Stromberg (TV series)

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Television series
Original title Stromberg
Stromberg Logo.svg
Country of production Germany
original language German
Year (s) 2004–2012
Production
company		 Brainpool TV GmbH ,
ProSieben
length 24-28 minutes
Episodes 46 in 5 seasons ( list )
genre Comedy , mockumentary
Theme music The Bad Plus - Flim
idea Ralf Husmann
production Ralf Husmann
music Martell Beigang , Helmuth Fass
First broadcast October 11, 2004 on ProSieben
occupation

Main actor:

Supporting actor: Stromberg's superiors

Stromberg's colleagues and subordinates

Complementary figures

Main actor Christoph Maria Herbst

Stromberg [ ʃtʁɔm.bɛɐk ] is a German, award-winning comedy - TV series producer Ralf Husmann . From 2004 to 2012, five seasons of the series were shot and broadcast on ProSieben . The series is named after the central main character Bernd Stromberg, around whom the events in the series revolve. Stromberg is an adaptation of the British series The Office .

A crowdfunding project started in December 2011 to collect money for a feature film, which also received film funding ; it premiered on February 18, 2014 in the Cinedom in Cologne under the title Stromberg - The Film .

action

A television team follows the everyday office life of the fictitious Capitol Versicherung AG with the camera . The place of action is usually the Claims Management M – Z department, which is headed by Bernd Stromberg. Stromberg of course wants his team to always be shown from the best side. However, he rarely succeeds in putting the department and, above all, himself in a good light.

Conception

Basic concept and camera technology

The series, conceived as a mockumentary , is a parody of the docu-soaps popular with television audiences . These are characterized by the constant presence and involvement of the camera and the camera team in the action. This characteristic of the docu-soaps is used in the series as a stylistic device. To increase the tension, the camera can step completely out of the action, creating the impression that the actors are being secretly observed. On the other hand, they can also consciously interact with the camera by changing their behavior significantly if they feel caught by it. These peculiarities were underlined by the fact that the directors Arne Feldhusen and Andreas Theurer occasionally let the camera continue running even though the scene was already completed according to the script. The following improvisations by the actors often added another punch line to the script.

As usual for a mockumentary / documentary (such as the British model of the series “The Office”, but also other TV productions, such as the US production “Modern Family”, less often in the feature film) Production consistently using the 'one-shot' technique, whereby the events are recorded by just one single camera or a single camera team. Bjarne Mädel mentioned in an interview that working with just one camera was often difficult; mainly for the reason that with this camera concept - z. B. in the case of mistakes, or slip of the tongue by the actors - hardly credible cuts are possible.

At the beginning of the series, the place of action is exclusively the office building of the branch of Capitol Versicherung AG . The carriers of the plot are heavily exaggerated as stereotypes , which means that they are in constant tension with one another.

Fictional place Finsdorf

In the fourth season Stromberg is transferred to the small Capitol insurance branch in the fictional town of Finsdorf. A website was set up specifically for this purpose, and ProSieben broadcast commercials for the location (“Jewel of the Heath”). Bernd Stromberg negatively describes the village as “Finsterdorf”, “Inzesthausen” and “Doofdorf”. Bernd Stromberg was welcomed as a new resident on the finsdorf.de website , which was used for the viral marketing campaign. GoYellow provided a section of the original map on which the village of Böddenstedt was renamed Finsdorf. In addition, a fictitious nuclear power plant was built nearby.

Locations

Most of the shooting took place in Cologne . An office building in Cologne-Braunsfeld on Eupener Strasse served as the backdrop for the Capitol Versicherung AG branch . The pedestrian bridge shown in the opening credits crosses Rothgerberbach street at the height of Poststrasse.

The scenes in the fictional town Finsdorf found in spring 2009 at the Bornheimer district Walberberg instead. A former mom and pop shop on the corner of Hauptstrasse and Flammgasse, which had been empty for several years, was set up as a backdrop .

characters

main characters

Bernd Stromberg

At the beginning of the series, the main character Bernd Stromberg (actor: Christoph Maria Herbst ) is head of the claims settlement department M to Z, from season 2 onwards he is deputy head of the claims settlement department. Bernd Stromberg is in his mid-40s, he said he was born in the episode Sally in 1963, and is married. Since he admits, after several understatements, that he is 45 years old in Season 2, which aired in 2005, it can be assumed that he was actually born in 1960 at the latest. In the second season he separates from his wife Birgit. He himself would like to take on a paternal, sometimes buddy role towards his colleagues. So he always mimics the straightforward and strict authority figure, while he is characterized by a high level of situational pragmatism, especially towards his superiors. Due to his pictorial and imprecise rhetoric, he often manages to avoid direct confrontations between colleagues and superiors. Although Stromberg often emphasizes how important it is to him to treat his employees in a humane way, he is particularly characterized by clumsy and antisocial behavior. His technical competence is inadequate, which usually leads to the fact that he either ignores work instructions given to him, does not do enough or transfers them to his employees.

Stromberg likes to portray the serious and collegial businessman in regular individual interviews, often by means of extensive, graphic comparisons. In everyday office life, however, his socially coarse behavior dominates. He systematically and willingly instrumentalizes his employees in order to distinguish himself in the executive suite. Despite his socially very unadjusted behavior, he has the sympathy of most of his employees, especially because of his usually relaxed and comedic appearance and above-average eloquence; towards the end of the third season, however, because of his egocentricity, the department's disapproval increases.

