Farmer is looking for a wife

Bauer sucht Frau is the title of two documentary soaps started in 2005 ; once the German television station RTL and also the Austrian TV station ATV , the farmers (and later farmers) life partner search.

Both programs differ in details, but are based on the British format Farmer Wants a Wife , which was first broadcast on ITV1 in 2001 . A similar format called Bauer sucht Bäuerin was broadcast on Swiss television as early as 1983 . Since 2019 RTL has also been broadcasting an international version called Bauer sucht Frau International , where local women can apply for German-speaking farmers from abroad.

Germany (RTL)

Television broadcast
Original title	Farmer is looking for a wife
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Year (s)	since 2005
Production company	MME MOVIEMENT AG up to 6th season, GRUNDY Light Entertainment from 7th season
length	(Seasons 1–12): 45 minutes, (since season 13): 90 minutes
Episodes	138+ (+ 16 episodes "The great reunion" and 14 episodes "Die neue Bauern") in 15 seasons
genre	Documentary soap
Moderation	Inca Bause
First broadcast	October 2, 2005 on RTL

RTL first broadcast the format in October 2005, somewhat after the Austrian television station ATV. Inka Bause is the moderator .

From June to November 2016, reruns were broadcast on RTLplus .

concept

The farmers - usually boldly referred to in the narration as "rough cattle farmer" or "shy pig farmer", usually as alliteration as in the first example - are presented in a pilot program several months before the start of the season. The applicants - usually women - can write them personal letters. From the applications received, the farmers usually select two women who are invited to a barn festival to get to know each other better. Here farmers can choose one or both of the applicants they invite to their farm. There the prospective farmers have to prove themselves in the fields and in the stables and try to win the hearts of the respective farmers. After a week the couples go their separate ways again. Whether a relationship has formed in the end, whether they move in together or even have a wedding will be shown in the final show.

Since the applicants have to be independent farmers with their own farm, most of them come from West Germany , as agriculture in the East German federal states is mostly operated by agricultural limited liability companies or agricultural cooperatives.

With the start of the fourth season, which began broadcasting in October 2008, the number plates of vehicles shown, station signs, destination information on trains and buses and the ear tags of the cattle were made unrecognizable (so-called "pixelation") , so that no conclusions can be drawn about them Person of the farmer is possible.

In the fifth season of 2009, a female farmer was looking for the first time, and in the seventh season of 2011 a homosexual farmer was looking for a man for the first time. There was another innovation in the ninth season from October 21, 2013. There, farmer Lena was looking for a woman for life. In the 13th season (2017), a farmer from outside the DA-CH countries or Luxembourg was part of the game for the first time. The German-born Gerald from Namibia had also received the most letters across all seasons and, due to his exceptional situation, was able to choose from among five women at the barn festival.

After a farmer from Namibia was represented again in the 14th season in 2018, RTL made its own five-part program a year later with the spin-off Bauer sucht Frau International , which is broadcast before the regular Bauer sucht Frau series. In 2019, six German-speaking farmers from six countries on three continents took part, each of whom were able to invite three aspirants to join them.

Some of the farmers involved, such as Schäfer Heinrich, will continue to be accompanied by RTL in public appearances and also marketed in other documentary soaps. Continuous is also reported by Josef and the Thai woman Narumol, who participated in the fifth season and in 2010 married; z. For example, that in 2016 they took in ten refugees in converted holiday apartments on their farm in Upper Bavaria.

The 2017 season finale was filmed at Schloss Diedersdorf south of Berlin.

background

The first two seasons of Bauer sucht Frau ran on Sunday evening, from the start of the third season on October 22, 2007 to the end of the twelfth season on December 12, 2016, the show ran on Monday evening at 9.15 p.m., since the 13th season at 8 p.m. 3pm.

