Christoph Biemann (born 6 August 1952) is a German writer, director and producer and one of the presenters of the award-winning

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

show, ''

Die Sendung mit der Maus ' (''The Show with the Mouse''), often ' (''The Mouse''), is a German children's series, children's television series, popular nationwide and across all ages for its educational content.Bernhard Borgeest"Von Mäusen und Machern"''Focus (German ma ...

''. Also known as ''Die Maus'' ("The Mouse"), it has been on the air since 1971; Biemann joined the show in 1972. He has his own production company, Delta TV, and has won numerous awards, including the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

. Though he produces many

film short A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s for ''The Mouse'', he doesn't speak in or narrate any of them. He is known by a trademark green sweatshirt, which he wears on television and in public appearances.

Biographical highlights

Biemann was born 6 August 1952 in Ludwigslust in

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

."Interview Christoph Biemann"
Interview with Christoph Biemann at the 2003 Frankfurt Book Fair. (October 10, 2003) Retrieved November 5, 2010 He was a foreign exchange student at an American high school from 1969 to 1970 and also audited classes at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

.Biemann's résumé
Christoph Biemann's official website. Retrieved November 17, 2010 In 1972, while attending college at the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film (College of Television and Film) in

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 ...

, he started an internship at the television station

Westdeutscher Rundfunk (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germany, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a const ...

(WDR), afterwards continuing as a freelance director. He began to work at ''The Mouse'' that same year.Linda Wilken
„Ich werde für meine Neugier bezahlt.“
Interview with Christoph Biemann. (2005) Retrieved November 15, 2010 Roland Opschondek
Interview with Christoph Biemann
Globe M - Das Medium zu Kunst und Kultur, official website. (June 6, 2010) Retrieved November 17, 2010 From 1978 to 1988, he was employed by ''The Mouse'' and worked with Armin Maiwald's film production company, Flash-Film directing film shorts for ''The Mouse''. He founded his own production company, Delta TV, in 1989 and produces 65 film shorts a year for ''The Mouse''. Initially, he was only a director for ''The Mouse'', but began to appear on camera in 1983.Stephanie Riechelmann
"Die Sendung mit der Maus: Lach- und Sachgeschichten für Kinder und Erwachsene"
suite101.de (January 9, 2008) Retrieved November 17, 2010 Biemann has received numerous awards for his work, including the

in 1995.

Christoph, the persona

In contrast to Armin Maiwald and Ralph Caspers, the other two presenters of ''The Mouse'', Biemann's on-camera persona is a bit comical and clumsy. Though middle-aged, he relates to the young viewers on their level, as a kind of child himself and not knowing things.Dennis Pumm
"Das Interview mit dem Christoph"
''Pumm & Behrmann''. Retrieved October 27, 2010 His character lets children say, "Look! He doesn't know everything either!" Children see him as a big brother and approachable. The idea of bringing a comic element to the show came from his daughter, then a little girl, who complained to her father that the educational segments were "frightfully boring". Biemann took the criticism to heart and determined to bring some levity to his productions. He never narrates his own film shorts, rather they are narrated by an off-camera voice, as though Biemann is the child and the off-camera voice is the adult.Siegmund Grewenig
"Die Sendung mit der Maus"
(PDF) ''Televizion'' (April 1991) Retrieved November 17, 2010 Older film shorts have Maiwald or

Elke Heidenreich Elke Heidenreich (née Riegert; born 15 February 1943) is a German author, TV presenter, literary critic and journalist. She has written audio plays, a magazine column, scripts for television plays and books. Heidenreich is known as the ''Kabaret ...

as narrator, but newer ones alternate with another female, Evi Seibert. While making the educational film short known as ''Atom Mouse'', the filming took a while. Biemann selected a particular sweatshirt, a green one, to wear because he had two of them and therefore wouldn't have to worry about continuity, but could simply wear the second shirt if the first was dirty. Afterwards, the green sweatshirt became his trademark and now, he is never seen without it, either on camera or in his public appearances. He has since worn out "a good 15 sweatshirts" and keeps about 10 of them, having them specially dyed for him."Interview mit Christoph Biemann"
Theodor Heuss Gymnasium, school website. Retrieved November 17, 2010

Books

* Christoph Biemann, ''Christophs Experimente.'' Hanser, München (2003) Book of scientific experiments for children.

References

External links

*
Biemann's English web pages
Christoph Biemann's official website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Biemann, Christoph Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Living people 1952 births German male writers People from Ludwigslust Television people from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania