The Hesselbachs

The Hesselbachs were a Hessian radio and television family from the early days of the Federal Republic of Germany, produced by Hessischer Rundfunk . The "Hesselbachs" were developed from a cabaret broadcast for the radio by the author and main actor Wolf Schmidt (Karl Hesselbach, also known as "Babba"). The three seasons of the television series had the greatest success with the public and with their enormous audience ratings , up to 93% at the top, are considered real street sweepers .

Belong to the family:

Father: Karl Hesselbach
Mother: Marie Hesselbach
Older son: Willy Hesselbach (authorized signatory)
Older daughter: Anneliese Hesselbach
Younger daughter: Heidi Hesselbach
Younger son: Peter Hesselbach

The radio play series

On September 17, 1949, the Hessischer Rundfunk broadcast the first of 77 radio plays about the Hesselbach family. The individual episodes lasted between 23 and 68 minutes. Most of the radio plays have been preserved in the Hessischer Rundfunk archive, although they have been repeated relatively rarely. A total of three seasons were produced up to 1956 under the following titles:

Family Hesselbach (Director: Karlheinz Schilling )
Authorized officer a. D. Hesselbach, Office for Life Counseling (Director: Otto Stadler )
Hesselbach GmbH (Director: Karlheinz Schilling)

Some of the radio plays have now appeared on CDs for sale. In the first episode Anny Hannewald spoke the "Mamma" and Lia Wöhr the daughter Anneliese. From the second episode Wöhr took over the part of the mother, Sofie Engelke played the role of Anneliese and Joost Siedhoff spoke the son Willy, as also later in the television series.

Episodes

First broadcast in brackets

The Hesselbach family. A Hessian chronicle of everyday life

(The numbering was only carried out by the ARD radio play archive from episode 27.)

01. Hesselbach's house key (September 17, 1949)
02. The termination (October 15, 1949)
03. the flu (November 19, 1949)
4th Christmas (December 24, 1949)
05. The childhood friend (January 14, 1950)
06th birthday surprises (February 11, 1950)
07. Embarrassments (March 12, 1950)
08. The Easter Egg (April 11, 1950)
09. The engagement (May 6, 1950)
10. The Fire (June 3, 1950)
11. Vacation Plans (July 1, 1950)
12. Hesselbach's wild, daring hunt (July 29, 1950)
13. Nightlife (September 2, 1950)
14. Offenders Wanted (September 16, 1950)
15. The Cavalier (September 30, 1950)
16. The Fritzchen (October 28, 1950)
17. The Plate (November 18, 1950)
18. Purchases (December 2, 1950)
19. New Year's Dreams (December 30, 1950)
20. The twenty-mark note (February 3, 1951)
21. Has something happened? (March 10, 1951)
22. The Illness (April 1, 1951)
23. The Burglar (October 28, 1951)
24. The return visit (November 11, 1951)
25. Willi on Free Feet (December 2, 1951)
26. The Christmas Guest (December 25, 1951)
27: Home exchange (January 6, 1952)
28. The Thief (January 20, 1952)
29. The Heating Pad (February 3, 1952)
30: The Festival Performance (February 17, 1952)
31. The carp (March 2, 1952)
32. The Roaring Stag (March 16, 1952)
33. The Easter Visit (April 13, 1952)
34. The Inheritance (April 30, 1952)
35. Vacation Memories (October 19, 1952)
36. Right of Way (November 2, 1952)
37. Equal Rights (November 17, 1952)
38. If He Doesn't Come Home (November 30, 1952)
39. The Dirt Edge (December 14, 1952)
40. The Dog (December 25, 1952)
41st Family Outing (January 11, 1953)
42. The wedding (February 1, 1953)
43. The cucumbers (March 1, 1953)
44. The mirror cabinet (March 8, 1953)
45. The Fortune Teller (April 12, 1953)
46. The House (April 26, 1953)
47. The New Profession (May 10, 1953)

Authorized officer a. D. Hesselbach, office for life counseling

01. the newest profession (October 25, 1953)
02. the hard case (November 8, 1953)
03. the good enemy (November 21, 1953)
04. the evil eye (December 6, 1953)
05.Dangerous curve (January 3, 1954)
06. Allergia maritalis (January 17, 1954)
07. the poor child (February 2, 1954)
08 Sherlock Holmes (February 14, 1954)
09. Telefonitis (March 14, 1954)
10. The Ideal Marriage (March 28, 1954)
11. With the left leg (April 11, 1954)
12. Valuables (April 25, 1954)

