Kessler's expedition

Television broadcast
Original title	Kessler's expedition
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Year (s)	since 2010
Production company	Wieduwilt Film & TV Production GmbH
length	approx. 45/90 minutes
Episodes	55 (+ 2 specials) in 17 seasons ( list )
Broadcasting cycle	weekly (friday)
genre	entertainment
Theme music	The Motherhood - Soul Town
idea	Thorsten Klauschke Stefan Wieduwilt
camera	Sören Meyer
Moderation	Michael Kessler
First broadcast	23 August 2010 on rbb television

Kessler's Expedition is a series on rbb television with Michael Kessler . The travel report, which currently comprises seventeen seasons, was first broadcast in August 2010. The filming can be accompanied at the same time via the Internet. The project represents the second collaboration between Michael Kessler and the rbb after the Berliner Nacht-Taxe, which was produced from 2006 to 2009 .

Idea and concept

The idea for Kessler's expedition , which is strongly reminiscent of Gernstl on the move , came from Thorsten Klauschke, who alternated with Peter Scholl as director of the series, and from Stefan Wieduwilt, whose company was commissioned to produce the format. Klauschke and Wieduwilt had already developed the concept for the Berlin night tax .

Michael Kessler's hope of being able to moderate his own Saturday evening show shortly forms the fictional framework for the program. His expectations are disappointed when he is repeatedly engaged for new expeditions by rbb director Dagmar Reim . In order to undermine his supposed popularity, real and imaginary employees also regularly address him by the false name Michael Keller . Tickets and tickets stored by the broadcaster are also regularly stored in the wrong name. During his travels, which mainly lead through the new federal states , he covers distances in an atypical way that have been previously determined by his television team. Kessler himself is not involved in the preparations and is only given limited information about the course of the expeditions. A script with pre-selected actors, arranged scenes and dialogues is dispensed with. Instead, spontaneous encounters and conversations with residents and vacationers of different generations and professional backgrounds occur along the route. During the filming, he also communicates with his cameraman Sören Meyer, who, however, never speaks, just nods his head or shakes it. At the end of the day the actor sums up the experiences and thoughts of the day by filming himself. During his tours, he interacts with viewers and fans via the social networks Facebook and Twitter . The rbb also documents the shooting online in the form of photos, videos and blogs .

Season overview

Episode list

Season 1: On the Spree to Berlin

In the three-part kick-off series of the series, which was broadcast for the first time from August 23, 2010, Michael Kessler started in a rubber dinghy at the source of the Spree on the Kottmar in the Lausitzer Bergland and covered the 400 km long route through Saxony and Brandenburg to Berlin with the help of a paddle within twelve days . His equipment was limited to a fishing rod, a tent and a smartphone for communication with the network and the outside world. The four-person team with cameraman, sound engineer, director and producer accompanied him in a motorized dinghy. A minibus followed by land to overcome risky stretches of river and to transport the equipment. The filming took place during high summer temperatures. Kessler spent the nights in his tent on various campsites. On the fourth day he christened the dinghy with the name Kenterprise . However, the boat did not capsize during the voyage. In Berlin-Brandenburg, the pilot relay achieved an average market share of 8.6%.

Season 2: With the donkey to the Baltic Sea

With the start of broadcasting on June 6, 2011, the second season followed with four episodes, in which Michael Kessler hiked a donkey from Masurenallee in Berlin for almost 200 km through the historic Uckermark landscape to the seaside health resort Ahlbeck on the Baltic Sea. The seven-year-old gelding Elias came from a company specializing in donkey walks in Flieth-Stegelitz . The animal carried several travel items in two saddlebags. To cope with risky or unsuitable routes, Kessler was once again accompanied by a vehicle and a transport trailer. The overnight stays were usually in inns and farms. During an interview in a parking lot in Altenhof , the television team was the victim of theft on the fifth day of the trip. Among other things, camera accessories had been stolen from the saddlebags that had been taken from the donkey during the break. Another incident occurred on the night of the tenth to the eleventh day of travel when the donkey escaped from its enclosure despite being secured by an electric fence . With the help of a local resident and the police, however, it was possible to return the animal to the care of those responsible. Michael Kessler and Elias reached the goal after a fortnight. With around 450,000 viewers and an average market share of 8.4%, the format was able to build on the success of the first season.

