The Mainzelmännchen are six comedic cartoon characters used as mascots for German public service television broadcaster ZDF. They first aired on television in 1963 as a way to accommodate a government regulation prohibiting confusion between broadcast advertising and content. The cartoon characters served as a transition between the two.[1]
They appear in between ads during broadcasts, in roughly three to five-second clips, and often during the satirical news program Heute-show. The name is a combination of Mainz, home to the ZDF headquarters, and Heinzelmännchen, a type of gnome common in folklore in the region surrounding the city of Cologne. Wolf Gerlach created the characters.[2] [3]
The Mainzelmännchen have become popular across Germany. Radio dramas have been created surrounding them, as well as children's books, and numerous other kinds of merchandise.
The series also aired in the United Kingdom on BBC Two from 1964 until 1999. Mainzelmännchen also aired in other countries, including SVT1 in Sweden, Česká televize in the Czech Republic, ERT1 in Greece, TVP1 in Poland, TV Perú in Peru, HRT 1 and 2 in Croatia, Sjónvarpið in Iceland, DR1 in Denmark, Rai 1 and 2 in Italy, STER on 1 in the Netherlands, TV Cultura in Brazil, TVR1 in Romania, YLE TV2 in Finland, NHK in Japan, NRK in Norway, RTP in Portugal, TVE in Spain, Antenne 2 and FR3 in France, Channel 1 in Israel, MTVA in Hungary, Canal Once in Mexico, TVOntario in Canada, ABC1 in Australia, and SBS in South Korea.
The Mainzelmännchen are either wights or dwarves, and display similarities to Heinzelmännchen. They often wear a Phrygian cap, similar to garden gnomes; however, they lack a beard. Their appearances often last three to five seconds, during which they perform a single short gag. They usually speak in only a few short words, in a grumbly tone. Many of the gags are presented only visually and pantomimically. Their most famous saying is the traditional greeting "Gud’n Aamd“, a dialect-accented "Guten Abend" ("good evening"). Their given names are Anton, Berti, Conni, Det, Edi and Fritzchen.