"Das Literarische Quartett"

“Das Literarische Quartett“ was a literary programme on German television, originally conceived by the German historian Johannes Willms. It was transmitted from March 1988 until December 2001, and all in all, 385 novels, poems and plays were discussed. At the beginning, the group of four consisted of Marcel Reich-Ranicki (a literary critic), Hellmuth Karasek (a journalist and novelist), Sigrid Löffler (an Austrian literary critic) and Jürgen Busche (a journalist).            

The broadcast was mainly famous for Reich-Ranicki’s critical comments just as for his choleric temper. Traditionally, he always finished the talk show with the same quotation by the German poet Bertholt Brecht: “Und so sehen wir betroffen, den Vorhang zu und alle Fragen offen.” In 2005 and 2006, several special programmes for anniversaries of poets’ and writers’ deaths were broadcasted.  

According to the newspaper “Augsburger Allgemeine,” five grammar-school pupils from Wertingen (Bavaria) adopted the show and discussed books on stage and in public. Undoubtedly, this experiment was an absolute success and highly praised by their head teacher and her deputy. Both approved of the fact that their pupils were very direct in formulating their opinions and evaluations and preferred their frankness. Also their audience, their own classmates, were enthusiastic about the show.  

For more impressions, you can have a look at the broadcast on youtube.com.