Wege zum Glück explained

Genre:Telenovela
Creator:Gavin Strawhan
Num Seasons:4
Num Episodes:789
Producer:Rainer Wemcken
Location:Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg
Runtime:42 minutes
Company:Grundy UFA TV Produktions GmbH
Channel:ZDF

Wege zum Glück (English: Ways to Happiness)[1] is a German telenovela. The show was starting on October 6, 2005, on ZDF and originally was planned to have 250 chapters. Later the concept was changed and the title became a label to tell different love stories in telenovela-style. After 789 chapters, the network decided to cancel the show. The last episode aired on February 24, 2009.

ZDF decided to end the show after ratings declined from season to season. Unable to find a successful replacement, the network announced in January 2012 that a deal was made with the production company Grundy UFA to reactivate the Wege zum Glück series. The melodramatic stories were also shown in Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

Overview

Season 1

Chapter 1 - Chapter 250: (Julia – Wege zum Glück) Julia Schilling meets Daniel Gravenberg on a tour in South Africa and they eventually start to fall for each other. But then Julia has to flee together with her troubled mother Christa. They get back to Germany and Julia thinks that she lost Daniel forever. Penniless, Julia tries to start a new life in the fictional town Falkental and begins working at a porcelain manufactory. She first does not know that Daniel is the junior executive at the company. After many complications and schemes from Daniel's mother Annabelle, the pair get their happy end.

Season 2

Chapter 251 - Chapter 500: Nina Bergmann is a single parent after her husband Max van Weyden went missing on a Photo Safari. Nina tried to find him, but in the end had to flee to her aunt Birgit Hertel, who lives in Falkental. She meets Julia's half brother Ben Petersen and falls in love with him after they work closely together in the manufactory. Eventually Nina has to fight for custody over her daughter as Annabelle's new husband Richard van Weyden, Max' father, does not think she's a responsible parent. As Annabelle has to fight against the rejection of Richard's daughter Viktoria, Nina finds a rival Elsa Ritter for Ben's heart just as Max returns into their lives. In the end, Nina and Ben get married and leave for their honeymoon in the Caribbean.

Season 3

Chapter 501 - Chapter 703: Luisa Maywald comes together with her adoptive sister Nora to Falkental to search for her biological mother. Someday she runs into Simon Becker and realizes that he possesses her old talisman. Luisa gets into his atelier to get it back and is caught by Simon. As Luisa tries to get away she destroys a stature, who hits Simon's head. As Luisa runs off to get help, Nora gets to Simon and eventually turns up as a romantic rival for Simon's heart. After Nora finds out that Annabelle is her biological mother, she becomes part of her schemes and is used by Annabelle. In the end, Nora faces prison for a crime her mother committed and Luisa ends up marrying Simon. They leave Falkental behind and start a new life with their son Moritz in New Zealand.

Season 4

Chapter 704 - Chapter 789: Before the new season starts, chapters 704 to 710 focus on other storylines of the residents in Falkental. After that the audience sees Nora and how she tries to escape from a prison hospital. She flees to Hamburg and meets Alexander Wagner. The two spend an unforgettable day together, before Nora has to take a six-year sentence in prison. After six years, Nora and Alexander meet again on her birthday and she tells him her life story. They eventually discover that they are siblings and that their love is impossible. Caught between love and taboo, Nora and Alexander are unable to resist each other. After it is proven that they are not brother and sister after all, the two get married while Annabelle is finally paying for her crimes. As she escapes from police custody, Annabelle decides to take her own life.

Cast

Actor Role Episodes Years
Julia Gravenberg, née Schilling 1–303 2005–2007
Christa Schilling 1–120
236–250
2005–2006
Daniel Gravenberg 1–303 2005–2007
Frederik Gravenberg 1–270
705–789
2005–2006
2008–2009
Annabelle Gravenberg, née Krüger, divorced van Weyden1–732
734
2005–2008
Eva Landmann 1–789 2005–2009
Jörg Schwarz † 1–234 2005–2006
Werner Gravenberg † 1–131
137
171–178
2005–2006
Tobias Becker 1–738 2005–2008
Patrizia Gravenberg 1–321 2005–2007
Silke Mertens 1–462 2005–2007
Lilly Gerlach, née Becker 1–412 2005–2007
Kolja Hertel 1–452 2005–2007
Andreas Krill † 1–110 2005–2006
Niko Becker 3–321 2005–2007
Jan Schönke 5–276 2005–2006
Tim Gerlach 13–412 2005–2007
Marie Vermont 44–218 2005–2006
Charlotte „Charlie“ Vermont 69–344 2006–2007
Birgit Hertel 112–500 2006–2007
Katy Wellinghoff, née Neubauer 178–211 2006
Nina Petersen, née Bergmann 216–500 2006–2007
Paula Bergmann #1 216–500 2006–2007
Viktoria „Vicky“ van Weyden † 222–493 2006–2007
Richard van Weyden 231–789 2006–2009
Benjamin „Ben“ Petersen 239–500 2006–2007
Hagen Ritter 245–633 2006–2008
Erik Landmann † 281–477 2006–2007
Stefan Krill 326–462 2007
Elsa Landmann, née Ritter 333–789 2007–2009
Helena van Weyden, née Bernstein339–612 2007–2008
Maximilian „Max“ van Weyden 348–442 2007
Meike Becker, née Hansen 350–733 2007–2008
Elisabeth „Lizzy“ van Weyden 412–690 2007–2008
Konrad Landmann 457–789 2007–2009
Harald Becker † 466–588 2007–2008
Marianne Becker 466–738 2007–2008
Luisa Becker, née Maywald 469–703 2007–2008
Nora Wagner, née Krüger, adopted Maywald, accepted van Weyden 469–789 2007–2009
David Kramer Simon Becker 476–703 2007–2008
Sebastian Becker 503–733 2007–2008
Henning Reichenbach 508–712 2007–2008
Sophie Nowak 513–789 2007–2009
Ludwig Adam 548–789 2008–2009
Theo Gehrmann #1 638–713 2008
Tom Nowak 693–789 2008–2009
Constanze Becker 702–789 2008–2009
Judith Wagner 707–789 2008–2009
Alexander Wagner 709–789 2008–2009
Michael Adam † 711–784 2008–2009
Theo Landmann, adopted, née Gehrmann #2 714–789 2008–2009
Jessica Fuchs 725–788 2008–2009
Paula Bergmann #2 733–789 2008–2009

Notes and References

  1. http://www.zdf-enterprises.de/en/ways_to_happiness.13158.htm ZDF Enterprises - Program Sales - International Catalogue - Series - Love + Romance