German soaps: GZSZ, UU & AWZ

[DRW50]

Thanks as always @Huntress

[AMCOLTLLover]

I started that new GZSZ spin off and it was worse than that teen soap from Nickelodeon „Spotlight„! That show was not IT lol 

and that unter uns anniversary story is completely bs lol The even casted one former gzsz actor to play a young Werner Weigel. As an Oldtimer watcher since 1994/95 this whole storyline ruined the original Margot Weigel feud with her sister Sophie who were both mad in love with Werner. 
 

Rote Rosen is losing a lot of fan favorites and cast member/characters… Ben is leaving after 13 years and his wife Tina will be axed because of it after being with the show for 5 years. Amelie will be leaving in May 25. Hendrick will be out

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  Hendrick‘s exit is the only bummer and Ben. Amelie‘s actress already took a 5-6 month break like last year and seemed like she was ready to move on. 
 

I wish they from Sturm der Liebe would finally confirm the exit of one of the longest serving and running cast member Eric Altenkopf as Dr Michael Niederbuhl. He has been with the show since episode 884 from July 17th 2009. I would be recasted because I LOVED him and Rosalie and I still can’t believe they axed Natalie Aliston as Rosaie Engel 2 years ago

There are rumors about his exit but nothings confirmed and it’s driving me nuts coz I don’t want to lose him

Edited November 24, 2024 by AMCOLTLLover

[AMCOLTLLover]

“Das Erste/ARD”-Network seems really desperate when it comes down to their morning line up. They cancelled their Talkshow and will air re runs of their crime shows and quiz shows ofc. 
The two Daily’s Rote Rosen and Sturm der Liebe will be safe until 2027. BUT they will have a two week winter break starting next week around December 18th.

BUT there is something interesting happening. With their two Daily’s being renewed until 2027 Das Erste will bring over the soap opera “Dahoam is Dahoam” that will air their  3500th episode next year. Dahoam is dahoam has been airing 4 times a week since 2007 on the BR (Bayrischer Rundfunk.. With shows from the Bayern region) and Das Erste will air Dahoam is Dahoam on their main network starting from January 7th at 16:10! It will air after Rote Rosen, Sturm der Liebe and the News.. They won’t air the brand new episodes and they won’t start with episode 1. They will start with episode 2246/2247 from 2018 and since this show has a runtime from like 24-28 minutes we will get double episodes a day!

This is such an interesting development to have 3 Daily’s airing on ARD again since Verbotene Liebe and Marienhof died. Maybe this will help to stop those ridiculous summer breaks for Sturm der Liebe (the best daily right now compared to snoozefest Unter Uns, AWZ and try hard GZSZ)! 

SAT1 has been lucky with their new soap opera “Landarztpraxis” and it already managed to survive 3 seasons. BUT during the breaks SAT1 tried so hard to establish another daily’s and all 3 shows that came after it flopped badly (even with former fan favorites from other shows). Die Landarztpraxis started with 60 episodes and for a 80 episodic 2nd season in 2024 and will return on January 2nd with season 3. Season 3 will have 120 episodes. This show really is doing good.

the Spreewald Klinik is another medical soap that managed to get a 2nd season renewal for 2025. 

Germany has currently 6 Daily’s.. 8 with the seasonal breaks of Die Landarztpraxis and the Spreewald Klinik 

 

Edited December 14, 2024 by AMCOLTLLover

[AMCOLTLLover]

GZSZ really annoys me lately. I can’t believe that a men like Gerner would let himself get treated that poorly by Yvonne. His wife.

I miss the old 90’s and 00’s Gerner. He would’ve shown Yvonne her place lol Since the 30th anniversary story and Gerner vs Linostrami and Yvonne snitching on Gerner to the police coz he was on the run coz he was wrongly accused of murder was the last straw. Yvonne is dead to me and Gerner should never have taken her back 

[Huntress]

Cast changes in 2025 (so far, not much has happened):

GZSZ

• Pauline Afaja (Flo Kästner) departed on March 10th, 2025. She had only been on the show for about a year. Flo as a character never really clicked with the audience. Her final storyline involved her catching feelings for the much older Nina Reichelt Klee Ahrens Navarro out of the blue – while she was in a relationship with the wheelchair-bound Jonas Seefeld.
• Onno Buß joined the cast as Julian Kaltenbach on January 31st, 2025. Julian is Matilda's twin brother ... and another illegitimate child of Jo Gerner.
• Charlott Reschke, who had played Johanna Flemming on a recurring basis from 2015 to 2024, returned at the end of May. The 20-year old actress has now been placed on contract.

