Bernd das Brot
"[1][7] According to his in-universe backstory, the short-armed bread character made his first appearance as part of an advertising campaign for a bakery chain.
When the campaign turned out unsuccessful, Bernd was forced to apply for job at the KiKA (more specifically, the MDR member of the ARD) which is also the reason for his permanent scowl.
Shows with Bernd, Chili and Briegel also include pastiches of Robin Hood, Star Trek, Western and fairy tales.
Krappweis obtained a square-shaped loaf of bread to which he then gave the face of his colleague Norman Cöster, who also shares many personality traits with Bernd.
[1][13] Jeremy Wasser of Spiegel Online wrote that "Bernd epitomized the fundamental pessimism felt by many, if not most, Germans about, well, almost everything.
That the people of the land of Goethe and Schiller would choose as their guide in this spiritual exploration a clinically depressed loaf of bread, is, perhaps, just another improbable element of the German Zeitgeist".
[1] David Frogier de Ponlevoy, also of Spiegel Online, commented that Bernd shows were "a successful mix of slapstick and irony that irresistibly brings families in good mood.
"[7] The Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote that the idea of making a depressed loaf of bread the star of a children's channel was crazily funny.
[8][5] The Deutsche Welle commented that "most likely the jury realized just how subversive Bernd das Brot's attitude is when many human beings these days are willing to do almost anything to achieve fame and fortune on TV".
[4] It stands on the Fischmarkt (English: Fish market), the city's main square, next to the neo-gothic town hall[9][13] and is a tourist attraction.
[9][13] The activists were squatting in the abandoned Topf and Sons factory, where ovens and gas chamber ventilation systems for the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp were manufactured.
[2][8] The public broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, which owns the rights to Bernd das Brot, quickly forced YouTube to remove the video from the site[9] by having their lawyers claim copyright infringements.
[9] Krappweis called for the figure's return, stating that "Kidnapping, even of bread loaves, is the wrong means of achieving political goals".
[5] The Bernd figure was eventually found intact by chance on 1 February 2009 in the basement vault of a disused barracks in Nohra, between Erfurt and Weimar.
[5] After forensics experts confirmed that it was the genuine statue, it was carried out of the basement by six police officers[8][5][14] and ultimately brought back to its original location on the Fischmarkt in front of Erfurt's town hall.
