 18% of the German vote due partly to his Obama inspired slogan, "Yes weekend".

Hannilein

Kerkeling, in ''Kerkelings Kinderstunde'' (Kerkelings children's hour), as a cheeky child of preschool age named ''Hannilein'', with red tousled hair and a bib overall, sits on oversized chairs and comments on the adult world.

Evje van Dampen

Is a female Dutch relationship counselor who meets various German celebrities (such as

Udo Jürgens Jürgen Udo Bockelmann (30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014), generally known as Udo Jürgens, was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, ...

Siggi Schwäbli

Siegfried (Siggi) Schwäbli is a character who first appeared in 1990 in some episodes of ''Total Normal''. Slow-witted, short-sighted and with glasses made of plastic blocks, Siggi constantly puts his foot in it and often has no idea what is going on. At the ''Cannstatter Volksfest'' festival in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, for example, he went on the

ghost train In ghostlore, a ghost train is a phantom vehicle in the form of a locomotive or train. The ghost train differs from other traditional forms of haunting in that rather than being a static location where ghosts are claimed to be present, "the app ...

with

Barbara Schöneberger Barbara von Schierstädt (, ; born 5 March 1974) is a German television presenter, entertainer, actress and singer. Early life Schöneberger is the only child of clarinet player Hans Schöneberger and his wife Annemarie. She studied sociology, ...

, a TV host, and almost passed out with fear.

Gisela

Gisela has recently been discovered by Horst Schlaemmer to act in commercials for ''Krueger Coffee''. She has been happily married to her husband, Wolfgang since 1983.

Uschi Blum

Kerkeling performs as a parody of an overweight, aging German

Schlager music Schlager (, " hit(s)") is a style of European popular music and radio format generally defined by catchy instrumental accompaniments to vocal pieces of pop music with simple, easygoing, and often sentimental lyrics. Schlager tracks are typ ...

singer with streaky success and ridiculous lyrics in her songs.

Awards

;1983 * Scharfrichterbeil ;1991 * Adolf-Grimme-Preis in silver for ''Total Normal'' *

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...

* Bayerischer Fernsehpreis for ''Total Normal'' *

Goldene Europa Goldene Europa award is the oldest German Television award for artists and entertainers. It was awarded from 1968 to 2003. In the years 1989 and 2001, there were no ceremonies. Since 1981, the gala was broadcast on television. The original sculptu ...

for ''Total Normal'' * ''Goldener Gong'' of the TV program magazine ''Gong'' * Bronze Rose of Montreux for ''Total Normal'' *

Telestar The Telestar was a former German television award, created by Das Erste and ZDF. It was succeeded in 1999 by the Deutscher Fernsehpreis The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming ...

;2002 * Peter-Frankenfeld-Preis ;2003 * Deutscher Fernsehpreis (as a host) for ''Die 70er Show'' ;2004 *

for presenting ''Die 70er Show'' *

Deutscher Comedypreis The Deutscher Comedypreis ("German Comedy Award") is awarded by Brainpool TV. Because Brainpool's in-house productions have received extensive awards, the designation as the ''German Comedy Award'' is controversial. The awards ceremony takes plac ...

as best presenter, for ''Die 70er Show'' ;2005 * Deutscher Comedypreis "Best Comedian" * Goldene Kamera "Best TV Entertainer" ;2006 *

''best comedian'' and ''special award'' for Horst Schlämmer *

in the category ''best entertainment broadcasting/best presentation'' for his participation in ''

'' (''

'') celebrity special WM 2006 (RTL) * 1Live Krone from the

1LIVE 1LIVE is a radio station operated by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk public broadcasting corporation in Germany. It broadcasts a CHR format specialised in popular music. Aimed at the 14–39 age demographic, the average age of its listeners is 34. ...

radio network by (WDR) ''best comedian'' *Horst Schlämmer given an award by the independent ''MediumMagazin'' as "honorary entertainment journalist of the year" *''Bestseller Author of the Year'' for 1.1 million copies sold of his travelogue '' Ich bin dann mal weg'' * Honorary member of the Verein Deutsche Sprache (German Language Association) ;2007 * Adolf-Grimme-Preis ''Special Honor of the Association of German Adult Education Centres'' * Verdienstorden des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen Order of Merit from North Rhine-Westphalia *

Osgar Osgar was a 10th-century Abbot of Abingdon in the English county of Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). Osgar was a cleric in minor orders who went with Saint Aethelwold from Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, ...

in the category "Charity" ;2015 *Goldene Kamera Jubilee Award ;2018 *

(Bavarian TV Award), Bavarian Minister-President's award

Works

* * **

References

External links

German website

Hape Kerkeling erhält den Adolf-Grimme-Preis

"German Borat shakes up election" BBC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerkeling, Hape 1964 births People from Recklinghausen German gay actors Gay comedians German satirists German parodists German gay writers German autobiographers German male comedians German people of Dutch descent German television presenters German LGBTQ broadcasters German LGBTQ comedians 20th-century German LGBTQ people 21st-century German LGBTQ people Living people Members of the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia German male non-fiction writers RTL Group people ARD (broadcaster) people Westdeutscher Rundfunk people Radio Bremen people Comedians from North Rhine-Westphalia Male actors from North Rhine-Westphalia