Last week on GZSZ:

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This week on GZSZ:

Current Contract Cast (as of 06/2025):

With images: https://www.soapsworld.de/gute-zeiten-schlechte-zeiten-gzsz/besetzung/

• Wolfgang BAHRO – Dr. Jo Gerner (1993-present)
• Lennart BORCHERT – Moritz Bode (2020-present)
• Josefin BRESSEL – Alicia Bäumler (2023-present)
• Onno BUSS – Julian Kaltenbach (2025-present)
• Felix van DEVENTER – Jonas Seefeld (2014-present)
• Nina ENSMANN – Jessica Reichelt (2022-present)
• Anna Katharina FECHER – Matilda Kaltenbach (2024-present)
• Patrick FERNANDEZ – Carlos Lopes (2022-present)
• Ulrike FRANK – Katrin Flemming (2004-present; recurring previously)
• Patrick HEINRICH – Erik Fritsche (2019-present; recurring previously)
• Felix von JASCHEROFF – John Bachmann (2001-2014; 2015-present)
• Chryssanthi KAVAZI – Laura Bachmann (2017-present)
• Jan KITTMANN – Tobias Evers (2020-present)
• Olivia MAREI – Toni Ahrens (2018-present)
• Anne MENDEN – Emily Wiedmann (2004-present)
• Niklas OSTERLOH – Paul Wiedmann (2016-present)
• Lars PAPE – Michi Bode (2022-present; recurring previously)
• Charlott RESCHKE – Johanna Flemming (2025-present; recurring previously)
• Eva Mona RODEKIRCHEN – Maren Seefeld (2010-2022; 2023-present)
• Jörn SCHLÖNVOIGT – Dr. Philip Höfer (2004-present)
• Laura Dandelion SEIBERT – Zoe Vogt (2024-present; recurring previously)
• Iris Mareike STEEN – Lilly Seefeld (2010-present)
• Timur ÜLKER – Nihat Güney (2018-present)
• Maria WEDIG – Nina Reichelt (2017-present)
• Gisa ZACH – Yvonne Bode (2019-present)

AWZ

• Matthias Brüggenolte departed the show on January 8th, 2025, when his character Justus Albrecht was killed off after being injured in a fire. Brüggenolte had joined AWZ in 2020.
• Original cast member Julia Augustin returned as Vanessa Steinkamp on May 21st, 2025. She was last seen in 2021.
• Florian Thunemann joined AWZ on May 26th, 2025 as Dragan Petrovic, a man from Daniela's past.

Current Contract Cast (as of 06/2025):

With images: https://www.soapsworld.de/alles-was-zaehlt-awz/besetzung/

 

• Suri ABBASSI – Leyla Öztürk (2021-present)
• Riccardo ANGELINI – Matteo Borazio (2024-present)
• Berrit ARNOLD – Daniela Bremer (2021-present; recurring previously)
• Julia AUGUSTIN – Vanessa Steinkamp (2006-2009; 2010-2012; 2013; 2014-2021; 2025-present)
• Stefan BOCKELMANN – Henning Ziegler (2021-present)
• Tatjana CLASING – Simone Steinkamp (2006-present)
• André DIETZ – Ingo Zadek (2006-2020; 2024-present)
• Igor DOLGATSCHEW – Deniz Öztürk (2007-present)
• Marc DUMITRU – Kilian Reichenbach (2022-present)
• Shaolyn FERNANDEZ – Charlie Beer (2024-present)
• Amrei HAARDT – Nathalie von Altenburg (2019-2020; 2021-2023; 2024-present)
• Antonia KOLANO – Valea Borazio (2024-present)
• Féréba KONÉ – Imani Okana (2022-present)
• Silvan-Pierre LEIRICH – Richard Steinkamp (2006-present)
• Ania NIEDIECK – Isabelle Reichenbach (2010-present)
• Jörg ROHDE – Ben Steinkamp (2009-present)
• Sarah Victoria SCHALOW – Hanna Kern (2023-present)
• Kaja SCHMIDT-TYCHSEN – Jenny Steinkamp #4 (2011-present)
• Florian THUNEMANN – Dragan Petrovic (2025-present)
• Julia WIEDEMANN – Lucie Ziegler (2020-2023; 2023-present)