success

Bauer sucht Frau reached an average of 7.52 million viewers per episode in the third season (market share 23.9 percent). On November 19, 2007, the show reached 8 million viewers for the first time (market share 27.5 percent), which means that the show reached more viewers at 9.15 p.m. than the previous version of Wer wird Millionär? The 75-minute final show of the third season on December 17, 2007 marked a new record with 8.45 million viewers (26.9 percent market share). On November 17, 2008, a new rating record was achieved in the fourth season with 8.59 million viewers (27.4 percent market share). The fifth season, which began on October 26, 2009, saw an average of 7.99 million viewers per episode. The final broadcast on December 21, 2009 reached the season record with 8.56 million viewers (market share 25.3 percent). The sixth season watched an average of 8 million viewers per episode (24.3 percent market share). The seventh season reached an average of 7.71 million viewers per episode (market share 23.9 percent).

criticism

In the opinion of the then President of the German Farmers' Association, Gerd Sonnleitner , the program reproduced " a stupid and false cliché " about farmers that had nothing to do with reality. The farmers would be presented as " lonely fools who don't know how to behave ".

Romuald Schaber , chairman of the Federal Association of German Dairy Farmers, criticized the fact that the broadcast format presented "half-silly jokers", the display of which would set false clichés in the minds of the audience.

irregularities

• In the fourth season, a participant in front of the camera sexually stimulated his chickens with his finger. The animal rights organization PETA filed a complaint.
• At the end of December 2009, after the fifth season had been broadcast, it was announced that an alleged timber builder was actually a forestry specialist, lived in a three-room apartment and had rented the yard where the film was shot from a friend.
• An irregularity also occurred with regard to the participation of a grain farmer in the fifth season: He had only applied to Bauer sucht Frau on the basis of a bet and was still in steady hands at the time.
• In June 2012 it became known that one of the farmers who were running, who had previously been presented as a “tender goat farmer”, had been a member of the right-wing extremist NPD until 2005 , after which he had to leave the show at the instigation of RTL.

DVD

All episodes of the 6th season were released on February 25, 2011 by Universum Film GmbH on DVD.

Austria (ATV)

Television broadcast
Original title	Farmer is looking for a wife
Country of production	Austria
Year (s)	since 2005
genre	Documentary soap
Moderation	2005–2013: Katrin Lampe since 2014: Arabella Kiesbauer
First broadcast	2005 on ATV

ATV also broadcast “Bauer sucht Frau” in 2005, but before the German broadcaster RTL.

The show has been moderated by Arabella Kiesbauer since 2014 . Her predecessor was Katrin Lampe , who announced at the beginning of January 2014 that she would end her moderation work for Bauer sucht Frau after the tenth season.

The theme song of the 15th season is the single Ich want 'nen Bauern als Mann by Melissa Naschenweng , released in February 2018 , a cover version of Ich want' nen Cowboy als Mann .

concept

Ten to fifteen loving farmers from all over Austria are presented before potential farmers can apply to take part in the program. Then the farmers can choose three candidates, who should come to their farm for a maximum of one week. One has to leave the farm of the farmer after just 24 hours. The other two candidates spend a week trying to win the farmer's heart. In the end, the farmer has to choose one of the other two women. Since 2006 women farmers have also participated in the program.

success

The start of the ATV broadcast in 2005 was extremely successful. "Bauer sucht Frau" is ATV's most successful television show; the thirteenth season has been broadcast since June 1, 2016.

International versions

The format was also taken up in other countries. In Australia , the first season on Nine Network began on October 24, 2007 . In the United States , The CW aired the first season of its version from April 30, 2008 to June 25, 2008.

country	Surname	Channel	language	First broadcast
United Kingdom	Farmer Wants a Wife	ITV1	English	2001
Belgium	Boer zoekt vrouw	VTM	Dutch	2004
Netherlands	Boer zoekt vrouw	KRO		2004
Norway	Bonderomantikk	TV2	Norwegian	2004
France	L'amour est dans le pré	M6	French	2005
Austria	Farmer is looking for a wife	ATV	German	2005
Germany	Land & love	NDR		2005
	Farmer is looking for a wife	RTL		2005
	Country seeks love	Sat 1		2012
Finland	Maajussille morsian	MTV3	Finnish	2006
Sweden	Bonde söker fru	TV4	Swedish	2006
Denmark	Landmand søger kærlighed	TV3	Danish	2006
Australia	The Farmer Wants a Wife	Nine Network	English	2007
Estonia	Maamees otsib naist	Channel 2	Estonian	2007
South Africa	Boer soek 'n Vrou	M-Net	Afrikaans	2007
United States	Farmer Wants a Wife	The CW	English	2008
Switzerland	Farmer, single, looking	3+	German	2008
Spain	Granjero busca esposa	Cuatro	Spanish	2008
Greece	Αγρότης μόνος ψάχνει	Alpha TV	Greek	2009
		Skai TV		2020
Slovakia	Farmár hľadá ženu	TV JOY	Slovak	2010
Ukraine	Фермер шукає дружину	STB	Ukrainian	2011
Croatia	ljubav na selu	RTL Televizija	Croatian	20 ??
Hungary	Házasodna a gazda	RTL club	Hungarian	2012
Poland	Rolnik szuka żony	TVP1	Polish	2014
Latvia	Saimnieks meklē Sievu	TV3	Latvian	2018

