Karl und Christa
Karl und Christa is a German-language ITV schools TV series from the 1960s and 1970s, covering German Language for secondary school pupils.
A drama serial about the everyday life of a brother and sister in Germany, with familiar vocabulary and dialogue.
Karl is a 16-year-old schoolboy in the town of Hamburg
, who drives a moped and enjoys pop music and cars, and later painting.
His 18-year-old sister Christa looks after the household and also works as a receptionist for their overworked, widower father Dr Winter, who holds his surgery in the family house.
Over the course of the year's episodes Karl has various trouble with his school work and his father, while Christa's romance with her eventual fiancé Peter progresses over the year. Dr Winter develops his own romantic interest with one of his patients, Kornelia Kohlhammer.
The actor Gordon Sterne had also appeared in the earlier ATV German drama series Wir Waren Vier playing various different characters in different episodes. In Karl und Christa he actually did the same. Although he took the key role of the children's father Dr Winter here, he also popped up in other guises in episodes where Dr Winter did not appear, including a waiter in episode 7, a school teacher in episode 13, and even one of (the unseen) Dr Winter's patients in episode 14.
The level of vocabulary used in the series increases over the year, not episode-by-episode but term-by term.
The series did not necessarily hit its mark with its intended audience of teenagers studying towards O-level secondary school exams. Contemporary teachers noted that "older schoolchildren had sometimes laughed at the exaggerated behaviour of the young actors, whereas one would have expected them to identify themselves more fully with them[1]"
It was the last attempt at a series supporting German language studies by ATV, the Midlands ITV company which had specialised in schools language broadcasts throughout the 1960s[2]. ITV did not return to the German language for schools during the entire 1970s, until the baton was picked up by another regional ITV company, Thames, in the early 1980s with The German Programme.
Episode List
| # | Title | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Abendessen bei Winters | 18 Sep 1967 |
| 2. | Sonntagmorgen in der Linderstrasse | 25 Sep 1967 |
| 3. | Karl wird Babysitter | 2 Oct 1967 |
| 4. | Christas Tanzkleid | 9 Oct 1967 |
| 5. | Heute kommt Tante Herta | 16 Oct 1967 |
| 6. | Der Autodieb | 23 Oct 1967 |
| 7. | In der Kajüte | 6 Nov 1967 |
| 8. | Karls Grosser Tag | 13 Nov 1967 |
| 9. | Karl braucht Geld, Geld, Geld | 20 Nov 1967 |
| 10. | Der Weihnachsmarkt | 27 Nov 1967 |
| 11. | Schiller und Schulerlötzen | 15 Jan 1968* |
| 12. | Die Weisse Möwe | 22 Jan 1968 |
| 13. | Zwei Wetten | 29 Jan 1968 |
| 14. | Im Wartezimmer | 5 Feb 1968 |
| 15. | Die Party | 12 Feb 1968 |
| 16. | Ein Schlechter Patient | 26 Feb 1968 |
| 17. | Im Reisebüro | 4 Mar 1968 |
| 18. | Abenteur im Schnee | 11 Mar 1968 |
| 19. | Die Nachhilfestunde | 18 Mar 1968 |
| 20. | Der Wellensittich | 25 Mar 1968 |
| 21. | Christas Geburtstag | 29 Apr 1968 |
| 22. | Peters Studio | 6 May 1968 |
| 23. | Im Schlossmuseum | 13 May 1968 |
| 24. | Das Café im Grünen | 20 May 1968 |
| 25. | Ein Schönes Wochenende | 27 May 1968 |
| 26. | Christas Letzer Abend | 10 Jun 1968 |
* - Schiller und Schulerlötzen was previewed as part of an Out of School programme on Friday 29 December 1967 at 11:59 on ITV
Broadcasts
| Year | Term | Day | Time | Day | Time | Channel | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967-68 | Autumn 1967, Spring & Summer 1968 | Mon | 14:20 | Fri | 11:28 | ITV | Not Border; Fridays on ATV only |
| 1970-71 | Autumn 1970, Spring & Summer 1971 | Mon | 14:38 | Thu | 14:00 | ITV | not Thursdays in Grampian or some other areas |
Credits
| Starring | Armin J. Shallock as Karl Winter Suzanne Roquette as Christa Winter |
| With | Gordon Sterne as Dr Winter Brigitte Skay as Anita |
| Programme adviser | Mary Glasgow |
| Writer | Marianne Calmann |
| Director | Adrian Brown |
| Producer | Donald Carter |
Resources
Schools booklet
A booklet of notes on each episode was published to accompany the schools transmissions, designed for both teacher and pupil.
A separate booklet for each term was printed for the first broadcasts in 1967-68, and then I believe a combined booklet for the year was published for the 1970-71 broadcasts, costing 2s 6d, or 13p in decimalised currency.
Books
A book with exercises including multiple-choice quizzes based on some of the TV episodes was released by the publishing company owned by the programme adviser Mary Glasgow in 1968.
Sources & References
- Council of Europe (1972) The Teaching of Modern Languages by Closed-Circuit Television and Other Audio-Visual Media. Report of the Meeting of Experts (January 11-14, 1972). (available online from ERIC) p.5
- ITV Schools Annual Programme Guide 1970-71 (Yorkshire edition). p.29
- TV Times television listings, 1968-1971.
- Weltman, Joseph (1978) 21 Years of Independent Television for Schools, 1957 to 1978 as published with Independent Broadcasting no 16, May 1978, London: IBA
With thanks to Roddy Buxton and Trevor Wells
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