News from the Süderhof

Television series
Original title	News from the Süderhof
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Year (s)	1991–1993 (Süderhof I) ; 1995–1997 (Süderhof II)
Production ; company	Televersal, NDR
length	25 minutes
Episodes	52
genre	Children / youth series
idea	Brigitte Blobel
music	Rolf Zuckowski ; Michael Reinecke
First broadcast	December 31, 1991 on Das Erste

Neues vom Süderhof is a German children's series based on the novel of the same name by the Hamburg author Brigitte Blobel . Between 1991 and 1997 a total of 52 parts were produced. Initially, the work was produced as a 13-part series (1991-1992), then after a break of several years there were new seasons from 1995, in which almost the entire acting crew was reassigned. Since the character of the series also changed, a division into "Süderhof I" and "Süderhof II" became common.

action

The heart of the series is the Brendel family. Veterinarian Dr. Günther Brendel and his wife Sonia, who works as a freelance author for books about raising children, live in a no longer managed small farm in the Lüneburg Heath (Handeloh) with two horses and a few pets. Her daughters are Beatrice ("Bimbo") and Manuela ("Molle"). Günther's parents Martha (later Herta) and Heinrich (later Bernhard) also live at the Süderhof. Günther's brother Tom and his wife Francis, who lived in Munich, are killed in a plane crash in Africa in the first episode. Sonia and Günther then take the three children Peggy, Daniel ("Dany") and Benjamin ("Ben") in with them.

The series is about the experiences of the five children from the Süderhof and their friends.

characters

Brendel family

Bimbo and Molle are children of Günter and Sonja Brendel. Günter's brother Tom and his wife Francis are killed in a plane crash. Their three children, Dany, Peggy and Benny, are then adopted.

Beatrice (Bimbo) Brendel

Bimbo Brendel is 13 years old and has long blonde hair. She is a skilled rider and often rides her pony, Klärchen. She is bossy and likes to interrupt people. In season 2, episode 2, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes .

Manuela (Molle) Brendel

Molle Brendel is 12 years old and the opposite of her sister. She has brown hair and is very cute. Her favorite food is gummy bears.

Daniel (Dany) Brendel

Dany Brendel is four months older than Bimbo. He's good at math and physics.

Peggy Brendel

Peggy is good at English. She is shy and quiet.

Benjamin (Benny) Brendel

Benny is the youngest child and has not yet attended school. After Benny's mother died, Molle gave Benny her pet lamb, Rosi. Since then, he and Rosi have been best friends.

Dr. Günther Brendel

Günther is a veterinarian.

Sonja Brendel

Sonja tries to write a book about raising children.

Grandmother Brendel

Grandma likes to cook and takes care of her grandchildren.

Grandfather Brendel

Grandpa is hard of hearing.

More figures

Dolores 'Dolly' Malzahn

Dolly is the English teacher at the local school.

Christine

Christine is the veterinary assistant in Dr. Brendel's practice.

Pets

Pony, Clara

Klärchen is Bimbo's pony. She is a champion racing pony after winning a local horse race where she defeated several professional racehorses.

In episode 3, Günther got an offer Klärchen to a horse rider for 3,000 marks and to sell the foal for 1,000 marks because the two horses were too expensive. Bimbo then entered a local horse race with Peggy as a jockey. Klärchen won the horse race and the main prize of 5000 marks. That convinced Günther to keep Klärchen and Shalimar.

Pony, Shalimar

Shalimar is Klarchen's foal.

Lamb, Rosi

Rosi is Benny's lamb.

In episode 1 Günther treated Rosi's mother, but could not save her. Molle asked to keep the lamb because her father had always promised her a lamb. Guenther agreed, but Sonja disagreed and said they had enough creatures in the house. Bimbo said Rosi was orphaned and no longer had a mother. Sonja was moved and agreed that the lamb be a pet. Later, when orphan Benny moved to the Suderhof, Bimbo showed him Rosi to cheer him up.

Tortoise, Sybille

Sybille is the house turtle. She likes to eat salad.

Bitch, Anuschka

Cat, samson

Samson is a white cat.

James Bond, parrot

James Bond is grandma and grandpa 's parrot. His favorite expression is "007". Some of his other favorite expressions are “Bottoms up! Cheers! "," All men on board! ", And" Grandpa is great! "

production

Süderhof I (1991–1993)

In summer 1991 first six episodes were filmed in winter 1991/92 in the preliminary program of the ARD erstausgestrahlt. Another six episodes followed in the summer of 1992 (7-12) and a final episode in January 1993 (the only winter shoot in the entire series), all of which were first broadcast in the summer / autumn of 1993. Afterwards there were almost continuous repetitions in all ARD programs as well as on 3sat and ORF .

Within these 13 first episodes played the main roles:

actor	Role name
Singa Gätgens	Beatrice "Bimbo" Brendel
Pamela Great	Manuela "Molle" Brendel
Yvonne Jungblut	Peggy Brendel
Gerrit Hesse	Daniel "Dany" Brendel
Niki from the castle	Benjamin "Ben" Brendel
Katharina Schütz	Mother Sonia Brendel
Arnfried Lerche	Father Dr. Günther Brendel
Ursula Hinrichs	Grandma Martha Brendel
Horst Breiter	Grandpa Heinrich Brendel

Süderhof II (1995–1997)

After a long break, the NDR decided to produce more seasons of the series. However, it was believed that the actors had outgrown the roles, so a new cast was chosen. With the exception of Ursula Hinrichs (Grandma Brendel) and a few supporting actors, all actors were replaced with this season, whereby the new actors differed significantly from the earlier ones. The best-known actress of these later episodes was Sabine Kaack as mother Sonia Brendel. Before that, she had played a leading role in the series "Briefgeheimnis" (ZDF), also directed by Monika Zinnenberg. The grandparents' first names were accidentally changed, but they were completely irrelevant for the plot.

In the summer / autumn of 1995, the third season with 13 episodes (episodes 14-26 in the total count, 1-13 for Süderhof II) was filmed, which were broadcast in the first half of 1996 in the Tigerenten Club . In the special “A visit to the Süderhof”, which was also broadcast for the first time in the “Tigerenten Club”, the actors of the first two seasons handed over their roles to the new actors.

The fourth season with a further 13 episodes (episodes 27–39 in the total count, 14–26 for Süderhof II) was shot in summer 1996, and it was first broadcast in spring 1997. Ilse Werner can be seen in one episode in a guest role.

The fifth season of the series was shot in 1997 and first aired in the first half of 1998. This season, Bimbo was replaced by a new main character named Lili, played by Ann-Kristin Schmeisser. In the fourth episode ( Dany and the love of money ) it became known that Bimbo is in America.

From 1998 the follow-up series Die Kinder vom Alstertal was produced, which Süderhof fans often - unofficially and with a slightly mocking undertone because of the strong similarity - referred to as "Süderhof III".

The main roles were cast as follows:

actor	Role name
Friederike Hallermann	Beatrice "Bimbo" Brendel
Cora Sabrina Grimm	Manuela "Molle" Brendel
Thea Frank	Peggy Brendel
Florian Philip Huth	Daniel "Dany" Brendel
Tim Küchler	Benjamin "Ben" Brendel
Sabine Kaack	Mother Sonia Brendel
Andreas Klein	Father Dr. Günther Brendel
Ursula Hinrichs	Grandma Herta Brendel
Heinz Lieven	Grandpa Bernhard Brendel
Tim Schneider	Achim
Jonas Reinsch	Patrick
Sophie Steiner	Caroline
Louisa Herfert	Louisa

Episodes (Süderhof I)

season 1

01. the hiding place behind the dike
02. Where is Ben?
03. The horse race
04. Molle must not stay seated
05. The nest robbers
06. The magic ball

season 2

07. The school thief
08. The scary night
09. The monkeys are on the loose
10. Wanted: A man for our teacher
11. Camera is running
12. Peggy wants to dance
13. Danger to the Süderhof

