Berlin – Forget SpongeBob SquarePants, Sesame Street, and the sourdough starter craze – there’s a new star in town, and he’s not your typical children’s television character. Meet Bernd das Brot (Bernd the Bread), a depressed German loaf of bread who is celebrating his 25th anniversary as the unlikely star of a popular children’s TV show that has captured the hearts of adults as well.
Bernd, played and voiced by puppeteer Jorg Teichgraeber, is a television presenter who wants nothing to do with TV and can’t wait to go home and stare at the wallpaper. His signature catchphrase, “Mist!” (meaning “Crap!” in English), perfectly sums up his perpetual pessimism and gloomy outlook on life. Alongside his friends, a sheep named Chili and a flower bush named Briegel, Bernd has become a cult classic in Germany.
But how did this grumpy loaf of bread become such a beloved character? It all started as a simple sketch on the back of a napkin in a pizzeria. Co-creators Tommy Krappweis and Norman Coster were asked to come up with mascots for KiKA, a German children’s public television channel. Bernd was born as a pullman loaf – a type of white bread typically sliced for sandwiches – with short arms and a permanent scowl. His design, created by comic artist Georg Graf von Westphalen, perfectly captures German stereotypes with his grumpy disposition, love for complaining, and dry sense of humor and irony.
Bernd’s first episode aired on KiKA in 2000, alongside his more optimistic pals Chili and Briegel. But it wasn’t until 2003, when the network started airing his short episodes in the night loop, that Bernd’s popularity skyrocketed. This move brought an unexpected adult audience into Bernd’s world, often those sitting at home and smoking pot or returning from a night of partying. This unexpected popularity cemented Bernd’s status as a German cult classic.
In 2004, Bernd received the prestigious Adolf Grimme Prize, the German television equivalent of an Emmy. The jury praised him for representing “the right to be in a bad mood.” In a Q&A with KiKA about Bernd’s 25th anniversary, co-creator Tommy Krappweis shared, “Bernd shows you that you are less vulnerable with humor and self-irony. And perhaps the most important point is: It’s totally OK if you don’t feel well sometimes. That’s completely fine.”
But what makes Bernd so relatable and endearing to both children and adults? It’s his broken heart. In Episode 85, Bernd finally reveals the reason for his constant melancholy – a failed love story with a beautiful, slim baguette. “She was so incredibly charming and funny,” Bernd tells Chili and Briegel. But unfortunately, she only had eyes for a run-of-the-mill multigrain bread, leaving Bernd heartbroken.
Despite his best efforts to leave the show (one of his catchphrases is “I would like to leave this show”), Bernd’s episodes have never become stale. He sings, he dances, and he’s even been to space. He’s the star of merchandise, a video game, and headlines like “Give Us Our Daily Bernd.” But perhaps the most unexpected turn of events in Bernd’s journey was his kidnapping.
In 2009, Bernd’s 2-meter-tall statue was stolen from its usual spot outside the town hall in Erfurt, where KiKA is based. A video claiming responsibility for the kidnapping surfaced on YouTube, by sympathizers of a group of demonstrators who were protesting a company that produced cremation ovens for the Nazis’ Auschwitz extermination camp. However, the demonstrators denied involvement, and the video was later removed from the internet. After nearly two weeks, Bernd was found unharmed in an abandoned barracks, much to the relief of his fans.
As Bernd celebrates his 25th anniversary, KiKA is honoring him with new episodes, an updated version of his hit song, and online activities for both kids and adults. His birthday falls on February 29th, and the latest series will premiere in September as Bernd, Chili, and Briegel launch the social media channel “Better with Bernd