In the fourth season, Stromberg believes that he has already reached the goal of his efforts: promotion to overall head of claims settlement. However, when a dispute between him and the canteen cook escalated, Stromberg was transferred to a branch of the Capitol in Finsdorf because of his relationship with the board. However, he cannot get used to the more rural customs of the villagers. That is why he uses every opportunity that presents itself to inspect his "old" job and to intrigue against the temporary head of department Tanja Steinke.

At the end of the fourth season, Stromberg instrumentalized the death of the employee Erika in order to regain the goodwill of his old department. Again, his typical, but staged concern is shown here. Jennifer Schirrmann, who repeatedly makes advances to Stromberg, calls him an office Gollum because of his changeable personality . She points out that Stromberg obviously goes over dead bodies for his job and often acts like a dyslexic .

In the fifth season Stromberg succeeds in "inheriting" his boss Becker. This is so psychologically battered by his divorce that he admits the alcohol in the office and can finally be successfully booted by Stromberg. Stromberg then takes over his post. In the course of the fifth season, however, he switched at short notice and at his own request to the ship's hull department (the "Siberia of the Capitol"), which is threatened with closure, because he wanted to escape social pressure due to collegial problems in the claims settlement department, especially with Jennifer Schirrmann . First of all, he gives the employees in this department high hopes of averting the closure of the department. But when it seemed opportune to return to his previous department, he wrote to his superior, Mr. Nübel, that this department should be closed due to inefficiency. After the department was closed, Stromberg took over the overall management of claims settlement again. However, when he took responsibility for the suspicion of corruption against the temporary claims management department head Ulf Steinke, he was fired. He uses the notice period to "let the hammer go round a few more times". After all, he deliberately causes the newly rehabilitated Mr. Becker to relapse into alcohol addiction. Stromberg's resignation is then withdrawn and he retains overall management.

Ulf Steinke

Ulf Steinke (actor: Oliver Wnuk ) celebrates his 28th birthday in the first season and has been in the department for at least five years. When it comes to professional matters, he appears to be less than motivated and is “last or second to last” in the department's performance statistics. This is not surprising, because several times in the “interviews” he admits that he had made a mistake in choosing a career, that he “should have done something with cars”. For him, everyday office life is rather annoying and all changes in the work processes overwhelm him. He's the stereotypical macho who prefers to take care of his buddies, soccer, cars and other men's issues. Often he is the only employee who laughs at Stromberg's jokes, and he sometimes lets Stromberg use him for his purposes. Especially when things aren't going well for both of them when it comes to women, Stromberg curls up on him to blaspheme about the world of women. His colleague Berthold ("Ernie") is the favorite victim of his pranks. Despite limited intellectual abilities, he often shows pronounced emotional competence when he skillfully manipulates colleagues or confronts them with the true motives of their actions. Attractive women are often interested in him. He regrets his marriage to Tanja Seifert in the fourth season after it turns out that Tanja is making a career as Stromberg's successor. Through his jealousy, he reveals that he cannot cope with Tanja's professional superiority. He himself is rather negative at work. Just when Stromberg's career is on the up, a career advancement for the technically less competent Ulf seems possible without really striving for it. After Stromberg becomes acting head of claims settlement, Ulf becomes his deputy. However, he loses this position again in the course of the fifth season because he accepts a gift from a major customer after inattentively and recklessly approving excessive damage reports from this customer, which penetrates to the top of the group and is interpreted as a compliance violation.

Berthold "Ernie" Heisterkamp

Berthold "Ernie" Heisterkamp (actor: Bjarne Mädel ) is the somewhat idiosyncratic, but motivated and competent colleague. Visually, the figure is characterized by fashionably questionable ties and sweat stains on his shirt. He doesn't have much success with women, so at the end of the first season he starts a call to viewers of the office series, which also seems to promise success. A brief love affair with the nurse Vanessa fails because of his commitment to the company. He is a popular target of colleague jokes and sometimes even bullying , which he mostly counteracts with outbursts of anger and demands for warnings. Berthold, who is only called Ernie by everyone in allusion to Ernie & Bert from Sesame Street , nevertheless often tries to please Stromberg, although he is also treated unkindly by him and does not take him seriously. Ernie has a childlike character and was in close contact with his mother until her death, and so suffers greatly from the loss. Many of his relatives have already died, for example his uncle and aunt on his mother's side and, last but not least, his grandfather, who died in the war and after whom he is named. When he was later given the leadership of a working group because of his good performance, it became apparent that his social skills were just as inadequate as Stromberg's, in that he bossily ordered around and pushed to work. The figure of Berthold Heisterkamp makes it clear how quickly a “victim” can become a “perpetrator” if the opportunity arises, e.g. B. when someone gains power over others.

In the fourth season, Ernie's depression continues to increase. He appears lethargic and says that he always wears his clothes for four to five days before changing them. He also sells his Yps booklet collection, which was otherwise very important to him. Finally, Ernie tries to commit suicide in his car by introducing exhaust fumes into the interior, but this can be thwarted by Stromberg passing by. Ernie then tells of his near-death experiences . After a short stay in Finsdorf and several therapy sessions, in which he also gets to know Mia, with whom he tries to build a relationship, Ernie is feeling better again.

