The East German tv production used to be a lot more popular in West Germany than West Germany’s sandman, which eventually made him the sandman for reunited Germany. Go figure.
Another factoid re: E/W Germany & Sandman (This one’s pretty sad): According to a German student at a college I attended, it was of course illegal during the Berlin Wall days for East Germans to watch West German TV. But quite a few people would rig their sets (or get West German TVs through the black market, however it was done) and watch anyway. In a creepy bit of 1984-style treachery, the East German government made schoolteachers in the younger grades give their students an assignment: Draw the Sandman. Although most of the programming on the TV show was the same on both sides of the wall, the host (the Sandman) and interstitials were stylistically different. The parents of children who turned in a West German-style Sandman drawing got a surprise visit later on…
Hopefully the punishment was not too severe. All the same, the situation’s really unpleasant, and using one’s own children as unwitting tools like that is dirty & underhanded.
February 16th, 2009 at 11:54 am
And who said East Germans were not racially insensitive (ETERNA was a Commie…was the only label from East Germany)
February 16th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
what the *hell* is that supposed to be?
February 18th, 2009 at 10:01 am
O…M…G…
February 20th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Don’t get paranoid, people. Educate yourselves instead.
Pitti Platsch is a character from the GDR children television (Sandman & Co.), and it’s supposed to be a kobold.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yB6lpr5G4A
The East German tv production used to be a lot more popular in West Germany than West Germany’s sandman, which eventually made him the sandman for reunited Germany. Go figure.
February 21st, 2009 at 10:52 am
Another factoid re: E/W Germany & Sandman (This one’s pretty sad): According to a German student at a college I attended, it was of course illegal during the Berlin Wall days for East Germans to watch West German TV. But quite a few people would rig their sets (or get West German TVs through the black market, however it was done) and watch anyway. In a creepy bit of 1984-style treachery, the East German government made schoolteachers in the younger grades give their students an assignment: Draw the Sandman. Although most of the programming on the TV show was the same on both sides of the wall, the host (the Sandman) and interstitials were stylistically different. The parents of children who turned in a West German-style Sandman drawing got a surprise visit later on…
Hopefully the punishment was not too severe. All the same, the situation’s really unpleasant, and using one’s own children as unwitting tools like that is dirty & underhanded.