Armin Maiwald (born 23 January 1940) is a German author, television director and producer. Maiwald is one of the founders of the award-winning German children's television program, Die Sendung mit der Maus. Often just called Die Maus ("The Mouse"), the program has been on the air since March 1971 and is one of the most successful children's television programs ever produced. Maiwald has won over 50 awards for his work.
Professional career
In 1963, he began working as an assistant director at the German television station, WDR, and in 1971, he became one of the founders of Die Sendung mit der Maus (The Program with the Mouse), which has been called "the school of the nation"<ref name="Borgeest">Bernhard Borgeest, "Von Mäusen und Machern" Focus, official website. (12 March 2001) Retrieved 21 November 2010 </ref> and one of the most successful children's programs ever produced.
From decades of narrating the program's educational film shorts (Sachgeschichten), Maiwald's voice is widely recognized even when he merely orders a cup of coffee or a beer. He was first seen onscreen in the late 1970s. Today, he is an integral part of the broadcast, along with fellow presenters, e.g. Christoph Biemann.
Maiwald was previously the director of other children's programs, Der Spatz vom Wallrafplatz and Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt as well as the first episodes of the puppet series, Hallo Spencer. He has also created the Bibliothek der Sachgeschichten (library of educational film shorts) from his productions for "The Mouse". Maiwald produces some 20 film shorts a year for the program.
A number of "The Mouse" educational shorts are used at universities, and other institutions as educational toolsDirk Oetjen, "Die Sendung mit der Maus" Hörzu, official website. (12 April 2010) Retrieved 14 November 2010 and Maiwald has received numerous media and journalism awards for his work. In 1988, he received the Adolf Grimme Award. In 1995, he was awarded the prestigious Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In addition, there is a special education school in Radevormwald named after him. In October 2010, it was announced that an elementary school in Monheim am Rhein would also be named after him.
An outspoken critic of the decline of television programming, including at the station that broadcasts his own program, Maiwald has complained about the quality of programs available for children and the bottom-line mentality that rules decision-making in scheduling and content.
Postwar years explained to children
In 1989, Maiwald produced the Nachkriegs-Maus ("Postwar Mouse"), a short film in two parts. This award-winning specialThetje Sausel, Lieblingssendung: Die Sendung mit der Maus - Eine Analyse und subjektive Betrachtung Thesis, page 7. GRIN Verlag (2004) Retrieved 23 November 2010 was produced after Maiwald found himself in Uffing, where he was evacuated after World War II and was flooded with memories of his experiences as a child after the war. Maiwald wanted to tell his then 6-year-old daughter and his young viewers what it was like to be a child in Germany in the aftermath of the war."Nachkriegszeit" Planet Wissen, official website. Article about growing up in bombed-out Germany in the first few years after World War II. Retrieved 13 November 2010 They found black-and-white photos from the past and located the sites, shooting them in color as they looked years later. For the series, they super-imposed the black-and-white images of ruins over the contemporary images, so the children could see how Germany looked after the war and compare it to their own era.
Using a mix of postwar-era footage and still photographs, he shows the devastated cities, the millions who lost their lives, the return of concentration camp survivors and the desperate circumstances of average Germans, many of whom had lost everything. Maiwald described in depth how the children had to live. He showed how they dressed in whatever they were able to scrounge and how many lived in the bombed out buildings, how others, like himself, lived in apartments with several other families. He also told of the rampant hunger and showed graphically the amount of food he was rationed per day.
Maiwald said the Postwar Mouse was the hardest film he ever produced and that when he had finished it, he never wanted to see it again.