Elmar Gunsch

Die ProSieben Märchenstunde is a television movie series that has been produced since 2006. It features characters that are exclusively portrayed by German and Austrian comedians and actors. The series is shot in Prague. The screenplays have - amongst others - been written by Tommy Krappweis, Erik Haffner and Norman Cöster who came up with the stories of Bernd das Brot. Additionally, they are directing and have cameo appearances. Many actors use their respective dialect. Die ProSieben Märchenstunde was nominated for the German Comedy Award in the category Best Comedy in 2006. It is also broadcast on Austrian television channel ORF, which is co-producing the series, airing the programme as Die ORF Märchenstunde.

The chef Patrick inherits an old, run-down hotel on the Wolfgangsee and wants to convert it into a music hotel with the help of the employees. While there is fierce intrigue and a few love affairs, the hotel gradually takes shape.

An obsolete prince wants to read the newspaper. A resolute princess wants to fetch wood. And a thoughtful dragon is looking for a useful birthday present for his grandmother. In the end, everything is different than expected.

In a satirical way, the typical television coverage after a (fictitious) state election is simulated — including projections, interviews, commentaries, and a so-called “heavyweight round”. When then, over the course of the broadcast, the voter turnout is estimated at just 3.86 percent of those eligible to vote, none of the involved people believes it. But after this information turns out to be true, an attempted is made to explain this scandalous, impertinent, and downright subversive behaviour of the electorate.

Two inmates make written contact through a personal ad that is hidden and found in a pair of work trousers. The pen-pal relationship turns into love, whose future remains uncertain after a personal encounter.