Ein Herz und eine Seele
| Ein Herz und eine Seele | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Wolfgang Menge (based on Till Death Us Do Part, created by Johnny Speight) |
| Starring |
Heinz Schubert Elisabeth Wiedemann (season one) Hildegard Krekel Diether Krebs (season one) Helga Feddersen (season two) Klaus Dahlen (season two) |
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Original language(s) | German |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 25 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 44 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network |
WDR Das Erste |
| Original release | January 15, 1973 – November 22, 1976 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
Till Death Us Do Part All in the Family |
Ein Herz und eine Seele (literally "One Heart and One Soul" i.e. "hand in glove") is a German cult sitcom based on the British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part by Johnny Speight. The show premiered on January 15, 1973 and lasted for about twenty episodes, airing its last on November 4, 1974. In 1976, the show had a short-lived revival with another four episodes. Ein Herz und eine Seele was written by Wolfgang Menge.
The show was extremely successful during its initial run and it still proves very popular in reruns. Two episodes in particular, Sylvesterpunsch (about the family's New Year's Eve party) and Rosenmontagszug (set during the winter carnival season) have gained such popularity that they are now shown traditionally on German TV on New Year's Eve and Rosenmontag, respectively.
The show reflects the life of a petty bourgeois family in West German Wattenscheid, characterised by the social climate of the Willy Brandt era and its political upheavals initiated by the German student movement of 1968. Ein Herz und eine Seele makes intensive use of references to German politics and social issues of the early and mid-1970s, when Germany was still divided, not just between East and West, but also (in the case of West Germany) between liberal and conservative. To feature these proceedings in a TV series broke new ground at that time.
The undisputed star is Ekel ("creep") Alfred Tetzlaff (Heinz Schubert), commercial clerk, a born Sudeten German, Bild reader and reactionary patriarch, who is constantly arguing with his wife Else, his daughter Rita, and his son-in-law Michael. He is a declared foe of the SPD government ruining the country only to sell it to the Mongols, of foreigners, Gastarbeiter, Jews and the women's movement. During his term of service at the Wehrmacht he had toured to Paris, which finds expression in his (dubious) language skills. Alfred's appearance, small in physique with a mustache and side-parted hair, along with his passionate politicking with a high-pitched voice and frequent hand movements, make his character somewhat reminiscent of Adolf Hitler. Raised in Berlin he is a dedicated fan of Hertha BSC, which makes life somewhat hard in the Ruhr area.
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Wikipedia