Verbotene Liebe

For other uses, see Forbidden Love

Verbotene Liebe
Genre	Soap opera
Created by	Reg Watson
Starring	Present cast
Opening theme	The Wanderers with "Forbidden Love"
Country of origin	Germany
No. of seasons	18
No. of episodes	4,000 (as of January 18, 2012)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Elke Kimmlinger
Producer(s)	Rainer Wemcken Guido Reinhardt
Camera setup	Multiple-camera setup
Running time	approx. 23 minutes (January 2, 1995-June 20, 2011) approx. 44 minutes (June 21, 2011-January 18, 2012) approx. 38 minutes (January 23, 2012-present)
Production company(s)	Grundy UFA TV Produktions GmbH
Broadcast
Original channel	Das Erste
Picture format	576i (4:3 SDTV) (January 2, 1995-September 4, 2007) 576i (16:9 SDTV) (September 5, 2007-January 6, 2011) 1080i (16:9 HDTV) (January 7, 2011– present)
Original run	2 January 1995 (1995-01-02) – Present (&1000000000000001700000017 years, &1000000000000006000000060 days)
External links
Website

Verbotene Liebe (pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈboːtənə ˈliːbə]; English: Forbidden Love), often abbreviated to VL, is a German television soap opera created by Reg Watson for Das Erste. The show is set primarily in the German city of Düsseldorf although, at times, the city of Cologne and the Spanish island of Majorca have figured prominently in the show's story lines. First broadcast on January 2, 1995, Verbotene Liebe was originally broadcast in 24-minute episodes, five times a week. It expanded to 45-minute episodes on June 21, 2011, and trimmed back to 40-minute episodes on January 23, 2012 to accommodate an adjusted time-slot. Since 2011, Central German Broadcasting (MDR) and digital channel EinsFestival have been airing morning repeats of the previous evening's broadcast. In 2006, Pay-TV network Passions began broadcasting episodes of the show from the beginning.

Verbotene Liebe was initially based on original story and character outlines from the Australian soap opera Sons and Daughters, before evolving into a show of its own as the series progressed. The show originally focused on two core families: the wealthy Anstetten family and the middle-class Brandner family. More specifically, it dealt with the story of Jan Brandner and Julia von Anstetten, two strangers whose fascination for each other leads them to fall in love, neither of them cognizant of the fact that they are twins separated by their parents. It is this story of forbidden love that gave the series its title. As cast members left the show, many characters were written out of the storyline, and new ones were added. Sometimes this included whole families. Writers attempted to phase out the dwindling Brandner family by introducing a new middle-class family, the Prozeskis, as foils for the wealthy Anstettens, but the Brandners proved to be too popular with fans, and the Prozeskis left as quickly as they came. Currently, much of the drama centers around the Brandner family and the aristocratic Lahnstein family.

The series has become well known for its groundbreaking treatment of LGBT characters, presenting bisexuality and homosexuality as normal, and homosexual relationships as equal to heterosexual relationships on the show. For this reason, it has become popular with gay and lesbian audiences in Europe and the United States^{[citation needed]}. Ever on the cutting edge, the series is not afraid to tackle controversial issues such as drug addiction, murder, rape, suicide, adultery, homophobia, incest, alcoholism, drug abuse, schizophrenia, HIV, miscarriage, kidnapping, and sexual confusion.

In 2005, Verbotene Liebe received the prestigious Rose d'Or award for "Best Soap," and in 2010 was nominated for the category of "Best Soap or Telenovela." More recently, the show was nominated for eight German Soap Awards in 2011, winning three. The show is filmed at the Cologne-Ossendorf studios of the Magic Media Company, with outdoor scenes and exterior shots regularly shot in and around Cologne and Düsseldorf. In January 2011, the series began filming in high definition.

History

Origins

German television channel Das Erste ("The First") began airing Verbotene Liebe in January 1995 after many months of planning and production. The project was initially planned for RTL Television, another German channel, but executives there were skeptical that the concept of a love story between a brother and a sister could prove successful. Das Erste took on the project and told the memorable story of Jan Brandner and Julia von Anstetten, two young people who find themselves immediately drawn to each other, although they have just met. The affecting story of the two siblings is told in the first 600 episodes, and is identified today with the series title. In addition to Jan and Julia and their love story, the complex scheming of the other characters made the show popular with audiences. Clarissa von Anstetten becomes popular as Jan and Julia's conniving mother, earning her an unofficial title as the German Alexis Colby. (Interestingly, the "real" Alexis Colby, Joan Collins, had a brief recurring role as Lady Joan on Verbotene Liebe in 2010.) Tanja von Anstetten, too, soon rises to fame for being a murderous vixen. This classic formula brought Verbotene Liebe attention in the press and, with it, a large fan base resulting in three million viewers tuning in on a daily basis.

The series underwent some major changes when actress Valerie Niehaus announced her decision to leave the show after more than two years in the role of Julia. The writers re-focused the storyline on Clarissa and tried to put more attention on her with the addition of her family, the Prozeskis. This new middle-class family was to be the new counterpart to the wealthy Anstetten family, since many of the original Brandner family members had left the show. But the Brandners were too popular, and fans did not seem interested in Clarissa's origins or how she went about becoming a countess. As a result, Clarissa's mother, Erna, and her brother, Walter, were written out of the show by having the characters die in a car accident. Meanwhile, with his character's big, juicy storyline behind him, Andreas Brucker sought to leave his role as Jan. With Jan caught in a failed love relationship with Kerstin Richter, the writers chose to write both characters out of the show's storyline rather than recast the roles. The departures of both Niehaus and Brucker within such a brief amount of time led to the fan-created legend that Jan and Julia had reunited off-screen, somewhere else.

