''Auf Achse'' (a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

expression meaning ''on the road'', the literal translation would be ''on the axle'') was a German television series on the ARD channel. The series ran from 1978 until 1996 and 86 episodes were produced altogether. A similar TV series about two truckers was the American

Movin' On (TV series) ''Movin' On'' is an American drama television series. It ran for two seasons from 1974 to 1976 on the NBC network. Synopsis ''Movin' On'' stars Claude Akins as old-time independent "big-rig" truck driver Sonny Pruitt, and Frank Converse as hi ...

from 1974 to 1976.

Plot

In the first few episodes, Franz Meersdonk (

Manfred Krug Manfred Krug (; 8 February 1937 – 21 October 2016) was a German actor, singer and author. Life and work Born in Duisburg, Krug moved to East Germany at the age of 13, and worked at a steel plant before beginning his acting career on the stage ...

) is a trucker working for the

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

-based company, "Mittermann Haulage", driving mostly the

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

route. The company is run by Sylvia Mittermann (

Monica Bleibtreu Monica Bleibtreu (; 4 May 1944 – 13 May 2009) was an Austrian-German actress and screenwriter, best known in the German-speaking world for her film, television and stage roles. Life and career Bleibtreu was born in Vienna, Austria, the daugh ...

), who is friendly with Franz. One day, she lands a big delivery to Tehran, but Franz is the only driver she has left. Franz gets to know a washed up racing driver, Günther Willers ( Rüdiger Kirschstein) and talks him into teaming up for the new assignment. All does not go smoothly, however. First, Franz's lorry is inadvertently switched for a stolen one, then a hitchhiker causes problems. Shortly before arriving, Günter's cab bursts into flames. But at long last, the goods are delivered successfully (although this is not depicted). Back in Munich, the company has gone

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

, and the pair have to scramble to find new jobs. Just before Meersdonk is forced to sell his lorry, they connive to land another delivery run. Once an insurance fraud is cleared up in a later episode, they finally get the money together to form their own company: International Transport in Munich. Season 5 takes place entirely in Turkey. Willers quits (for good this time after Willers had departed the series once before for 16 episodes). Meersdonk establishes a branch of the company in Turkey. Most of the episodes involve auto theft, cargo scams, dubious acquaintances, or smuggling. Meersdonk and Willers get themselves into jams and get themselves back out. Trying to make successful deals, the good natured heroes are regularly taken advantage of or they get roughed up. So they remain what they are—truckers, even if they are their own bosses.

Details

Over the series lifetime, the truckers traveled to most European countries, north Africa, the Republic of South Africa, Turkey, Chile, Mexico, and east Asia. Early in the series, when the action was set in a foreign country, the actors spoke their own language and no subtitles were provided, so that the viewer would experience the same communication problems as Franz and Günther. However, the series did not keep up this gimmick, especially not with the Namibia/South Africa episodes and the first two Mexico episodes.

Impact

As indicated by its long run, the show was fairly well received. It attained some cachet abroad for various reasons; it is referenced by the Franz Ferdinand song of the same name.

External links

* {{usurped,
Auf Achse
} Episode Guide 1980s German television series 1977 German television series debuts 1996 German television series endings German adventure television series German drama television series German-language television shows Das Erste original programming