Season 3: With the raft on the Havel

Just two months later, on August 19, 2011, the third season followed with five episodes. After the program had previously been broadcast at 9:00 p.m., the rbb moved it to prime time at 8:15 p.m. In his third expedition, Kessler moved along the Havel on a five- horsepower motorized raft measuring 17 m² . The vehicle had, among other things, a bunk bed and an on-board toilet. However, due to the inconvenience associated with the fourteen-hour shooting days, Kessler only spent a few nights on the raft. The 309 km long route stretched from the Wesenberg harbor in the middle of the Mecklenburg Lake District to where the river flows into the Elbe . On deck there was a 10-year-old parrot named Lori, who could speak both the Bavarian dialect and imitate the ringing tone of a cell phone. Kessler named the raft MF Schuhkarton . During his trip he stopped in Himmelpfort and visited the room of the Christmas post office there . The relay achieved a market share of 8.8% in Berlin and 9.7% in Brandenburg. The rbb then announced a fourth season.

Season 4: As far as the huskies run

In search of the coldest point in Brandenburg, Michael Kessler started his first winter expedition in January 2012 by being pulled by four Siberian huskies on a dog sled equipped with wheels . His 200 km long route led him from Potsdam via the Nuthetal , the Parforceheide and the Großbeerener Graben to the Dahme-Heideseen nature park and from the Spreewald to Lower and Upper Lusatia . The animals came from a company in Storbeck-Frankendorf , and a dog trainer accompanied the tour on his mountain bike. Along the route, Michael Kessler talked to a sister of the Alexanderdorf monastery, among others . Since there was no snow at any point during the shooting, he identified a ski hall in Senftenberg as the coldest point in Brandenburg. The four-part season aired on February 17, 2012.

Season 5: From Copenhagen to Berlin on a folding bike

On July 20, 2012, the shooting of the fifth expedition began, in which Michael Kessler started outside Germany for the first time. His goal was to cover the 630-kilometer cycle path from Copenhagen to Berlin within two weeks with an original 1970s folding bike . In Copenhagen he met a resident of the autonomous municipality of Freetown Christiania, among others . In Gedser he took the ferry to Rostock. In the Baltic seaside resort of Warnemünde there , Michael Kessler visited, among other things, the seal research center of the University of Rostock . The four episodes began broadcasting on August 17, 2012.

Season 6: With the lawnmower on the Brocken

From October 5th to 18th, 2012 Michael Kessler was on the road to film the sixth season. This time he drove from Berlin with a battery-powered Husqvarna ride- on mower at a speed of 6  km / h up to the Brocken in the Harz Mountains . Kessler baptized it with the name Gabor . He is named after a wheelchair user who met him on the tour, whose fate impressed Michael Kessler. The five episodes began broadcasting on November 30, 2012.

Season 7: On the move by rail

On March 18, 2013, the shooting of the seventh expedition began. In this season, Kessler took the train across Germany and Central Europe without a specific destination. On the way he happened to meet Rainer Wendt on a regional train. The four episodes began broadcasting on May 24, 2013.

Season 8: By scooter on the Danube

In June 2013, the eighth season was filmed, which was broadcast on August 16 and 23, 2013 in two double episodes. This time he drove with the scooter along the Danube from Vienna to Möhringen . However, he sometimes also used other means of transport such as buses and ships and at times a Segway or an electric vehicle .

Season 9: With four hooves on the Neisse

Michael Kessler has been on an expedition for the ninth time since November 2, 2013. His path led him along the Neisse from Neuzelle in Brandenburg to Zittau in Saxony. This time he was traveling with a pony as a companion animal and drove on a team pulled by the pony. On the way he visited the Jänschwalde opencast mine and in Forst the artist couple Editha and Manfred Mudlack, better known by their stage name “The Cortinas”. He was given tours of Muskau Castle and St. Marienthal Monastery . The double episodes were broadcast on January 10th and 17th, 2014.

Season 10: On three wheels from Bavaria to the Baltic Sea

On 3 October 2014 the German Unity Day and the following day was the first to tenth season, shown in abbreviated form (two episodes, each 90 minutes). This time it was along the former inner German border , on the Green Belt , from the triangle near Regnitzlosau in Bavaria, Tiefenbrunn in Saxony and Hranice u Aše in the Czech Republic on a tuk tuk to the Priwall on the Baltic Sea. The rbb showed the detailed expedition between October 31 and November 21, 2014 in four episodes of 90 minutes each. The expedition included the moated Mitwitz castle , the Bayern tower , the Irmelshausen moated castle , the National Monument Sculpture Park German Unity , Point Alpha , the palaeon , the Helmstedt / Marienborn border crossing , the Arendsee , the Schaalsee and the Holstentor .

