Das Traumschiff is a West German

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

-German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 television series by ZDF

ZDF

Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...

.

The series, about a cruise ship

Cruise ship

A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...

 that travels to places around the world, debuted in 1981 and became one of the most-watched television shows in Germany. A 2007 Variety

Variety (magazine)

Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

article described the series as a '"Love Boat

The Love Boat

The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...

"-like cruise liner skein.'

Forerunner

The series repeated some clichés that had already successfully been used in Heinz Rühmann's feature film "The Captain"

The Captain (film)

The Captain is a 1971 German comedy film directed by Kurt Hoffmann and starring Heinz Rühmann, Johanna Matz and Horst Tappert. The captain is of an old tramp steamer is offered the chance to take over a luxury cruise ship.-Cast:...

 which had been based on Richard Gordon's novel "The Captain's Table".

Premise

The premise of the series resembled the US-American TV series Hotel

Hotel (TV series)

Hotel is an American prime time drama series which aired on ABC from September 21, 1983 to May 5, 1988 in the timeslot following Dynasty....

, only that it would show a hotel on sea and moreover occasionally impressions of different exotic countries (or at least their harbours). It presented a place where all kinds of people appeared as guests and could hereby show a variety of extraordinary characters, fates, schemes and relationships. Guests either brought their problems with them or just got into trouble by encountering folks they wouldn't have met under normal circumstances. Still everything would finally lead to a happy-end.

Actors

Captain Heinz Hansen was played by Heinz Weiss

Heinz Weiss

Heinz Weiss was a German film actor.Weiss is best known for playing the role of Phil Decker in the Jerry Cotton series of films and the role of Captain Heinz Hansen in Das Traumschiff....

 who in younger years had been successful on the silverscreen as Jerry Cotton

Jerry Cotton

Jerry Cotton is the fictional character in a series of crime novels by many different writers in German-speaking countries and in Finland.- Overview :...

's best friend and colleague "Phil Decker".
When Heinz Weiss left the series captain Heinz Hansen was replaced by captain Jakob Paulsen who was played by Siegfried Rauch

Siegfried Rauch

Siegfried Rauch is a German film and television actor. He has been an actor for over 40 years, in approximately 200 productions.-Career:...

.

External links

• Das Traumschiff at ZDF