Forget SpongeBob SquarePants, Sesame Street, and the sourdough starter craze: a depressed German loaf of bread named Bernd das Brot is celebrating his 25th anniversary as the reluctant star of a children’s television program that accidentally became equally popular with adults.
A cult classic in Germany, Bernd das Brot (Bernd the Bread) is a puppet renowned for his deep, gloomy voice, his perpetual pessimism and his signature expression, “Mist!” (Think crap! in English.)
Played and voiced by puppeteer Jörg Teichgraeber, Bernd is a television presenter who wants nothing to do with TV and cant wait to go home to stare at the wallpaper.
This year, his friendsa sheep and a flower bushare urging him to become a bread influencer.
Bernd’s beginnings
Born as a sketch on the back of a napkin in a pizzeria, Bernds infamous grimace was drawn by Tommy Krappweis who modeled it after co-creator Norman Cösters face. The duo had been asked to come up with mascots for KiKA, a German childrens public television channel.
Comic artist Georg Graf von Westphalen designed Bernd as a pullman loafwhite bread typically sliced for sandwicheswith short arms and a permanent scowl. Bernd channels German stereotypes with his grumpy disposition, penchant for complaining and dry sense of humor and irony.
Bernd’s first episode aired on KiKA in 2000 alongside his more-optimistic pals, Chili the Sheep and Briegel the Bush.
A reluctant popularity
Because KiKA is a children’s channel, there was typically dead air from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. On January 1, 2003, the network put Bernd’s short episodes into the night loop for the first time.
The move brought an adult audience into Bernd’s world, often those sitting at home and smoking pot, or returning after a long night of partying. The night loop cemented his popularity as a German cult classic.
In 2004, Bernd won the Adolf Grimme Prize, the German television equivalent of an Emmy. The jury said he represents the right to be in a bad mood.
Bernd shows you that you are less vulnerable with humor and self-irony. And perhaps the most important point is: Its totally okay if you dont feel well sometimes. Thats completely fine, Krappweis, Bernd’s creator, said in a KiKA Q&A about Bernd’s anniversary.
Bernd’s broken heart
Bernd is depressed for a multitude of reasons, including his failed attempt to be the mascot for a bakery’s advertising campaign (that’s how he ended up as a TV presenter, as a last resort).
But it’s in Episode 85 that we finally learn about Bernd’s broken heart.
A long, long time ago I fell in love with a beautiful, slim baguette. She was so incredibly charming and funny, Bernd tells Chili and Briegel. But unfortunately it was in vain.
She only had eyes for this run-of-the-mill multigrain bread with its 10 types of grain. It was so depressing.
The kidnapping
Despite Bernds best effortsone of his catchphrases is I would like to leave this showthe episodes have never become stale. He sings, he dances, hes been to space. He’s the star of merchandise, a video game, and headlines like Give Us Our Daily Bernd.
He was even kidnapped! In 2009, his 2-meter-tall (6.56 feet) statue was stolen from his traditional place outside the town hall in Erfurt, where KiKA is based.
A claim of responsibility surfaced on YouTube, by sympathizers of a group of demonstrators who were protesting a company that had produced cremation ovens for the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz. The demonstrators, however, denied involvement in Bernds kidnapping and the video was removed from the internet.
Bernd was held hostage for nearly two weeks before being discovered unharmed in an abandoned barracks.
The anniversary year
KiKA is honoring Bernd’s 25th anniversary, despite his complaints. New episodes, an update to his hit song, and online activities for kids and adults alike will be featured. The celebrations begin now, as Bernds birthday is February 29.
The latest series will premiere in September as Bernd, Chili, and Briegel launch the social media channel Better With Bernd in their efforts to make him into a bread influencer.
The trio will present inventions to make school, and life, easier for viewers, but naturally their concoctions backfire. Bernd instead becomes a defluencerand an involuntary trendsetter.
By Stefanie Dazio, Associated Press
AP journalist Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report.