UU

• In December 2024, Mehmet Kucak joined the show as Ferhat Gülek, Esma and Baris's father and Nuray's son. Roughly four months later, the character was recast with Harun Yildirim, who first appeared on March 27th, 2025. Kucak reportedly left the show for "personal reasons". 
• Maxim Agné (Henry Gerlach) departed the show on May 5th, 2025.

Current Contract Cast (as of 06/2025):

With images: https://www.soapsworld.de/unter-uns-uu/besetzung/

• Timothy BOLDT – Ringo Huber (2012-present)
• Özge DELIOGLAN – Esma Gülek (2024-present)
• Metehan DEMIRÖZ – Baris Gülek (2024-present)
• Julius DOMBRINK – Theo Wolters #2 (2022-present)
• Floriane EICHHORN – Nadine Pfeiffer (2023-present)
• Jens HAJEK – Benedikt Huber (2016-present)
• Benjamin HEINRICH – Benno "Bambi" Hirschberger (2013-present)
• Isabell HERTEL – Ute Huber (1995-present)
• Tabea HEYNIG – Britta Schönfeld-Küpper (2010-present)
• Lilay HUSER – Nuray Gülek (2024-present)
• Carina KOLLER – Cecilia Weigel (2021-present)
• Miriam LAHNSTEIN – Patrizia Neumann-Goldberg (2023-present)
• Bettine LANGEHEIN – Stella Richter (2022-present)
• Patrick MÜLLER – Tobias Lassner (2006-present)
• Valea SCALABRINO – Sina Hirschberger (2010-present)
• Diego Carlos SEYFARTH – David Junker (2022-present)
• Lars STEINHÖFEL – Easy Winter (2005-present)
• Theresa TRASER – Ronja Pfeiffer (2023-present)
• Milos VUKOVIC – Paco Weigel (2000-present)
• Harun YILDIRIM – Ferhat Gülek #2 (2025-present)

[DRW50]

Thanks as always @Huntress always appreciate you popping in and sharing info about these shows. What are you thinking of them at present?

[Huntress]

To be honest: I rather watch the classic episodes on RTL+ than the current ones 

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Another soft relaunch is in the works at AWZ – for what feels like the umpteenth time. Kaja Schmidt-Tychsen, one of the show's flagship stars, is leaving the soap. Her final appearance will be on July 4, 2025. Schmidt-Tychsen took on the role of Jennifer (aka "Jenny") Steinkamp, the eldest Steinkamp daughter, in December 2011. The role was previously played by Christiane Klimt (2006–2008), Silvia Maleen (2008–2010), and Sophie Lutz (2011, in a video message).

After years of scheming, heartbreak, and failed marriages (including with Julian, David, Erik, Veit, Deniz, and Justus), Jenny finally finds true love with Ingo. The couple emigrates together to Mallorca. This also marks another exit: Original cast member André Dietz (Ingo) is leaving the show once more. He only returned in December 2024 after nearly four years away. However, both actors have stated they are open to returning for guest appearances in the future.

Two weeks later, a brand-new sport is being introduced to the show: After figure skating, dancing, soccer, artistic gymnastics, and more figure skating, tennis is now taking center stage. Alongside this comes another surprise addition to the ever-expanding Steinkamp family tree: Original character Simone Steinkamp (played by Tatjana Clasing) learns that, back in her youth in Argentina, she not only gave birth to Maximilian (a fact revealed in 2007), but also to his twin sister Gabriella.

Gabriella's daughter, Joana, is a celebrated tennis star who travels to Essen due to medical issues – where she encounters her biological family. Joana will be portrayed by Josephine Martz, while Gabriella will be played by Bianca Hein. Both actresses bring prior soap experience to the table: Martz appeared in the short-lived Sat.1 soap "Alles oder nichts", and Hein was a main cast member on UU (as Meike Wagner from 2000 to 2002). Hein also had a leading role in the telenovela "Verliebt in Berlin" and has appeared in numerous crime series.