Season 11: With pug to the sea

The eleventh expedition took place in April and May 2015 and comprised 12 days of shooting. Michael Kessler traveled by various means of transport from Berlin via Hamburg , Helgoland , Sankt Peter-Ording , Husum , several North Frisian islands and Halligen to Sylt , the northernmost point of Germany. The broadcast took place on June 26th and July 3rd, 2015. Framework: Mr Kessler is supposed to look after the director's pug while on vacation at the North Sea. As usual, the animal serves to make contact with passers-by easier.

Season 12: With the post bike across the Alps

Filming for the twelfth expedition began on June 30, 2015 and lasted 14 days. Michael Kessler takes the trip with a post bike from the rbb from Garmisch-Partenkirchen via Ehrwald , the Fernpass , Imst , Pillerhöhe , the Reschenpass with Reschensee , Merano , Bozen and Trient to Riva del Garda . In between, he made a detour up to the Gogles Alm (2017 m) near Fliess and to the Stilfser Joch (2757 m), where he also visited the former Italian ski racer Gustav Thöni in his hotel. It was broadcast in two episodes on August 21st and 28th, 2015. On the detour to the Stilfers Joch he climbs 1700 meters in altitude on the heavy post bike in one day.

Season 13: With the cab to Neuschwanstein

The thirteenth trip took Michael Kessler in an electrically powered cab from Würzburg via Lauda-Königshofen , Nördlingen , Donauwörth and Augsburg to Neuschwanstein Castle . The broadcast in two (double) episodes took place on December 4th and 11th, 2015.

Season 14: With a pig on the Rhine

In the fourteenth edition, Michael Kessler is on his way with an electric vehicle on the Rhine from Konstanz to Strasbourg in search of happiness. The cameraman Sören and the pig Eberhard von Schwarte , who is traveling in a trailer, are on the expedition again . The trip spans 12 days of shooting and 300 kilometers along the river in the border area of ​​Germany, Switzerland and France. The route leads Kessler from Constance via Schaffhausen to the Rhine Falls to Kaiserstuhl , Bad Zurzach , Waldshut , Bad Säckingen and Rheinfelden . Continue by ship to the old town of Basel , then to southern Alsace and the Markgräflerland to Müllheim . From Breisach it goes to the Europa-Park in Rust . After the municipality of Erstein , the destination Strasbourg is in sight. The expedition in two 90-minute episodes was to be broadcast on rbb on July 22nd and 29th, 2016. Because of the attack in Munich in 2016 , the rbb changed its program and the broadcast was postponed by one week to July 29 and August 5, 2016.

Season 15: On floating runners around Berlin

For the fifteenth expedition, Michael Kessler set out on a trip around Berlin with his bicycle and floating runners from Werlsee in Grünheide . The shooting started on July 2, 2016. From the Werlsee the route takes him via Fürstenwalde , Bad Saarow and over the Scharmützelsee to Wendisch Rietz . Then Kessler pedaled across the Neuendorfer See to Märkisch Buchholz , the smallest town in Brandenburg . Then it goes via Teupitz , the Mellensee and Trebbin to Blankensee . After crossing the Schwielowsee , he reaches the state capital Potsdam . In the north of Berlin, Kessler will get to know Birkenwerder , Wandlitz , Lietzensee , Biesenthal and Strausberg . After twelve days of filming, he arrived where it all began - on the Werlsee near Grünheide. The rbb is planning the broadcast on October 14th and 21st, 2016 at 8:15 p.m. in two 90-minute episodes.

Season 16: With the soap box on the Oder

This expedition follows the Oder in a northerly direction to Swinoujscie on Usedom . Means of transport is a motorized single seat soap box. The broadcast in two (double) episodes took place on November 25 and December 2, 2016.

Season 17: With the sledge through the mountains

In February 2016, shooting for a season called "With a sledge through the mountains" took place in the high Alps. The broadcast took place on January 20 and 27, 2017.

Special editions

• On October 3, 2012, the rbb broadcast the one and a half hour special episode Kessler's Expeditions Special , in which, among other things, excerpts from previous seasons were shown in a summary. In search of guests for his supposed Saturday evening show, Michael Kessler also went to the companies from which the respective companion animals came in a red Opel Manta with a fox tail on the antenna.

• On May 1, 2013, the rbb broadcast the special issue Mit dem Clipboard through the broadcaster . In this special, Kessler visited all of the station's locations on the occasion of the rbb's 10th anniversary.

background

As during the filming of the Berliner Nacht-Taxe , Michael Kessler attached great importance in the run-up to the series of expeditions to showing only reality in his broadcast and not to work with staged events, emotions or previously informed amateur actors. This against the background of his criticism of pseudo-documentaries, which in the form of scripted reality only pretend authenticity. In this context, Kessler said that television mainly presented fakes , but that he himself longed for "authenticity and honesty."