In the fifth season he is involved in a Catholic parish and takes care of a youth group there. But he is soon no longer allowed to do this job because the parish priest visits Ernie in the office to help him because of the harassment he has suffered, and Stromberg specifically advises Ernie's visits to websites with pornographic content. Ernie is also warned for this use of the Internet (as he himself says, in order to create an information website for the youth group) by Mr. Nübel. Despite all this, Mr. Nübel recognizes his potential and sees him as the best employee in the department. For this reason - and in the absence of alternatives - he becomes deputy head of claims settlement at the end of the fifth season after Ulf, who was actually placed on this post by Stromberg, has been transferred to another department.

Tanja Steinke born Seifert

Tanja Steinke (until her marriage to Ulf Steinke in the fourth season: Tanja Seifert; actress: Diana Staehly ) is an attractive, younger employee in claims settlement. She is very popular and is courted by some of her male colleagues. For a longer period of time she was in a relationship with her colleague Ulf Steinke, whose marriage proposal she subsequently accepted. In the third season they both move into a shared apartment. Tanja is one of the few employees who from time to time revolt against Stromberg's questionable behavior and treat Berthold with respect. From the fourth season onwards, Tanja will be appointed by Mr. Becker as the successor to Stromberg, who was transferred to Finsdorf due to hateful actions against the canteen cook, due to positive suggestions for improvement. Her new position doesn't just bring her friends, however, and her friend Ulf in particular is bothered by the career leap of his fiancé and future wife. In the course of the fourth season, the attitude of the employees towards Tanja is completely reversed. The originally popular Tanja becomes the department's object of hatred. Her efforts to implement a new accounting system that she developed herself are also not well received. As the new head of department, she has the task of testing this system with her department. Most of their employees, however, do not understand this and are hindering the changeover. At the end of the fourth season, Stromberg succeeds in exploiting this conflict through skillful intrigues - after trying almost every episode of the season - and ousting Tanja from her newly acquired post again.

Erika Burstedt

Erika Burstedt (actress: Martina Eitner-Acheampong ) is a popular target of Stromberg's jokes because of her corpulent appearance. She is competent and has a good soul who likes to laugh at jokes and jokes. Married for many years, she is not averse to occasional flirtations with colleagues. Erika is a member of the SPD and the trade union and often demands her rights as an employee from her superior Stromberg. Your later candidacy for the works council remains unsuccessful because of Stromberg's interference. At the end of the third season, Erika dies of a heart attack in the hospital. In the last episode of the fourth season, the department, at Stromberg's unselfish instigation, of course, does not remember Erika's death, which ultimately has lasting consequences for the management situation of the department. In the movie Stromberg - der Film (2014) she made a cameo in the form of a commercial for Müller-Milchreis, when Ernie and Stromberg watch TV in the hotel room.

Jennifer Schirrmann

Jennifer Schirrmann (actress: Milena Drei 30 ) is returning to the department after a break with children for several years. She is divorced and has a son named Helge. In terms of character, she appears self-confident, down to earth, eloquent and emphatic. In some situations, on the other hand, she seems very emotional and extremely tense (especially during her pregnancy and numerous heated discussions with Stromberg) - yet she seems to have her heart in the right place and is often eager to help her employees out of a tight spot.

The men in the department (in particular Ulf, Lars Lehnhoff and Stromberg) succumb to their feminine charm immediately, whereupon Stromberg helps her with illegal means to master the entry test in the hope of ending up with her. Between the fourth and fifth episodes of the third season, she is dismissed for operational reasons at the end of the trial period. In order to be able to do the work imposed on him by Mr. Becker, Stromberg later hires it again on his own initiative. When Erika finally dies, the vacant position is filled with Jennifer. In the fourth season Stromberg's courtship for Jennifer Schirrmann ("umbrella") seems to be successful. You enter into a kind of relationship and at the Department holidays to Stromberg's ascent to the overall head of their colleagues in the act caught in Stromberg's office. However, the liaison is not without its problems, because Stromberg hardly leaves out a faux pas. In season five, Stromberg makes Jennifer his personal secretary, and he makes her pregnant. After she was initially criticized by Stromberg's colleagues from the management team for her style of clothing and later forgets to send an important letter to the tax office, Stromberg transferred her back to the department. A little later she informed him on the phone that she had lost the child Stromberg is actually looking forward to in the tenth week of pregnancy.

Minor characters

Stromberg's superiors

Tatjana Berkel (actress: Tatjana Alexander ) is the boss of Stromberg in the first season, who she calls only " Tubercle " or, according to her own statements, " Eva Braun " in her absence . She is a competent boss who is friendly and cordial towards Stromberg's competitor Turçulu, but is cool and strict towards Stromberg because she dislikes his manner and she considers him less competent. She repeatedly rebukes Stromberg and threatens him with consequences without actually drawing them. Stromberg has a problem with a woman as a supervisor and denies her the boss position, at least in front of the camera (“actually, I'm in charge here”). From the second season she will be replaced by Mr. Becker and will no longer be seen in the following episodes. Their whereabouts are unknown. However, she appears again in a slightly larger supporting role in the movie Stromberg - The Film (2014).