Hesselbach GmbH

01. the new company (November 28, 1954)
02 Techtelmechtel (December 12, 1954)
03. Beware, thieves (January 9, 1955)
04. The specialist (January 23, 1955)
05. His Majesty the Customer (February 6, 1955)
06. Sabotage (March 6, 1955)
07. The breakdown (March 20, 1955)
08. the stain (April 3, 1955)
09th Gossip (May 17, 1955)
10. The salary increase (May 22, 1955)
11. The Day of Honor (October 23, 1955)
12. The company outing (November 6, 1955)
13: The Bad Conscience (November 25, 1955)
14. The extension (December 4, 1955)
15. The Envelopes (January 15, 1956)
16. The Expensive Force (January 29, 1956)
17. The handkerchief (February 19, 1956)
18th bankruptcy (March 11, 1956)

The main speakers this season were:

Wolf Schmidt : Father Hesselbach
Lia Wöhr : Mother Hesselbach
Joost Siedhoff : son Willy, authorized signatory
Ursula Schmidt : Miss Sauerberg
Julia Costa : Helga Schneider
Franz Schneider : Accountant Munzenberger
Irene Marhold : Miss Pinella
Otto Stern : Authorized Signatory Deisendorf; Wilhelm
Carl Luley : carpenter
Sofie Engelke : Frieda Lahrmann
Hilde Nocker : Emmi Puchel
Sophie Cossaeus : Miss Lohmeier
Josef Wageck : Caretaker Fuchslocher

The feature films

Between 1954 and 1956, four Hesselbach feature films were made parallel to the radio plays with the lowest budget - and partly with the use of Wolf Schmidt's private fortune:

The Hesselbach Family (1954)
The Hesselbach family on vacation (1955)
The horoscope of the Hesselbach family (1955/56)
Mr. Hesselbach and the company (1956)

Else Knott played Mamma Hesselbach in the films . The films were produced by Lia Wöhr. After the restoration, the second film will be broadcast regularly on Hessen TV. The third film has not yet been restored. 4 of the 5 reels of the first film as well as all reels of the fourth film are still considered lost.

The TV series

1960 to 1961 the ARD showed the television series under the title Die Firma Hesselbach , which was also the title of the first season. From the end of 1961, the second season went on air under the title Die Familie Hesselbach ; the final season was 1966-1967 under the title Mr. Hesselbach and ... aired.

Records

In November 1961, the Polydor record company released two records under the title The Adventures of Mr. Hesselbach. The first record contained the episodes The First Boy and The Bread Roll , the second record the episodes Business in Paris and The Promise of Marriage . In addition to Wolf Schmidt , Liesel Christ and Gudrun Gewecke (the famous "Erna" from the Roaring Deer ) can be heard. The skits on the records do not actually come from the Hesselbach series, but from the short radio play series 1000 Words Hessian , which z. Sometimes it was produced before the Hesselbach radio play.

literature

Eichborn Verlag: The Hesselbachs, history of a radio and television family . A documentation, with audio cassettes with 6 radio plays, 1991, Eichborn Verlag, ISBN 3-8218-1722-4 List of radio plays
- The Hesselbach Family Episode 1: Hesselbach's house key, first broadcast: September 17, 1949
- Authorized officer a. D. Hesselbach Episode 2: The Hard Case, first broadcast: November 8, 1953
- Hesselbach GmbH Episode 18: Bankruptcy, first broadcast: March 11, 1956
- The Hesselbach Family Episode 26: The Christmas Guest, first broadcast: December 25, 1951
- The Hesselbach Family Episode 32: The Roaring Deer, first broadcast: March 16, 1952
Wolf Schmidt: The Hesselbach “Babba” . 1967, Sigbert Mohn Verlag, Gütersloh.
Wolf Schmidt: The dirt border and other stories from the Hesselbach family . 1995, R. Piper GmbH & Co KG, Munich, ISBN 3-492-12051-2 , Piper series, Volume 2051. Originally under the title “Familie Hesselbach, Volume 2” in Brühlschen Verlag, Giessen.

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Hesselbach radio plays , fan page
↑ He saved two Hesselbach cinema films ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , hr-online, April 12, 2007 @1@ 2

[1] Hesselbach radio plays , fan page

[2] He saved two Hesselbach cinema films ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , hr-online, April 12, 2007 @1@ 2