Lindenstraße

Lindenstraße
The logo appearing on the series' title screen
Created by	Hans W. Geißendörfer
Starring	See below
Country of origin	Germany
Original language(s)	German
No. of episodes	1614 (as of January 29, 2017)
Production
Camera setup	Multiple-camera setup
Running time	30 minutes
Release
Original network	Das Erste
Original release	8 December 1985 – present
External links
Website

Lindenstraße (literally "Lime Street") is a German television drama series, broadcast by Das Erste. The first episode aired on 8 December 1985 and since then new episodes have aired weekly. Its current timeslot on Das Erste is Sundays at 18:50. The events of the Sunday episode usually take place on the Thursday before the show, based on the TV station's original plan of airing the episodes Thursday night. Prior of the start of the show, the timeslot was switched to Sunday evening but the Thursday remained the day the events usually take place as the show shall feature the daily life routine of the protagonists on a working day. Exceptions are the so-called holiday episodes that take place on Sunday, such as for Christmas and Easter and also on important election days (especially the election to the German Bundestag).

Setting the pace for other soap operas in Germany, the first episodes were met with mostly bad reviews. However, Lindenstraße soon became one of the most successful shows on German TV.

The creator of Lindenstraße is Hans W. Geißendörfer, whose company Geißendörfer Film- und Fernsehproduktion GmbH (GFF - "Geißendörfer film and TV productions") still produces the series today. In the beginning, Geißendörfer also directed the series. It is set in Munich, but filmed at the WDR studios in Cologne-Bocklemünd, where an entire outdoor street mock-up of the eponymous Lindenstraße was built. An actual street named 'Lindenstraße' exists in Munich's Harlaching district, but it has nothing to do with the series' fictional street.

The show is based on the long-running British soap Coronation Street, from which it borrows its main premise (the everyday life of a number of neighbours). It tackles topics such as racism, cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, disabilities (both physical and mental), and homosexuality. In 1987, it gained notoriety for showing the first gay kiss on German television. The show is also known for its prompt incorporation of real-life events and current topics.

United States television actor Larry Hagman made a cameo appearance on Lindenstraße on 19 February 2006.