Timo Becker (actor: Lars Gärtner ) is the new department head of the amalgamated Capitol claims settlement. He's a prime example of a boss, but he can be a little tense at times. Before accepting the job as head of department, he claims to have worked for the Capitol in Zurich and Brussels. He was also involved in the development of the accounting software, which Stromberg failed to use in his computer course. From Stromberg's point of view, Mr. Becker represents the rival or adversary, which is why Stromberg tries to piss him off from time to time, which Mr. Becker can fend off with his professional demeanor and qualified statements. The relationship between the two thus oscillates between more or less open confrontation and Stromberg's attempts to ingratiate themselves. In the fourth season he seems much more authoritarian and has to keep calling Tanja to order. Mr. Becker is married, but his wife wants to divorce him in the third season because he is too focused on his work. Finally, in the fifth season, Becker lives in a divorce, is mentally affected and says alcohol. Stromberg uses this weakness to take Becker's post during a spa stay. In the end, Mr. Becker comes back after a long stay in the clinic and wants to drink a peace coffee with Stromberg. Stromberg, who knows that Becker is now a “dry alcoholic”, pours vodka into his coffee, whereupon Becker suffers a relapse while in the office. A little later, Mr. Becker comes out of his office drunk and meets his superiors Nübel and Tremmel in the corridor. The future whereabouts of Mr. Becker is uncertain. In the last shot of the fifth season, Stromberg, who is still sitting in the office of the head of the claims settlement department, says: “The Becker is at the waste glass!” In the movie Stromberg - The Film (2014) he only appears with a personal statement in the credits.

Dr. Heinemann (actor: Walter Gontermann ) is the administrative director of Capitol Versicherung. He is present in Mr. Becker's office in some episodes to discuss Stromberg's whereabouts with the company. At first he seems to react in a friendly manner to Stromberg, but after his sexual harassment of a cleaning lady, he is no longer on good terms with him.

Dr. Nübel (actor: Rainer Laupichler ) has been the Capitol's head of personnel since the fourth season and plays a central role in the fifth season. He started out as an advocate for Stromberg and implemented many of his ideas on personnel issues. At the end of the fifth season he announced his resignation to Stromberg, but was then transferred to East Germany himself because he was responsible for many wrong decisions and, in particular, did not “get any peace” in the claims adjustment department. In the movie Stromberg - The Film (2014) he can be seen as one of the respondents who remembers his previous encounters with Stromberg.

Hans-Jürgen Wehmeyer (actor: Simon Licht ) is joining senior management as Mr. Becker's boss. At first he is very committed to Stromberg, because he considers him important for the Capitol's public image due to his media presence and he is sympathetic to him because of his humor. That is why he often supports him in disagreements with Mr. Becker. As a result of several unfortunate actions, Stromberg initially gambled away the trust bonus. When Wehmeyer was promoted in the fourth season and Mr. Becker was supposed to move up, he still wanted to put in a good word for Stromberg. When the various bullying attacks on the part of Stromberg against the canteen cook get out of hand and become public, it turns out that this is the cousin of one of the board members of the Capitol. Thereupon Stromberg is transferred to Finsdorf and Wehmeyer disappears from the series. Even if this is not explicitly explained, according to statements by Mr. Becker and Wehmeyer's own statement, it can still be assumed that he was also transferred to another sentence or dismissed.

Mr. Tremmel (actor: Thomas Meinhardt ), as a member of the board, is the highest superior who is specifically characterized. He embodies the rational, largely emotionless, correct manager who bases his decisions on management staff solely on the financial success of the individual departments. Proof of this is his statement “I don't care about names, I only care about numbers”, which is addressed to Stromberg. He arranges for Dr. In season 5, Nübel initially set about pursuing the goal of “getting calm in the department” through tough personnel decisions, and is therefore jointly responsible for Stromberg's dismissal, but ultimately also causes Mr. to be transferred due to the recurring unrest in claims settlement Dr. Nübel.

Mr. Stankowski (actor: Bernd Stegemann ) is the head of the field service and can be seen in several episodes of the fifth season.

Stromberg's colleagues and subordinates

Sinan Turçulu (actor: Sinan Akkuş ) heads the department of claims settlement A – L and as such competes with Stromberg for the overall management of the department. He often has to put up with his taunts about his Turkish ancestry, which he either accepts without comment or replies with humor. He is much more competent than Stromberg and therefore, at the end of the first season, receives the post of training manager at another location of the Capitol.

Sabine "Sabbel" Buhrer (actress: Maja Beckmann ) works in accounting and is a member of the works council. Because of her short relationship with Ulf, she is at times the opponent of Tanja Seifert and seems to "change" the men quite often. She showed up for the first time to investigate Ernie's allegations of bullying. She later appeared as a fan of the Borussia Dortmund football club and testified at a hearing about sexual harassment against Stromberg. In the last episode of the third season, Stromberg tries to get close to her. But when she protests against it, he calls it a "Capitol mattress" behind the scenes. Time and again it turns out that she rightly bears the nickname “Sabbel” given by Stromberg, because she keeps getting herself and others into trouble because she “sabbles” about everything that comes to her ears. In the penultimate episode of the fifth season, she babbles a compliance violation by Ulf, which costs him the "executive chair".

Mr. Pötsch (actor: Peter Rütten ) is a colleague at about the same level as Stromberg, who will take on a slightly more important role from the second season. Before joining Capitol Insurance, he worked for Helios ("Heli-Chaos", own wording), another insurance company. In the second season he will temporarily take Stromberg's position, as Stromberg submits his resignation. In the third season he made fun of him several times due to his deferment as deputy head of the claims settlement department A – Z. In the fifth season, like Stromberg, he is also a division manager.

