Everyday history (series of reports)

Television broadcast
Original title	Everyday story
Country of production	Austria
original language	German
Year (s)	1985-2006
Production company	Cosmos Factory (1998-2006)
length	43-48, sometimes 35-40 minutes 1985-89: often 60 minutes
Episodes	60
genre	report
idea	Elizabeth T. Spira

Everyday history is the title of a television report series by the Austrian television journalist Elizabeth T. Spira (1942–2019), which was produced from 1985 to 2006 for ORF . After ten years at "teleobjektiv" and a short guest appearance at "Inlandsreport", Spira developed the "everyday stories" concept together with the historian Michael Mitterauer, and interviewed and observed people predominantly in public spaces as part of the program .

content

Each issue focuses on a specific location, sometimes a specific topic. Most of the episodes focus on the federal capital Vienna . Many of the episodes from the 1980s that have rarely been broadcast in recent years are characterized by a historical background such as the war or imperial era. Often a look is taken at the life of the so-called “little people” and their problems. Thereby strange people or those who reveal very emotional or personal things about their life appear again and again. In front of the camera, there are often heated and political discussions. The journalist is never in the picture during the broadcast, you can only hear her voice when asking questions. In some, especially older editions, it cannot be heard either, and only a speaker leads the program. The everyday stories are often supported by music. In between, melodies , sometimes German or international hits, are played. Some editions are characterized by a melody that recurs several times. Another typical feature of the film series is that individual objects are repeatedly shown in full screen for a few seconds.

Due to the often amusing events or representations and her special way of asking questions, Elizabeth T. Spira and her everyday stories became known beyond the Austrian borders. The film series is a portrayal of the typically Austrian soul. The journalist has received numerous prizes for this, such as the Austrian State Prize for Cultural Journalism , the Johann-Nestroy-Ring and the TV Prize of the Austrian National Education . Many of the elements such as music, questions or the view of objects were applied in a similar way in Spira's series of love stories and marriage matters, which were produced with great success until 2019 .

Episode overview

Year of production	title
1985	Don't play with the street kids: childhood in the imperial city
1986	No time for tenderness: childhood in the country A life for rulership: on the happiness and misery of subservient spirits School stories from the imperial era: School before World War II
1987	Servants and maidservants: the day began at four in the morning On the roll First love and marriage matters Youth under the swastika
1988	Long live defiance and strength At the Stammtisch - a home film And you are outside
1989	You nothing fascist, you charascho: post-war youth in Vienna First of all for a summer break Heimatlieb 'and German singing: Carinthian impressions
1990	Returning home without arrival: Vienna - Prague and back Forward and forget Holiday at the campsite Heavenly messengers for earth misery
1991	Vienna on the belt Because dog hearts beat loyally Circus: my life In the park
1992	Small border traffic Life behind monastery walls Little luck in the allotment garden The darn neighbors
1993	My grandma is going to Mallorca in winter Honey, I'm in the Prater Meeting point: subway
1994	In the café Life in the waiting room The Kaisermühlen site Rest on the highway
1995	Women in the factory Market hall: Wien Mitte Everyday stories from Vienna - a collage Happiness is a bird At the Heuriger At the sausage stand
1996	In the laundromat At the bus stop Danube Islanders You get used to it
1997	At the train station In a small pastry shop Niederhofstrasse - Untermeidling
1998	In the bathroom Border stroll At Brigittaplatz
1999	Nine hours of flight from home The desperados of the 10th district
2000	In the displacement office
2001	People in the hotel In espresso
2001/2002	On Brünnerstrasse
2002	In the Großfeldsiedlung
2002/2003	Meldemannstrasse 25-27
2004	At the Brunnenmarkt Tattooed
2005/2006	Federal highway B 54

1. ↑ The recording of the episode Knechte und Mägde took place in 1986.
2. ↑ The last episode was recorded until March 2, 2005, but was not broadcast until 2006.

The 1988 issue of Am Stammtisch was never broadcast for 28 years, except for short excerpts. The reason for this was misanthropic and anti-Semitic statements by people filmed in the context of the documentation, especially in connection with the discussion about the then Federal President Kurt Waldheim in the context of the Waldheim affair . Spira, who was Jewish herself, insisted on being broadcast and was therefore given a short leave of absence. It was first broadcast on August 28, 2016.

Broadcasting and audience ratings

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the program was broadcast at irregular times on Fridays from around 9:10 p.m. on ORF 2 and reached up to a million viewers per issue. Since 2007, every year during the summer from July to the end of August or the beginning of September, some editions from the 1990s or 2000s have been repeated on ORF 2 on Sundays from around 9:55 p.m., since 2016 only at around 11 p.m. For a number of years, the series achieved ratings of up to 500,000 viewers and a market share of up to 25% and, with the exception of daily information programs, was one of the most watched programs on ORF on Sundays in summer. With the move to the later broadcast slot, the number of viewers has dropped to around 200,000 viewers. In 2017, the repetitions were limited to four issues in July (Sundays from around 10:55 p.m.). In August, newer documentaries of a similar nature by other directors were shown on this slot. Everyday stories have been shown again in August since 2018. Since 2015, individual issues have been broadcast on ORF III at irregular intervals . On the occasion of the death of Elizabeth T. Spira in March 2019, four episodes each Tuesday from July 2 to September 3 on ORF III and an additional episode on ORF 2 from July 23 to August 27 sent at around 11:20 p.m. On these slots, editions from the 1980s and early 1990s that had not been shown for a long time were sometimes shown. In summer 2020, three episodes have been shown on ORF III on Thursdays from 9:05 p.m. since July 2. The Sunday repetitions on ORF 2 begin on July 19.

Part of the program is also shown on 3sat , mainly in the night program . In 2008 and 2010, individual issues were also shown on BR-alpha . All editions were produced in a 4: 3 aspect ratio . For broadcasts from summer 2019 on ORF III, the picture was enlarged to an aspect ratio of 14: 9 ( 16: 9 for individual issues ).

Web links

• ORF website for the broadcast

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kurier: ORF legend Elizabeth T. Spira is dead . Article dated March 9, 2019, accessed March 10, 2019.
2. ↑ derstandard.at: Mrs. Elizabeth T. Spiras feeling for the "good G'schicht" . Report of March 9, 2019, accessed March 15, 2019
3. ↑ derstandard.at: Off to home! Spira's everyday story from 1988, never shown, was first broadcast on ORF . Report dated August 28, 2016, accessed March 31, 2018
4. ↑ spiegel.de: Modernes Leben: Eiertanz um Antisemitismus , accessed on September 24, 2014
5. ↑ APA-OTS press release: Successful start for ORF “love stories and marriage matters” , accessed on July 6, 2016
6. ↑ fernsehserien.de: Overview of the broadcast dates , accessed on September 24, 2014