Big Brother Germany
Encyclopedia
Big Brother Germany is a reality show on RTL II
(with a 24h live broadcast on German pay channel Premiere/Sky). It was the first adapted version based on the original Dutch Big Brother
series by Endemol
in 1999.
Should their stay inside the house become difficult for them to bear, a housemate is allowed to voluntary leave at anytime 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.
RTL II
RTL II is a privately owned, commercial, general-interest German television channel.It was founded as a second-generation commercial broadcaster in 1993. It quickly became infamous for its perceived "trash programming", comprising lots of soft porn as well as shows such as Peep and many...
(with a 24h live broadcast on German pay channel Premiere/Sky). It was the first adapted version based on the original Dutch Big Brother
Big Brother (Netherlands)
The Dutch Big Brother is the original version of the TV reality shows. It created the format in which contestants live in an isolated house trying to avoid being evicted by the public with the aim of a prize at the end...
series by Endemol
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
in 1999.
Big Brother Germany summary
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 housemate 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 voluntary leave at anytime 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.
Changes of the Concept
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:- "10 housemates live together in one house.": increased in season 2 to 12 housemates, in season #5, #6 and #11 the number of housemates is 15.
- "One housemates leaves the house forever when he/she gets evicted.": changed in season 2 with letting the first evictee return to the show.
- "Only the housemates have to decide which of them gets nominated.": changed in season 2 with automatically putting all housemates up for eviction in the final week. Besides in season 7 the viewers could decide which of them gets nominated. (Only 1 time)
- "None of the housemates know each other before entering the house.": changed in season 3 with a love-couple entering the house.
- "The prize money is a certainty": changed in season 4 with letting the final four housemates doing challenges and giving them a quarter of the original prize money for every succeeded nathan challenge.
- "The complete household lives together in one group": changed in season 4 with dividing the house into two parts with a "rich" and a "poor" area and splitting the household into two competing teams (that was changed in season five to three different teams). Season 6 gets three different houses where the housemates have to live in.
- "All the housemates live together in one house": changed in season 6 with building a whole "Big Brother village" including five houses and a farm.
- "The show runs for three months": changed in season 5 with expanding the show to one year and in season 6 when the show was to run indefinitely (see below).
- "The show is supposed to run for a certain time": changed in season 6 with the announcement that the show would run as long as the ratings were acceptable (it actually lasted 363 days).
- "Only the winner receives prize money": changed in season 6 with the creation of three different areas for the housemates where they had work and earn money, which was given to them when they got evicted (housemates who left the house voluntary didn't receive any money).
- "The housemates get no information from outside": changed in season 5 where the housemates were allowed to watch the RTL2 News after winning a game and in order to learn about a terrorist attack.
- "The housemates don't get letters from their family and friends or meet them while inside the house.": changed in season 5 where some housemates got letters/visits from outside as rewards for winning games.
Series Details
| Series | Theme | Launch date | Finale date | Days | Winner | The prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 Big Brother Germany (Season 1) The original season of Big Brother Germany started on 28 February 2000 and lasted 102 days until 9 June 2000 on RTL 2.-Season summary:Being the first adaptation of the original show with the same name that was aired six months earlier in the Netherlands... |
- | 28 February 2000 | 9 June 2000 | 102 | John Milz | 250,000.- mark (127,822.97 euro) |
| Season 2 Big Brother Germany (Season 2) Season two of Big Brother Germany lasted from 16 September 2000 to 31 December 2000 and was shown on RTL 2.-Season summary:After the runaway success of the first season, expectations were very high for the sophomore season. Significant changes were that the producers dared to air the nominations... |
Back to Basics | 16 September 2000 | 31 December 2000 | 106 | Alida Kurras | 250,000.- mark (127,822.97 euro) |
| Season 3 Big Brother Germany (Season 3) Season Three of Big Brother Germany lasted from 27 January 2001 to 12 May 2001 and was aired on RTL and RTL 2.-Season summary:After a very successful second season the producers hesitated to start the third installment of the show already a scarce month after the end of the second season with... |
- | 27 January 2001 | 12 May 2001 | 106 | Karina Schreiber | 300,000.- mark (153,387.56 euro) |
| Season 4 Big Brother Germany (Season 4) Season four of Big Brother Germany lasted from 31 March 2003 to 7 July 2003 and was shown on RTL 2.-Season summary:... |
The Battle | 31 March 2003 | 7 July 2003 | 98 | Jan Geilhufe | 90,000.- euro |
| Season 5 Big Brother Germany (Season 5) The fifth Season of Big Brother Germany lasted for one year from 2 March 2004 to 1 March 2005 and is therefore the longest running Big Brother show worldwide. This season is the longest uninterrupted live television broadcast according to Guinness World Records.... |
365 Days - 1 Million Euro | 2 March 2004 | 1 March 2005 | 365 | Sascha Sirtl | 1,000,000.- euro |
| Season 6 Big Brother Germany (Season 6) The sixth Season of Big Brother Germany lasted for 363 days from 1 March 2005 to 26 February 2006 and is therefore the second longest running Big Brother show worldwide, but was firstly considered to run without an end.-Season summary:... |
The Village | 1 March 2005 | 26 February 2006 | 363 | Michael Knopf | 250,000.- euro |
| Season 7 Big Brother Germany (Season 7) Season Seven of Big Brother Germany lasted for 148 days from 5 February 2007 to 7 July 2007 and was shown on RTL II.-Season summary:After a disappointing sixth season, which was supposed to run forever but was cut short and a year break the producers decided to return with a "Back to the... |
Who are you really? | 5 February 2007 | 7 July 2007 | 148 | Michael Carstensen | 250,000.- euro |
| Season 8 Big Brother Germany (Season 8) Season Eight of Big Brother Germany lasted exactly half a year from 7 January 2008 to 7 July 2008 and was shown on RTL II.-Season summary:As the other seasons of Big Brother Germany, the eighth season was broadcast on RTL 2, where in a daily show the previous day's events were summarized... |
Rich vs. Poor | 7 January 2008 | 7 July 2008 | 183 | Isabelle "Isi" Kaufmann | 250,000.- euro |
| Season 9 Big Brother Germany (Season 9) The ninth season of Big Brother Germany began on 8 December 2008 and ended on 6 July 2009 . The 9th Season was hosted by Miriam Pielhau and Alida-Nadine Lauenstein. The theme for this season's house was Heaven and Hell... |
Heaven and Hell | 8 December 2008 | 6 July 2009 | 211 | Daniel Schöller | 250,000.- euro |
| Season 10 Big Brother Germany (Season 10) The tenth season of Big Brother Germany began on 11 January 2010 and ended on 9 August 2010, having lasted 211 days. The season was originally set to end on June 6, 2010. The winner received the €250,000 grand prize, the 2nd place won a car and the 3rd place received a holiday. Alexandra Bechtel... |
Everyone got a secret | 11 January 2010 | 9 August 2010 | 211 | Timo Grätsch | 250,000.- euro |
| Season 11 Big Brother Germany (Season 11) The current eleventh season of Big Brother Germany began on 2 May 2011 and was planned to end on the early morning of 9 August 2011, lasting 100 days. On July 4, Big Brother announced that the series will be extended by 5 weeks, therefore running 135 days and ending on 12 September 2011... |
The Secret | 2 May 2011 | 12 September 2011 | 135 | Marco Sonnen "Rayo di Sole" | 125,000.- euro |
| Season 12 | 2012 | 2012 |