Michael Kessler had never visited the eastern regions of Germany before the start of his series of expeditions, and the areas were accordingly unknown to him. Even after the first filming was finished, the actor criticized the still prevailing prejudice in the old federal states of the “ugly, unemployed, right-wing extremist East German” as “insolence” towards the people who lived there. During his travels, the people were accessible and communicative, and the landscape made a lasting impression on him.

reception

“ Kessler's expedition is a fine mixture of Kerkeling's I'm gone and the successful Bavarian Gernstl on the way . How nice when nothing big happens, but small things happen. So completely in passing. "

- Carin Pawlak, Focus

"With its discovery of slowness, the contemplative series itself has a therapeutic effect."

- Torsten Wahl, Berliner Zeitung

Availability

On December 2, 2011, Kessler's Expedition with the first three seasons was released as a DVD box. Seasons 4 and 5 were released as single DVDs on December 7, 2012. On March 15, 2013, seasons 4 to 6 appeared as an additional DVD box. In April 2013, the 6th season was released as a single DVD. In addition, several episodes are available free of charge in the rbb's online media library.

Web links

• Official website for the broadcast
• Kessler's expedition on Facebook
• Interview with Michael Kessler about the first season
• Interview with Michael Kessler about the second season
• Interview with Michael Kessler about the third season

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Most successful expedition: Raft adventure asked by rbb viewers quotenmeter.de , September 20, 2011, accessed on December 30, 2011
2. ↑ TV star Michael Kessler on television and social media: "We could be much crazier"  ( 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. nachricht.de, accessed on December 30, 2011  
3. ↑ The Frankendorfer Huskys will move from next week  ( 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. Märkische Allgemeine , February 13, 2012, accessed on February 17, 2012  
4. ↑ rbb-online.de: With the folding bike from Copenhagen to Berlin. Retrieved July 22, 2012 . 
5. ↑ rbb-online.de: Michael Kessler's new expedition leads into the mountains. Retrieved October 11, 2012 . 
6. ↑ rbb-online.de: Kessler's Expedition - On the Road by Rail. Retrieved March 18, 2013 . 
7. ↑ "kessler's dates"
8. ↑ Michael Kessler's appearance on the NDR Talk Show
9. ↑ rbb-online.de: Kessler's Expedition - With four hooves on the Neisse. Retrieved February 14, 2014 . 
10. ↑ ^{a b} On three wheels from Bavaria to the Baltic Sea on rbb-online.de from August 13, 2014
11. ↑ Kessler is starting three new expeditions for the rbb in 2015! Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, May 26, 2015, accessed on June 8, 2015 . 
12. ↑ Michael Kessler pedaling for the rbb - "With the post bike across the Alps"! Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, July 1, 2015, accessed on July 3, 2015 . 
13. ↑ With the cab to Neuschwanstein (1) rbb Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg. Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, December 4, 2015, accessed on February 11, 2016 . 
14. ^ With the cab to Neuschwanstein (2) rbb Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg. Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, December 11, 2015, accessed on February 11, 2016 . 
15. ↑ ^{a b} Michael Kessler is shooting four new expeditions for the rbb - currently he is "With Pig on the Rhine". Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, April 11, 2016, accessed on April 19, 2016 . 
16. ↑ On floating runners around Berlin. (No longer available online.) Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, June 29, 2016, archived from the original on August 23, 2016 ; Retrieved June 29, 2016 . 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.  
17. ↑ Facebook post about the start of shooting
18. ↑ With the sledge through the mountains (1). Retrieved December 7, 2016 . 
19. ↑ rbb-online.de: 10 years rbb - With the clipboard through the transmitter. Retrieved April 21, 2013 . 
20. ↑ Interview with Michael Kessler TVinfo.de, accessed on December 30, 2011
21. ↑ Jauch parodist Kessler paddles across the Spree from Friday - five episodes in the rbb  ( 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. satundkabel.de, August 18, 2011, accessed December 30, 2011  
22. ↑ Bathed in mosquito repellent: Comedian Michael Kessler  ( 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. Münsterland Zeitung.de, August 18, 2011, accessed December 30, 2011  
23. ↑ With Kessler down the Havel ( memento of the original from September 29, 2011 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. bz-berlin.de , August 18, 2011, accessed December 30, 2011 
24. ↑ I'll be donkeys Focus , June 6, 2011, accessed December 30, 2011
25. ↑ A donkey in the Uckermark Berliner Zeitung, June 6, 2011, accessed on January 8, 2012