GEZ stands for Gebühreneinzugszentrale der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

The GEZ is responsible for collecting television and radio license fees in Germany.  There are specific rules for calculating how many radios and television sets have to be paid for, depending on the type of usage and exact details can be found on the GEZ website.

Even people who do not own a radio (not even a car radio) or television set may be liable to pay if they own a mobile phone or a computer that can access the internet.  These are referred to as “Neuartige Rundfunkempfangsgeräte”.

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KiKa is a German television channel for Children.  Last week their summer tour visited Wiesbaden, so we took a break from moving into our new flat to go there for the day.

We arrived early enough to get a good view of the main stage and at the very front there was even a special area for children.  After the first few acts we tried to get autographs from the main presenters, but the queues were so long, that by the time we got to the front they were in the process of leaving.

The main presenters - Singa and Juri on stage

Although there was plenty on offer, the number of children present meant that anything you wanted to do you had to queue for, which is why in the afternoon we spent 2½ hours queuing for the chance to climb up a giant loaf of bread!

Climbing up "Bernd das Brot"

To find out more, listen to the podcast:

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Yes, my interpreter mind is already wondering how phrases such as “Good Moaning” and “I was pissing by the door, and I thought I would drip in” could be reasonably translated into German.

Confused?  Both are phrases from the UK sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo which I used to watch and which finished its original run in 1992.

Not surprisingly perhaps, the show has never been shown in Germany.  Then, last week, the BBC News website announced that ProSevenSat1 were to broadcast it dubbed into German.

Now I am completely intrigued as to how much of the original show will make it into the German version, as certain parts of it (symbols, salutes, etc.) are illegal here.  Will these just be edited out or blurred?

Any what about the accents?  The show relied on its over-exaggerated accents for distinguish between the languages “spoken”.  Actually, I’ve heard German actors using overdone English and French accents before, so that wouldn’t be too difficult to arrange.

I just wonder what the German audience are going to make of it all!   Let’s hope that ProSevenSat1 don’t think in a year’s time that it was a bad “mistake-a to make-a”!