Web links

• Farmer Wants a Wife (RTL) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Farmer Wants a Wife (ATV) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Bauer sucht Frau (RTL) on RTL.de
• Farmer is looking for a woman (ATV) on ATV.at
• Land is looking for love (Sat.1) on Sat1.de
• Bauer sucht Frau (RTL) look online at nowtv.de
• Bauer sucht Frau (RTL) and Bauer sucht Frau (ATV) on the official UFA website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ TV: Farmer is looking for a wife - who invented it? in Süddeutsche Zeitung on January 30, 2008
2. ↑ Bauer is looking for women internationally. Retrieved April 13, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Bauer sucht Frau: First gay farmer in the show on RTL.de from June 7, 2011
4. ↑ Bauer sucht Frau 2013: Love crackling at the Scheinenfest In: augsburger-allgemeine.de. October 21, 2013, accessed October 24, 2013.
5. ↑ saw: "Farmer is looking for a wife" - dream couple: Josef and Narumol take in refugees. In: Focus Online . March 12, 2016, accessed October 14, 2018 . 
6. ^ "Farmer is looking for a wife" overtakes Jauch , DWDL from November 20, 2007
7. ↑ "Farmer is looking for a woman" with record rate  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Media control press release from November 18, 2008  
8. ↑ TV ratings: “Bauer sucht Frau” ends with a relay record in Spiegel Online on December 22, 2009
9. ↑ Strong season end for “Bauer sucht Frau” / That is what the couples of the sixth season have become. RTL press release of December 21, 2010
10. ↑ Good conclusion to “Bauer sucht Frau” / That is what happened to the couples in the seventh season. RTL press release of December 20, 2011
11. ↑ TV series: Einsame Dottel in Der Spiegel No. 48/2007 of November 26, 2007
12. ^ Romuald Schaber : Blood milk - How the farmers fight for survival , Pattloch Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-629-02273-8 , p. 38/39
13. ↑ Katharina Miklis: Farmer is looking for a wife: climax with chicken porn. In: stern.de. December 9, 2008, accessed October 24, 2013 . 
14. ↑ http://www.rp-online.de/panorama/fernsehen/meldung-gegen-rtl-bauer-hansi-erstracht-aid-1.2021620
15. ↑ bas / dpa: Cheating: Fake farmers on RTL. In: T-Online. December 23, 2009, accessed October 30, 2012 . 
16. ↑ kjo : Ex-Nazi flies out of the RTL dome show. In: Focus Online . June 1, 2012, accessed October 30, 2012 . 
17. ^ "Farmer is looking for a wife": Kiesbauer goes to the ATV stable. In: kurier.at. January 4, 2014, accessed December 23, 2017 . 
18. ↑ "Farmer is looking for a wife": Katrin Lampe leaves ATV. In: DiePresse.com. January 2, 2014, accessed January 14, 2018 . 
19. ↑ ATV.at: The theme song for the new farmer is looking for a woman season . Retrieved June 5, 2018.
20. ↑ Melissa Naschenweng wants a farmer as a man! . Article dated February 17, 2018, accessed June 5, 2018.
21. ^ "Farmer's wife looking for a husband" in the sixth season. In: derStandard.at. May 20, 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2017 . 
22. ↑ http://www.news.at/a/bauer-sucht-frau-kandidaten-13-staffel-6389610
23. ↑ Premiere of Farmer Wants a Wife in the USA