''ZDF-Fernsehgarten'' (English: ''ZDF Television garden'') is a German entertainment TV show broadcast live from the grounds of the

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

broadcasting centre at

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. It is a seasonal live programme which airs only during the summer months with 16 to 21 episodes being produced. The show is presented by

Andrea Kiewel Andrea Kiewel (née Mathyssek, born 10 June 1965 in East Berlin) is a Germany, German television presenter and former competitive swimmer. She is the current presenter of ZDF Fernsehgarten and ZDF Fernsehgarten, ZDF Fernsehgarten on Tour. Andr ...

as of 2009.

History

The first ZDF Fernsehgarten was broadcast on 29 June 1986 and was hosted by Ilona Christen who had a trademark of wearing unusual

spectacles Glasses, also known as eyeglasses (American English), spectacles (Commonwealth English), or colloquially as specs, are Visual perception, vision eyewear with clear or tinted lens (optics), lenses mounted in a frame that holds them in front ...

and a yellow raincoat. On 17 September 2006, Fernsehgarten celebrated its 20th anniversary. In the 2007 season of the ZDF Fernsehgarten was organised in collaboration with the magazine Yam!. It was also the first time a

school band A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conducting, conductors (band directors). A school band consists of woodwind instrum ...

competition was organised which was an integral part of the programme at this time. On 8 July 2012 a performance by Roland Kaiser was disrupted. Also, two weeks later people were arrested at the show. At the end of the 2013 summer season by popular demand of viewers it was decided to broadcast ZDF Fernsehgarten throughout the year, this included a new "Fernsehgarten on Tour". The show is rebranded depending upon the season. Since May 2014 an

audio description Audio description (AD), also referred to as a video description, described video, or visual description, is a form of narration used to provide information surrounding key visual elements in a media work (such as a film or television program, or ...

has been provided for the blind and partially sighted. On 29 June 2014, the ZDF Fernsehgarten appeared in the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

as the longest running live open-air entertainment show. At that time, the programme had run continuously for 28 years. Total airtime to date is 49,507 minutes and 31 seconds and were broadcast live, equivalent to 34 days at a stretch. During a show in August 2022, where artists such as

Zara Larsson Zara Maria Larsson (; born 16 December 1997) is a Swedish singer-songwriter and dancer. She first rose to prominence in 2008 after winning the Talang 2008, second season of ''Talang (Swedish TV show), Talang'', the Swedish version of the ''Got T ...

and Palina Glebova were set to perform, host Andrea Kiewel hinted to the live audience that she had been instructed to use the ‘

gender-specific Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, language, and other social institutions (social structures or gender roles) should avoid distinguishi ...

’ version of nouns (saying ''Songwriter*innen'' instead of ''Songwriter''). The ZDF editorial team stated: ''‘There is definitely no instruction to use gender in the “ZDF-Fernsehgarten”. Andrea Kiewel is personally concerned to address everyone, which is why she used this formulation in connection with ‘must’.’'' Following the media coverage, Kiewel clarified: ''‘Nobody, not ZDF and nobody else, is telling me that I have to use gendered language. I've been using the masculine and feminine plural for a long time because I absolutely want to and it's very important to me. It's close to my heart. And that's what I meant in the live programme. It can happen that not every word fits perfectly in a two-hour live programme. But that's the way it is. I want it. I don't have to.’''

ZDF Fernsehgarten on Tour

As a result of the high popularity of ZDF Fernsehgarten, the programme went on tour for the spring and winter Sunday broadcasts of 2014 before returning to the open-air studio in

for the summer. Three winter productions took place in

Obertauern Obertauern is a tourist destination which is located in the Radstädter Tauern in the Salzburger Land of Austria. The winter sports resort is separated in two communities: Tweng and Untertauern. Geography Obertauern lies in the southeast of th ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, with a fourth special in

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...

featuring

Hansi Hinterseer Johann Ernst "Hansi" Hinterseer (born 2 February 1954) is an Austrian schlager singer, actor, entertainer and former alpine skier. Sports Hinterseer is the son of Ernst Hinterseer, who won a gold medal in slalom skiing at the 1960 Winter O ...

. Further to the tour in spring, the show was broadcast from R2 Hotel Rio Costa Calma in

Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, geographically part of Macaronesia, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the coast of North Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO i ...

. In the Autumn of 2014, the show went on tour for one episode live from Schloßberg in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

and one episode from the Therme Merano spa hotel in

Merano Merano (, ; ) or Meran () is a (municipality) in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Generally best known for its Spa town, spa resorts, it is located within a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to Height above mean sea ...

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

. In 2015, the show was broadcast on the winter tour for two episodes in Solda,

, and

St Anton am Arlberg Sankt Anton am Arlberg, commonly referred to as St Anton, is a village and ski resort in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It lies in the Tyrolean Alps, with aerial tramways and chairlifts up to , yielding a vertical drop of . It is also a popular ...

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

. The show then returned to

for two special episodes based on the 70's, 80's, 90's and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

before going back on tour for three special episodes live from the beach of Bahia del Duque in

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

. In late 2015, Fernsehgarten was on tour in South Tirol and then

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...

in May 2016.

External links

Official Website

References

{{reflist 1986 German television series debuts 1980s German television series 1990s German television series 2000s German television series 2010s German television series 2020s German television series German-language television shows German television talk shows German music television series ZDF original programming