| Genre: | Reality |
| Opentheme: | Various (see below) |
| Country: | Germany |
| Language: | German |
| Num Seasons: | 14 |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Company: | EndemolShine Germany |
| Channel: | RTL Zwei |
| Channel2: | sixx |
| Channel3: | Sat.1 |
| Last Aired4: | present |
| Related: | Promi Big Brother |
Big Brother is the German version of the international reality television franchise Big Brother created by producer John de Mol Jr. in 1997.[1] Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show followed a number of contestants, known as housemates, who are isolated from the outside world for an extended period of time in a custom-built house. Each week, one of the housemates is evicted by a public vote, with the last housemate remaining winning a cash prize.
Big Brother premiered on 28 February 2000 and ran for eleven seasons on RTL Zwei (formerly spelled RTL 2 and RTL II) before the network cancelled it in September 2011.[2] [3] Big Brother returned on 22 September 2015 on sixx, and lasted for one season.[4] After a 5-year break, Sat.1 rebooted the series on 10 February 2020.[5] [6] Three years later, in October 2023, it was announced by EndemolShine Germany and Sat.1 that Big Brother would return for his fourteenth season on 2024.[7]
The show also featured a 24-hour live feed, in which fans could view the inside of the house at any time on the German pay channel Premiere and Sky until the twelfth season. In the Sat.1 iteration of the show, however, there was no 24-hour live stream offered from the inside of the house.[8]
After a two-year hiatus, the show was bought and revamped by Sat.1 as Promi Big Brother, the first celebrity version of the German version, with the first season premiering on 13 September 2013.[9] Cindy aus Marzahn and Oliver Pocher were announced as the new presenters of the revived show in August 2013.[10] Jochen Schropp is hosting the show since season 2, and with Jochen Bendel, also hosted Series 5. Since season 6, Schropp and Marlene Lufen are hosting the show together.
Big Brother Germany is based on the international Big Brother series produced by Endemol in the Netherlands which began in 1999. The show's name comes from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which revolves around a dystopia in which dictator Big Brother is the all-seeing leader. A group of people (called the Housemates) live together in a house, where 24 hours a day their every word and every action is recorded by cameras and microphones in all the rooms in the house. Access to television, the Internet, print media, and time is prohibited. In addition, the housemates live in complete confinement; they have no access to the outside world. At least once a week, the housemates secretly nominate two housemates they wish to face a public vote to evict. The two or more housemates with the most votes face the public vote. The viewing public decides which of them gets evicted through text message votes or phone calls. The nominee with the most votes is evicted and leaves the house.
Should their stay inside the house become difficult for them to bear, a housemate is allowed to voluntarily leave at any time during the game. In the event of a withdrawal from the house, a replacement housemate usually enters in their place.
In the final week of each season, the viewers vote for which of the remaining people in the house should win the prize money and be crowned the winner of Big Brother.
Since the start of its first season in February 2000, Big Brother Germany went through numerous changes in its concept. Here are some significant examples of the progress of modifying the rules of the original game:
The winner of Big Brother Germany receives a cash prize for being the last remaining housemate:
Some seasons include a theme.
| Season | Theme | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | Back to Basics | |
| 3 | ||
| 4 | The Battle | |
| 5 | 365 Days - 1 Million Euro | |
| 6 | The Village | |
| 7 | Who are you really? | |
| 8 | Rich vs. Poor | |
| 9 | Heaven and Hell/Reloaded | |
| 10 | Everyone got a secret | |
| 11 | The Secret | |
| 12 | Back to Basics | |
| 13 | Big Brother 20 | |
| 14 |
Unlike in many other Big Brother houses, in the Big Brother Germany house smoking is allowed outdoors and indoors. This is because Germany has no smoking ban.
Big Brother Germany was broadcast by RTL Zwei from season 1 until 11, sixx for season 12 and Sat.1 from season 13.