Lars Lehnhoff (actor: Laurens Walter ) is a young, sometimes - compared to Stromberg - precocious employee who is always dressed in a suit. Although he is a technically good employee, he also has weaknesses. So he is not too sensitive to blackening unpopular colleagues, such as Ulf and Tanja, with superiors, if this seems possible for him without risk. He also "courageously" gave his opinion to Stromberg, but only when he was no longer his superior, so he no longer had to fear reprisals. He is married and has a daughter. Stromberg cannot or does not want to remember his last name, so he regularly calls him “Lehmann” or “Lehmbach”. He makes himself unpopular with Ulf in the fourth and fifth seasons, among other things because he tries to hook up with Tanja.

Nicole Rückert (actress: Angelika Richter ) is a colorless and somewhat simple-minded colleague who, as the “gray mouse”, is often the only one who thinks of Stromberg or Berthold. In the first episode of the third season, Stromberg begins a relationship with her after Jennifer Schirrmann has rejected his advances. In the next episode, after Stromberg denied it, she ended this affair and was transferred to another department.

Frank "Monte" Montenbruck (actor: Frank Montenbruck ) wears glasses that make his eyes appear larger because of his severe farsightedness, and is therefore ridiculed by Stromberg or Berthold "Ernie" Heisterkamp and called "file Mongo". In the first season he takes part in clandestine bullying campaigns against Ernie.

Maja Decker (actress: Nadja Becker ) is pregnant in the third season and is taking parental leave . In the fifth season, she initially returns in the seventh episode, but shortly afterwards, in the context of the scandal about her child who was brought to work, in the course of which Ulf because of Stromberg's approach (he manipulates employees and has evidence destroyed in exchange for benefits) is wrongly due to false testimony is warned, no longer employed. Stromberg often addresses her as "Frau, er, Be ... Decker", alluding to the similarity of the name with the figure of his superior Becker.

Employee Landsfried (actress: Suzanne Landsfried ) is a black-haired, well-dressed employee.

Employee Schneider (actress: Ariane Raspe ) is a brunette, also well-dressed employee.

Josef "Joe" Müller (actor: Joe Henselewski ) has a relatively uncomplicated, collegial character.

Rita Klüver (actress: Rita Winkelmann ) is an overweight employee, according to Ernie's statement by Stromberg et al. a. referred to as "Lumpenerna".

Andreas Hermann (actor: Andreas Hermann ) is a small, plump employee.

Steffen Lambert (actor: Stefan Lampadius ) is a rather reserved and slightly stuffy character with a full beard and old-fashioned glasses; at the beginning with long head hair, later with bald head, then again with long head hair. In the fifth season he is bald again and no longer has a full beard.

Prashant Umavandhu (according to Mr. Becker with an “h” after the “d”; actor: Prashant Prabhakar ) is Indian and one of the few foreign employees in the Capitol Insurance and is discriminated against by Stromberg because of his origin and among other things “quota Indian” or “ Gandhi "called. A running gag is his saying I don't want any photos! when Stromberg wants to use him for photos. According to his own statement, he is a Catholic.

Achim Dörfler (actor: Kai Malina ) is a young, recently trained employee in the Capitol branch in Finsdorf. He is a member of the Finsdorf Volunteer Fire Brigade.

Magdalena Prellwitz (actress: Ramona Kunze-Libnow ) is a Polish employee in the Capitol branch in Finsdorf, who Stromberg often “mothers” there.

Jonas Fischer (actor: Maximilian Mauff ) starts as a trainee in Stromberg's department. He likes to party, but is often uptight in the office.

Ms. Papenacker (actress: Michaela Caspar ) is Mr. Becker's assistant in the fifth season, but becomes Stromberg's assistant after the latter has ousted Becker. At every opportunity she shows her contempt for Stromberg, who is condescending to her.

Complementary figures

Martin Möllers (actor: Prodromos Antoniadis ) is a cook and the head of the canteen at Capitol Insurance and is often derogatory from Stromberg as "Koch Nazi", "Microwave Mongo" or "Kantinen-Bin-" because of his bald head and his very rude manner. Loading ". Stromberg and Möllers clash repeatedly because Stromberg (like other colleagues, but behind closed doors) criticizes the quality of the food on offer. Möllers, for his part, has family ties to the board, which he uses to complain in the fourth season after Stromberg has repeatedly addressed him. Stromberg is then transferred to Finsdorf. At the end of the fifth season, Stromberg, who had already been terminated at the time, initiates a signature campaign against the canteen cook, which is met with great approval, as a large number of colleagues, including on the board, are also not satisfied with the quality of the food. At the end of the season, the chef's lease for the canteen is therefore terminated.

Mrs. Hilpers (actress: Alexandra von Schwerin ) is the wife of Mr. Hilpers, who dies after episode 1, season 1: The parking lot . Stromberg comforts her, which leads to an inappropriate approach. Later in the series (in season 5, episode 8: Jonas ) Ms. Hilpers comes back as a member of the internal examination committee.

With Hans Schmelzer , the producer Ralf Husmann realizes a cameo appearance once per season . He can be seen in the episodes The Parking Lot , Fire Alarm , Badminton , Lulu and The Farewell .