Meanwhile, it's still unclear whether the figure skating storylines will continue or if they'll be dropped once again. Currently, two figure skaters – Valea and Charlie – are still on the canvas, with Deniz working as their coach.

[AMCOLTLLover]

AWZ has been so boring for ages lol Unter uns at least is trying lately.

Jenny and Ingo don’t make any sense together but hey she was with Deniz which didn’t made sense either 

[Ninejamb]

Honestly, this should be the last chance for AWZ. The series has been struggling for years now - in a way because I think that desperately holding on to the Steinkamp family is not doing the development of the series any good. Bringing back Vanessa (again!), Maximilian (again!) or randomly introducing forgotten daughters (Simone has a very selective form of amnesia) is a sign that they are trying to bring back the magic of the early years without actually knowing how to. In my opinion, they should accept their loss and be happy that a series that was developed as a telenovella and was converted into an ongoing soap opera at the eleventh hour has lasted so long. I would say: put Unter Uns on that time slot and give them the freed up AWZ budget. Because that series has been treated scandalously by RTL for years on end.

Edited July 2 by Ninejamb

[DRW50]

Thanks for replying @Huntress I am enjoying your comments as well @Ninejamb and @AMCOLTLLover 

My AWZ viewing, what it was, was mainly in the Deniz/Roman days. 

I've said it about 50 times in this thread but I'm surprised Deniz is still there. 

[AMCOLTLLover]

Unter uns introduced a turk family into the show as long lost part of the  Weigel family. Flop. And not even being there a whole year Margot Weigels daughter is already leaving. lol 

@Ninejamb Unter uns has the same issue AWZ has by sticking to their core family from the early years. Even though unter uns could’ve had it so easy with Chris and corinnas return and Cecilia. That was a win but that whole new family? Why? Even using AI Margot was disgusting.. Unter uns

couldve easily brought back Anna Weigel with a kid by now and be the new core family. But no they had to mess with the OG family and their history like AWz did a lot Of times with the Steinkamp clan. 
 

i was surprised seeing awz lasting through the 00’s. In 07 rtl tried a 4th soap before unter uns and it flopped. They did tried it a serval times but never gave their shows a chance. It surprises me that unter uns is still a thing. The amount of ratings trouble and budget cuts. Weird lol 

Bianca hein was one of the longest running cast members of Soko munic. One of the biggest crime franchises in Germany. She left before the final season which was odd  she was so good in that show

[Ninejamb]

Honestly, the Weigels at UU are more grounded and real in my opinion than the Steinkamps at AWZ. The latter family always feels somewhat comical to me, especially Richard and Simone, with the same storylines repeating over and over again. After the upteemth time of splitting up and getting back together or losing and regaining power of the sportscentre, it's becoming stale. Another problem with those two is that they're absent from the show for periods on end, which also isn't working for the flow.

That being said, I also don't understand why TPTB at Unter Uns won't write Anna back into the show, indeed with a child (or multiple). I don't care if they have to retcon some stuff or SORAS the children from the get-go, but a show like UU (with heavily relies on the family-aspect) needs a core Weigel in the show and Anna as a new matriarch (as a spitirtual successor for Irene) could work. But then again, they f-d up the comeback of Chris and Corinna big time and the last recast of Till also didn't work, so they rather come up with a bogus retcon around Margot to introduce some ersatz-Weigels.

Still, I think UU deserves more love, attention (and money) from RTL. It's a miracle that they're still on the air, but they have a loyal fanbase and the writers/producers clearly are doing their best to keep the show going, while TPTB at AWZ are struggling for years on end now, and those at GZSZ simply don't care.

[AMCOLTLLover]

It’s Crazy to think that Anna Weigel is one of the Original Children who could’ve been brought back flawlessly without any retcon. I mean she has been absent for nearly 3000 episodes. That’s Crazy. 
 