| Season | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Highlights Shows (8:15pm – 9:00pm) | The Decision Shows (8:15pm – 9:15pm) | Highlights Shows (10:15pm – 11:00pm) | Highlights Shows (8:15pm – 9:00pm) | ||||
| 2 | Highlights Shows (8:15pm – 9:00pm) | The Decision Shows (9:15pm – 11:15pm) | Highlights Shows (8:15pm – 9:00pm) | |||||
| 3 | ||||||||
| 4 | Highlights Shows (7:00pm – 7:45pm) The Decision Shows (9:15pm – 11:15pm) | Highlights Shows (7:00pm – 7:45pm) | ||||||
| 5 | Highlights Shows (7:00pm – 8:00pm) The Decision Shows (9:15pm – 11:15pm - One night a week) | |||||||
| 6 | ||||||||
| 7 | Highlights Shows (7:00pm – 8:00pm) The Decision Shows (9:15pm – 11:15pm) | Highlights Shows (7:00pm – 8:00pm) | rowspan="4" | |||||
| 8 | ||||||||
| 9 | ||||||||
| 10 | ||||||||
| 11 | Highlights Shows (7:00pm – 8:00pm) The Decision Shows (9:15pm – 11:15pm) | Highlights Shows (7:00pm – 8:00pm) | ||||||
| 12 | Highlights Shows (10:10pm – 11:10pm) | The Decision Shows (8:15pm – 10:15pm) | Highlights Shows (10:10pm – 11:10pm) | |||||
| 13 | Highlights Shows (7:00pm – 7:55pm) The Decision Shows (8:15pm – 10:15pm) | Highlights Shows (7:00pm – 7:55pm) | colspan="2" | |||||
| 14 | Live Launch (8:15 pm – 10:15 pm) Weekly Live Shows (10:55 pm – 11:55 pm) | Highlights Shows (9:00 pm – 9:35 pm) | ||||||
In the first season a spin-off show with the name Der Talk (The Talk) was aired on Sundays from 21:15 to 22:15 on RTL Zwei.
In the second and third season, a spin-off show called "Family and Friends" aired live from 16:45 to 17:45, the show presented by Aleksandra Bechtel.
In season thirteen, a live late-night show with the name Die Late Night Show was aired on sixx every Mondays after The Decision Show, in which the debriefing spoke about what was happening in the house. The hosts were Jochen Bendel and Melissa Khalaj.[11] Also every Sunday on IGTV was broadcast a short minute web show titled Recap mit Aaron Troschke. In this, Aaron Troschke as the host commented on the events from the last week.
| Season | Presenter(s) | Co-presenter(s) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Percy Hoven | Thorsten Wember | Sophie Rosentreter | |||||||
| 2 | Oliver Geissen | Gudrun Loeb | Aleksandra Bechtel | |||||||
| 3 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Aleksandra Bechtel | colspan="8" | ||||||||
| 5 | Ruth Moschner | Christian Möllmann | Oliver Petszokat | |||||||
| 6 | Oliver Petszokat | Jochen Bendel | ||||||||
| 7 | Charlotte Karlinder | Jürgen Milski | ||||||||
| 8 | Miriam Pielhau | |||||||||
| 9 | Alida Kurras-Lauenstein | |||||||||
| 10 | Aleksandra Bechtel | |||||||||
| 11 | Sonja Zietlow | colspan="8" rowspan="2" | ||||||||
| 12 | Jochen Bendel | |||||||||
| 13 | Jochen Schropp | Jochen Bendel | Melissa Khalaj | Aaron Troschke | ||||||
| 14 | ||||||||||
| Season | Song (English translation) | Performer |
|---|---|---|
| 1/11/14 | "Leb" (Live) | Die 3. Generation |
| 2 | "Zeig mir dein Gesicht" (Show Me Your Face) | Berger |
| 3 | "Nur die Wahrheit zählt" (Only Truth Counts) | Ayman and Naima |
| 4 | "Alles ändert sich" (Everything Changes) | Oli P. feat. Lukas |
| 5 | "Alles was du willst" (Everything You Want) | Lex |
| 6 | "Deine Welt" (Your World) | (Own composition) |
| 7 | "Ich seh was, was du nicht siehst" (I See Something You Do Not See) | Senta-Sofia |
| 8 | "Chose to Be Me" | Sunrise Avenue |
| 9 | "Everybody" | Mousse T. |
| 10 | "Schöne neue Welt" (Brave New World) | Culcha Candela |
| 12 | "Sparks" | Neon Hitch |
| 13 | "Follow the Leader" | Cosby |
Big Brother was a social phenomenon when it began in 2000. At some point in the first season it hit a 70% rating share. Despite massive popularity, ratings in the third season started to decline. RTL II decided to take the show off the air for one year (2002).
The program returned in 2003 with a completely modified format and lower expectations. Much higher ratings and sponsors' interest resulted in the following season. The fifth season reached up to high expectations of the producers. The high success of the fifth season resulted in a back-to-back season, which was supposed to run for at least a few years. However, ratings started to decline and the show was hiding in the shadow of its former glory. The producers decided to end the show after its first year on air.
A Year-and-half later, in 2007, RTL II decided to return to the old, original format of the program, marking the seventh season as "Back To Basics". Despite this, the renewed format was not a ratings hit, but it reached up to the producers' low expectations.
The producers tried to renew the format for the eleventh season, because of the tenth season-low achievements (The finale of the tenth season had 1.39 million viewers). Viewing figures however decline in the eleventh season, but producers made an impression of success with duration and prize extension. The ratings in the eleventh season rarely reached a 10% share.