Mainzelmännchen
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The Mainzelmännchen are six comedic cartoon characters used as mascots for German public service television broadcaster ZDF. They first aired on television in 1963 as a way to accommodate a government regulation disallowing confusion between advertising and content. The cartoon characters served as a transition between the two.[1]
They appear in between ads during broadcast, in roughly three to five second clips, and often during the satirical news program Heute-show. The name is a combination Mainz, headquarters for ZDF, and Heinzelmännchen, a type of gnome common in folklore surrounding the city of Cologne. Wolf Gerlach created the characters.[2][3]
The Mainzelmännchen have become quite popular across Germany. Radio dramas have been created surrounding them, as well as children's books, and numerous other kinds of merchandise.
Appearance and Actions[edit]
The Mainzelmännchen are either wights or dwarves, and express similarities to Heinzelmännchen. They often wear a Phrygian cap, similar to garden gnomes, however they lack a beard. Their appearances often last three to five seconds, during which they perform a single short gag. They usually speak in only a few short words, in a grumbly tone. Many of the gags are presented only visually and pantomimically. Their most famous saying is the traditional greeting „Gud’n Aamd“, a dialect coloured "Guten Abend" ("good evening"). Their given names are Anton, Berti, Conni, Det, Edi and Fritzchen.
References[edit]
- ^ "Who are those Cartoon Men on German TV? The Mainzelmännchen!!!". A German Girl in America. 2018-01-26. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
- ^ "Die Mainzelmännchen". www.zdf.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-05-18.
- ^ "ZDF Werbefernsehen: Die Mainzelmännchen". www.zdf-werbefernsehen.de. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
- ZDF
- 1963 German television series debuts
- German children's animated television series
- Male characters in advertising
- Fictional German people
- Corporate mascots
- Cartoon mascots
- Television mascots
- Television characters introduced in 1963
- Comedy television characters
- Television shows adapted into comics
- German comic strips
- German comics characters
- Animated characters introduced in 1963