I always loved Chris and Corinna! I was at the Fan Event lasst war and asked Holger Frank (Wolfgang Weigel) in Front of everyone who his Favorite Child was and it was still Oliver Boots who played Chris Weigel lol they played together for the last time in 1997 and yet he still left an impact on him.

i didn’t mind the new Chris Weigel to be honest but hated the new Corinna. By the end I just accepted that they are a new Chris and Corinna and the original still Living happily  ever After somewhere. I do think unter uns is the better Soap When It comes down to AWZ vs UU. GZSZ feels a bit flat too lately. But the Barash hook up with Patricia and him cheating on Cecilia was very well written and got me hooked again

the Most useless character for me on UU is Britta! I still can’t believe they axed some Weigels but keep her for 15 Years. But it’s Crazy to think that Milos is celebrating 25 Years on That Show and I was just 9 when he started. He’s the second longest cast member 

[Huntress]

I think they're afraid to bring Anna back because of the two failed recasts. Janis Rattenni (the first Anna) literally grew up on the screens, and when she had finished high school and wanted to work in a different field, they had no choice to recast. Kathleen Fiedler looked the part, but she was too wooden (I still wonder how she lasted 4 full years). Then Marylu-Saskia Poolman took over, and we all remember that Anna's face was destroyed in an explosion to explain the recast. Poolman wasn't too bad, but I remember that TPTB weren't happy with her performance, and she was let go in early 2014. Also, I think that Anna getting married to her cousin Paco (and even being pregnant by him) was a really tacky storyline and destroyed the character. In the end of her run, they'd really ran out of ideas for Anna and paired her off with Rufus of all people.

They'd have to recast Anna a 3rd time, and I don't think they'll do that (same reason why they probably won't bring back Till back anytime soon).

I liked the Chris recast, but yeah, the Corinna recast just wasn't Corinna. I mean, of course people can change over time, but the first Corinna was a very seductive, feisty, and sometimes hysterical woman, always involved in some drama. The recast was just a bland stay-at-home mom. It wasn't even the actress's fault – she just wasn't given any good material. The writers also didn't care much about Aunt Lulu (why she was even introduced in the first place?).

Chris and Jenny should have stayed on the show and should have become the new Weigel core family. I mean, they really made an effort with fleshing out Cilly's character and establishing her as a legacy character (she's great, btw), so why couldn't they have done the same with her parents and Jenny?

[Huntress]

ProSieben is back in the soap business: "Die Cooking-Academy" (The Cooking Academy) will debut on October 6th, 2025 and will air weekdays at 6 pm. Among the cast are some well-known faces, such as Simone Hanselmann (ex-GZSZ), Lea Marlen Woitack (ex-GZSZ, ex-RR), and Matthias Brüggenolte (ex-AWZ).

Official synopsis:

Friendship, intrigue, love, rivalry, family ties, performance pressure, passion – and of course, a hunger for more – shape everyday life at the prestigious Cooking Academy "Culinary Arts by Alexander Eichen" (Matthias Brüggenolte), located on the German-French border. At the academy, top chefs train the culinary talents of tomorrow for the world of haute cuisine – under intense pressure.

Who will make it to the culinary Olympus? And what must be left behind to get there ...?

At the heart of the series is young chef Irini (Lara Kimpel). She’s accepted into the academy, only to find herself facing fierce competition. And as if that weren’t enough, Chris (Brian Rosenkranz) and Rafael (Louis J. Wagenbrenner) both turn her world upside down.

This is ProSieben's 3rd attempt at establishing a new soap opera. From 1999 to 2000, the channel – which belongs to the ProSiebenSat.1 Media group – aired "Mallorca – Suche nach dem Paradies", and from 2006 to 2007, the telenovela "Lotta in Love" ran for a total of 130 episodes. Both shows were utter failures.

So, in October the German soap line-up will look like this:

2.10 pm: Rote Rosen (ARD)
3.15 pm: Sturm der Liebe (ARD)
5.30 pm: Unter uns (RTL)
6.00 pm: Die Cooking-Academy (Pro7)
7.00 pm: Die Landarzt-Praxis / Die Spreewald-Klinik (Sat.1) (alternating)
7.05 pm: Alles was zählt (RTL)
7:30 pm: Dahoam is Dahoam (BR)
7.40 pm: Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten (RTL)