Birgit (actress: Therese Hämer ) is Stromberg's wife, but the marriage is divorced in the second season.

Episode characters

figure episode actor description
Mr. Hilpers Season 1, Episode 1 Lorenz Claussen Mr. Hilpers redistributes the parking spaces for the company's employees. He dies between the first and the second episode after Stromberg forced a cigar on him as an asthmatic .
Mr. Fritsche Season 1, Episode 4 Piet Fuchs As a wheelchair user, Mr. Fritsche is entitled to Stromberg's new parking lot. Stromberg, on the other hand, holds onto his parking lot for so long that Mr. Fritsche finally hands the case over to the works council.
Ina Season 1, Episode 5 Cristina do Rego Ina is Erika's godchild and is used by Stromberg for a newspaper article as the “foster child of the department”.
Mr. Kitter Season 1, Episode 7 Axel Siefer Mr. Kitter is the manager of Roland Kaiser, whom Stromberg would like to hire for an appearance at a company party. Mr. Kitter finally ends the negotiation due to Stromberg's dubious and disrespectful demeanor.
Mr. Troscher Season 1, episode 8 Robert Schupp Mr. Tröscher heads the assessment center to determine the overall head of the subdivisions combined within the framework of the company's internal restructuring.
"Papa" Lorenz Season 2, episode 1 Peter Lerchbaumer "Papa" Lorenz is Stromberg 's father-in-law, who has Alzheimer's disease and who himself was employed by an insurance company.
Vanessa Schubert Season 2, episode 2/5/10 Sarah Masuch Vanessa Schubert is a nurse with whom Berthold “Ernie” Heisterkamp enters into a relationship that lasts for a few episodes.
Kerstin Aumann Season 2, episode 3 Caroline Peters Kerstin Aumann teaches the course for the new software used in the department from this point on.
Alexandra Klausen Season 2, episode 4 Victoria Mayer Alexandra Klausen is Sabine “Sabbel” Buhrer's badminton partner. "Alex" is violently attacked by Stromberg.
Theo Hölter Season 2, episode 6 Andreas Schmidt Theo Hölter is an old school friend of Stromberg. He works as a band promoter and pretends to be a rocky, laid-back guy who always has a cool slogan in store. He calls Stromberg by the old nickname "Locke" and often jokes at his expense.
Hans Georg Althoff Season 2, episode 7 Veit Stübner Hans Georg Althoff intends to insure his company with the Capitol and considers Stromberg a serious business partner.
Nyota N'yangasongwa Season 2, episode 8 Yolette Thomas Nyota N'yangasongwa works as a cleaning lady, comes from Tanzania and is sexually harassed by Stromberg.
Mr. Grahms Season 2, episode 9 Bernd Moss Mr. Grahms conducts the job interview with Stromberg at Helios.
Mr. Wuttke Season 2, episode 10 Detlef Kapplusch Mr. Wuttke is Stromberg's colleague during his transfer to the archive.
Jochen Schüller Season 3, Episode 5 Patrick Heyn Jochen Schüller is a photo reporter for the in-house newspaper Capitol Intern and flirts with Stromberg as a homosexual without him suspecting his intentions.
Rudi Wippermann Season 3, episode 6 Heinrich Hadding Rudi Wippermann, also known as "Kopp-ab-Rudi", checks the individual departments at Capitol Insurance as a member of internal auditing to see whether everything is being done according to regulations.
Walter Loermann Season 3, episode 7 Sven Pippig Walter Loermann is urged by Stromberg to run for the works council against Erika.
Helge Season 4, episodes 4/8 Leon Seidel Helge is the son of Jennifer Schirrmann. Stromberg looks after him for an afternoon.
Sally Season 4, episode 6 Rita Lengyel Sally is a dancer who wants to have her body insured with Capitol Insurance. She later gets involved in Ulf's bachelor party.
Gernot Graf Season 4, episode 7 Martin Fromme Gernot Graf only has one arm. He was hired by Capitol Insurance, but released again after a short time.
Günther Nehring Season 4, episode 9 Steffen Munster Mr. Nehring is an influential farmer from Finsdorf, whose son accidentally set a barn on fire.
Mia Season 4, episodes 9-10 Christina Drechsler Mia is a depressive emo or goth that Ernie meets and with whom he starts a relationship.
Mrs. Ph. Season 5, episodes 3-4 Barbara Philipp Ms. Ph. Works for a short time as a temporary employee in the claims adjustment department after Jennifer was transferred to his new office as an antechamber from Stromberg. According to her own statement, she has no television at home and does not want to have anything to do with all the television stuff. Because of this, her face has been made unrecognizable.
Mr. Rüther Season 5, episode 6 Jörg Pose Mr. Rüther is an employee in the ship insurance department, which Stromberg will take over as head of department at short notice. His wife also works in this department.
Jens Schliemann Season 5, Episode 7 Jan Viethen Mr. Schliemann is an employee of the IT department who, at Stromberg's request, deletes Stromberg's e-mails from the central server in view of Maja being reinstated. He already appears in the episodes The Parking Lot and The Course .