Episodes (Süderhof II)

season 3

14. Peggy's in trouble
15. Much ado about a photo
16. Ben hitchhikes to Istanbul
17. Visit from the USA
18. Dany, the saving angel
19. Fear for Grazia
20. The boy wonder
21. Shooting festival with a bang
22. Beacon against animal abusers
23. The man in the moor
24. Holidays at long last
25. Molle and the crocodile
26. The test of courage

Season 4

27. Curtain up for Molle
28. The treasure hunt
29. Peggy goes to the fire department
30. Dany's great love
31. Survival training
32. Friendship betrayed
33. Anuschka intervenes
34. What's wrong with bimbo?
35. Molle's annoying admirer
36. Lady Luck must not die
37. Ben has a career
38. An accident with consequences
39. Wedding at the Süderhof

Season 5

40. The donkey
41. Dany freaks out
42. Stress for Carla
43. Dany and the love of money
44. Lili and the jumping jack
45. Dany and the poison trail
46. Molle and the Star
47. Lili and the rumor
48. For love of Molle
49. Peggy and the eco freaks
50th Jack of Hearts for Peggy
51. Lili wants everything
52. Offspring for the Süderhof

Filming locations and makers of the series

The main filming locations were a riding stables in Handeloh in Lower Saxony (30 km south of Hamburg ) with many outdoor scenes in the area, the city center of Buchholz (Nordheide) and Glinde and the grammar school in Trittau , but also numerous other locations in the southern and eastern Hamburg area. The beach scenes in episode 26 ( The Test of Courage ) were filmed in the coastal landscape nature reserve between Priwall and Barendorf with Harkenbäkniederung , east of Travemünde .

The director was Monika Zinnenberg in all episodes, the script came from Marlies Kerremans based on the literary models by Brigitte Blobel . The theme music was composed by Rolf Zuckowski , the background music for the Süderhof I came from Michael Reinecke .

Charisma

After its first broadcast, the series was repeated more than 35 times in at least one season in many programs on ARD (including third , 3sat , and KI.KA ).

However, since the NDR no longer has the broadcasting rights for the first season, only the episodes of Süderhof II (episodes 14–52 of the total count) have been broadcast for several years. The Süderhof I (episodes 1–13) was last seen in August 2002 on WDR television .

In 2019, seasons 1 to 3 were released on DVD, in 2020 seasons 4 and 5.

useful information

An unofficial successor was the series Die Kinder vom Alstertal , in which Ursula Hinrichs , Louisa Herfert and Tim Küchler also participated. However, with younger actors and significantly more present parents, this appealed to a younger audience than news from the Süderhof .
Daniela Hoffmann , actress of the teacher Dolly Mahlzahn (later Kistler), is u. a. Dubbing actress for Hollywood actress Julia Roberts .
Ulli Lothmanns , actor of the teacher Dr. Kistler died unexpectedly in 2006 while working in the Netherlands
In the episode Molle and the Star , the boy group Bed & Breakfast made a guest appearance as itself. Fabian Harloff , who played himself in the role of a musician, had a similar guest appearance at Süderhof I (episode 10 “A man for our teacher”).
Vehicles in the series had the license plate OH for Ostholstein in Süderhof I , although the book version was set on the North Sea. At the Süderhof II it was decided to use a fictitious label SÖN (presumably for Söndorf, this name is mentioned in several episodes); for the location it would have been WL ( Winsen (Luhe) ), which was seen in some places in the series (then rather accidentally).
In some episodes the police officer Fritz Schmal wears the Lower Saxony coat of arms on his shoulder (the film was shot there), in other episodes the coat of arms of Schleswig-Holstein (the series was supposed to take place there).
The show helped Singa Gätgens and Pamela Großer , who later had successful career as a presenter, to become more well known.