Copyright issues related to "The Office"

The Stromberg series was inspired by the BBC television series The Office . Originally, however, this source was not referred to, which is why the BBC threatened the German production company Brainpool with a copyright lawsuit because they saw too many similarities in Stromberg with their own production. Since the second season, the following wording has been added to the end credits of the series: "Stromberg - Inspired by the UK BBC series 'The Office' created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant ". It remains to be seen whether there was additional severance pay behind the scenes. Ricky Gervais emphasizes, however, that they are "extremely satisfied" with the agreement reached. Further authorized adaptations of the British series were made in the United States ( The Office ), France ( Le Bureau ), Canada ( La Job ), Chile ( La Ofis ), Israel ( HaMisrad - המשרד), Sweden (Kontoret), Czech Republic (Kancl) , Finland (Konttori) and India (The Office).

publication

The first season ran from October 11 to December 20, 2004, the second season from September 11 to November 13, 2005, the third season from March 5 to April 30, 2007, and the fourth season from November 3 to 29. December 2009 broadcast on the German station ProSieben . On November 27, 2005, a best-of was shown on ProSieben. From November 8, 2011, the fifth season was broadcast for the first time on ProSieben.

Despite the recognition of the critics and a large fan base, the series struggled from the start to achieve the market share of 13 to 14 percent in the target group that ProSieben was aiming for. The consequences of the first season averaged less than ten percent market share in the target group, while the second season achieved an average audience rating of around 11 percent in the target group of 14 to 49 year olds on the cheaper broadcast slot on Sunday evening. The third season achieved ratings above the channel average for the first time, but on a significantly later broadcast slot. The absolute audience numbers, however, decreased from season to season.

The first season of Stromberg was released on DVD on September 19, 2005, the second on March 31, 2006 and the third on April 27, 2007. In addition to the episodes, they contain making-ofs, audio commentary, interviews and outtakes . In autumn 2006 a limited office edition was released, which includes the first two seasons and some bonus items (stationery, mousepad, scripts, etc.). Another special edition followed in September 2008 under the title Stromberg - Die Bürografie . This contains all episodes of the first three seasons, optionally including the PC game. A calendar is also included. On November 6th, 2009, shortly after the start of broadcasting and therefore quite unusual, the fourth season of Stromberg was released in a limited edition on DVD. The packaging is made from cardboard as a card box and contains three DVDs. The first two DVDs contain five of the ten episodes each. Unlike the other seasons, the bonus material (on the third DVD) was shown live to an audience and the recordings were made available from there as a one-hour version. There is also one episode for each of the series The Little Man with Bjarne Mädel and Pastewka with Bastian Pastewka . The latter is an episode in which Christoph Maria Herbst has a guest appearance. The fifth season was released in a limited edition on November 11, 2011 and a standard edition on December 9, 2011. On November 23, 2012, a series box was released for the second time. This time seasons 1 to 5 are included.

Motion picture

In December 2011, one million euros was raised from investors through a crowdfunding project to enable the production of a Stromberg movie. Filming began on February 19, 2013 in Cologne and ended in early April 2013. During a press conference in 2013, producer Ralf Husmann announced that there would be no more seasons of the Stromberg series after the movie was released. The movie entitled Stromberg - The Film , which will be released on February 20, 2014, will mark the end of the story. In the film, the entire Capitol workforce is going on a company outing. Not only is the 50th anniversary of Capitol Versicherung celebrated in a country hotel, but the closure of the branch is also announced.

In mid-2014, a few weeks after the premiere, the 1 millionth viewer was counted, and from that moment on, investors made a profit.

Adaptations

computer game

On March 1, 2007, a computer game for the series was released parallel to the broadcast of the third season . Original quotes from the main characters are played in the mini-games. The game was developed by the German developer wetain .

book

In 2007, according to the publisher, “Bernd Stromberg” published the Langenscheidt dictionary Chef-German / German-Chef: Plain text at work with an afterword by Christoph Maria Herbst.

reception

Criticism

Stromberg was generally well received by critics of the trade press. Above all, the sometimes macabre jokes and the realistic docu-soap feeling are emphasized.

In 2008, Die Welt summarized that the series, despite its “innovative character”, “recognition by the critics” and “numerous awards” (including the Adolf Grimme Prize , German Television Prize ) only achieved “below-average ratings”, and therefore only more can be seen as an “insider tip”.

In an article in the FAZ Stromberg is referred to as "the worst boss of all time". Christoph Maria Herbst is quoted as saying that he borrowed from Gerhard Schröder in his search for a “role model”. In addition, Herbst likes to characterize the viewer's relationship with Stromberg with the catchphrase “foreign shame”. The FAZ's verdict is consistently positive: "There are few more cryptic characters than the [...] office tyrant Stromberg on German television, and certainly none in German comedy."

The Süddeutsche Zeitung writes at the beginning of the third season of the series: "But Stromberg [...] is still one of the best and most intelligent things that ProSieben has had to laugh about." In addition, Stromberg is good for ProSieben's image.

In its online edition, Der Spiegel praises the characters' “all too human”. [Bernd] Stromberg is not just a pure object of hatred, but a poor sausage who clumsily passes on what happens to him. It must be this “mixture of comedy and tragedy” that ultimately makes the series so attractive.

Awards

Adolf Grimme Prize
Bavarian television award
German Comedy Award
  • 2005 : German Comedy Award in the category of best actor in a comedy series for Christoph Maria Herbst
  • 2006 : Nomination for Stromberg in the category Best Comedy Series
  • 2006 : German Comedy Award in the Best Actor category for Christoph Maria Herbst
  • 2007 : German Comedy Award in the category of best actor in a comedy series for Christoph Maria Herbst
  • 2010 : Nomination in the category Best Comedy Series
  • 2010 : German Comedy Award in the Best Actor category for Christoph Maria Herbst, among others for Stromberg
  • 2012 : Nomination in the category Best Comedy Series
  • 2012 : Nomination in the Best Actor category for Christoph Maria Herbst
German television award
  • 2005: Nomination in the category Best Sitcom for Stromberg
  • 2006: Nomination in the category Best Sitcom for Stromberg
  • 2007: German TV Award in the Best Sitcom category for Stromberg
  • 2007: German television award in the Best Book category for Ralf Husmann
Platinum award
  • 2006: Triple platinum for over 150,000 sold DVD editions of the first and second season
  • 2009: Double platinum for the DVD edition of the third season

Others

  • Since the end of 2009, Bernd Stromberg has been an advertising figure for the energy company RWE .
  • In one episode of the fourth season, "Der kleine Mann" brandy is drunk at a party in the office. Here attention is drawn to the television production " Der kleine Mann ", which also comes from Husmann.
  • Stromberg is one of the few German TV series in which product placements were realized. In the fifth season, Capitol employees consume rice pudding from the Müller company several times, clearly recognizable . This is even pointed out explicitly through subtitles and a corresponding address by Stromberg himself. Hasbro toy guns were also incorporated into the plot. Although the practice has been legally permissible since 2010, some of the fan base responded to the product placements with criticism.
  • Stromberg was parodied in the television series Switch reloaded : In a fictional plot, an incompetent Adolf Hitler (played by Michael Kessler ) tries to cope with problems in the Third Reich in an office similar to Stromberg's. The series is called Obersalzberg , an allusion to Hitler's Berghof holiday home on Obersalzberg . In the final episode of the parody, the characters dress up to flee. Hitler disguises himself as Stromberg. Then the characters appear in the Switch parody of Goodbye Germany! The emigrants called Goodbye Großdeutschland , in which Hitler wants to open a schnitzel restaurant in Argentina with Ernie and Ulf.
  • The title melody of the series, Flim, is an interpretation of the American jazz trio The Bad Plus , based on a composition of the same name by Aphex Twin .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ References from infinitemusic to infinitemusic.de. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  2. ^ Entry on Stromberg - The film at the German filmportal.de
  3. ^ Stromberg - The Film: World premiere on February 18 in the Cinedom Cologne . In: Brainpool.de . Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  4. ↑ single camera vs. Multi-camera. Accessed March 31, 2018 .
  5. ↑ MySpassde: Stromberg - The Film - Bjarne Mädel (Ernie) in an interview. April 17, 2013, accessed March 31, 2018 .
  6. ↑ www.finsdorf.de ( Memento from February 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Bernd Stromberg moves to Finsdorf alias Inzesthausen
  8. ↑ Proof of campaign success with Google Insights for Search ( Memento from November 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Season 2, Episode 9
  10. ↑ Ricky Gervais: Ricky Gervais answers your questions . In: RickyGervais.com. Retrieved August 24, 2008 .
  11. ↑ a b c d Stromberg episode list . wunschliste.de. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  12. ↑ Kirsch Jürgen: Fixed start date for fifth "Stromberg" season . Oddsmeter.de. July 26, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Stromberg": The strongest and weakest season . Media magazine DWDL.de. Retrieved August 24, 2008.
  14. ↑ "Stromberg - The Film": It is coming! - Fans invest 1 million in a worldwide record time in the Brainpool press release on December 22, 2011
  15. ^ FOCUS: Shooting of Stromberg film begins , February 19, 2013
  16. ↑ »Stromberg - The Film« is being shot in Arnsberg  ( 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. .@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.westfalen-blatt.de  
  17. ↑ Uwe Mantel: "Stromberg" film will be released in theaters in February . In: DWDL.de . October 21, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  18. ↑ WEB.DE: “Stromberg - The Film” will be released in theaters in February ( memento of the original from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / web.de
  19. ↑ https://www.shz.de/deutschland-welt/wirtschaft/stromberg-macht-investoren-immer-noch-gluecklich-id6602891.html
  20. ^ Official site of the Stromberg computer game. In: Stromberg-Game.de. Retrieved August 24, 2008 .
  21. ↑ Paul Wolff: Pearls of television entertainment: Bernd Stromberg and the war in the office. In: welt.de . June 26, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Jörg Thomann: "Stromberg" is back: The worst boss of all time. In: FAZ.NET. FAZ Electronic Media GmbH, March 5, 2007, accessed on August 25, 2008 .
  23. ↑ Christoph Kappes: TV boss "Stromberg": stallion in the coffee kitchen. In: sueddeutsche.de. Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH, March 4, 2007, accessed on August 24, 2008 .
  24. ↑ Peter Luley: Phenomenon "Stromberg": joy in being ashamed of others. In: Spiegel.de. SPIEGEL ONLINE, March 4, 2007, accessed August 24, 2008 .
  25. ↑ Product placement at "Stromberg": Everything milk rice, or what? in Der Spiegel on November 25, 2011
  26. ↑ http://kress.de/tv-radio/detail/beitrag/113354-product-placement-von-mueller-milchreis-und-hasbro-was-james-bond-recht-ist-muss-stromberg-billig-sein .html

Web links

Wikiquote: Stromberg  - Quotes