Even with her family gone, the focus remains on Clarissa as she is sent to war against Christoph and Barbara von Anstetten. Eventually, the writers again tried to dredge up Clarissa's past for a storyline. Peter Kaufmann, Clarissa's first husband, appears on the scene to expose Clarissa as a fraud and a bigamist, since the couple had never divorced. Years before, she had forced Peter to flee the country, and then had him declared dead, all before she ever met Christoph von Anstetten and Arno Brandner. However, at the beginning of the series it is revealed that Clarissa was just eighteen years old when she became pregnant by Arno. So a marriage before she even met Arno was either a huge continuity gaffe or that she had been married while in her early teens. The story was not well liked by fans nor by Isa Jank herself. Disagreements with the producers over her role led to the actress's departure from the show a little over a year after the Peter Kaufmann story concluded. It took almost ten years to woo Jank back into the iconic role. Meanwhile, Clarissa's hate for Tanja von Anstetten develops into a heartless, cutthroat rivalry between the two women. From the beginning, Clarissa knows that Tanja is a dangerous person to have around. Having made a similar climb up the social ladder herself, Clarissa understands what Tanja is all about. So when Tanja pretends to be pregnant with the child of Henning von Anstetten, Clarissa's stepson, in order to get him to marry her, Clarissa exposes Tanja as a fraud and a golddigger. Tanja vows revenge on the entire Anstetten family and total destruction of Clarissa. After scoring a job at one of the Anstetten businesses, Tanja puts Clarissa's company in danger by trying to sell cheap knockoff clothing under the Ligne Clarisse label. The lines are drawn for battle, and a war that continues today.

The end of the 90s saw the return of Henning von Anstetten, a number of love stories involving the younger characters, the gay love story of Ulli Prozeski and Tom Seifert, the exit of Barbara von Anstetten, and the introduction of Elisabeth Ryan, who would become an important part of the show in the next decade.

Gay storylines & more big changes

The turn of the century brought with it the rising popularity of gay storylines. In 1999, the groundbreaking love story of Ulli and Tom begins as the coming-out story of a young gay man, Ulli Prozeski, who had formerly led a straight life. After Andreas Stenschke, the actor portraying Ulli, left the show in late 2000, Tom hooks up with the new guy in town, Oliver Sabel, played by Jo Weil. Six months later, in 2001, Ulli suddenly returns to town for a two week stay that creates tensions between Tom and Oliver. Oliver feels very uncomfortable having Tom's old boyfriend around, and his feeling is justified when he catches Tom and Ulli in a reunion fling, which, sadly for Ulli, does not win his man back. Tom and Ulli are finally reunited with guest appearances in the show's 10th anniversary episode in 2005. Today, the story of Tom and Ulli is available for viewing in several clips online.

The series suffered a blow in 2001 with the announcement that Isa Jank was leaving her iconic role as Clarissa. Her exit was written into the story along with a brief return of Miriam Lahnstein's Tanja. Jank's exit was caused by creative differences with the show's producers over the direction her character was taking. After she left, it was rumored several times that Jank would return in her role as Clarissa, but Jank denied the possibility as late as 2008. After a ten year absence, however, the actress did return to the small screen as Clarissa on June 21, 2011.

The brother-sister storyline was changed, and returned with the love story of Henning von Anstetten and Marie von Beyenbach in 2001, and later, with Sarah Hofmann and Leonard von Lahnstein in 2006. It was clear to audiences from the beginning that Henning and Marie are not related, and that it is all just a scheme by Tanja. Leonard and Sarah are supposedly half-siblings, sharing the same father. That possibility ends at Leonard's wedding to Jana Brandner, when Adrian Degenhardt admits that he, and not Johannes von Lahnstein, is Leonard's father. Both of these attempts failed to fascinate viewers. The writers tried a different outcome in the fall of 2009 with the introduction of the twins, Helena and Tristan von Lahnstein. This time the forbidden love is said to have come from the mind of a mentally ill Tristan, who admits to being in love with his sister, and even schemes against Helena's boyfriend, Andi Fritzsche, by having him charged with rape.

Verbotene Liebe received international attention in 2008 with the love story of Christian Mann and Oliver Sabel. The gay couple was featured in a story in the British magazine reFRESH and in an article in the September 23 issue of Soap Opera Weekly. Since then, the show has developed a large following elsewhere in Europe and beyond. The relationship between Oliver and Christian unfolds as a love story of two people who happen to be gay, rather than one of gay caricatures trying to play house, as is often the case. The ups and downs of the couple's relationship play out over two years to the couple's engagement and wedding, and continue on.

The show also attracted international popularity with characters Carla von Lahnstein and Stella Mann as a lesbian couple. They are featured on the gay media interest website Afterellen.com and their relationship is chronicled in detail in gay media interest blogs. Before her relationship with Stella, Carla was involved in romances with Hanna Novak and Susanne Brandner.

Cast

For a full list of cast members, past and present, see List of cast members of Verbotene Liebe.

For a list of characters, see List of Verbotene Liebe characters.

Current cast members

Actor	Character	Duration
Pia Ampaw-Fried	Sonja Jäger	2011-
Stefanie Bock	Leonie Richter	2011-
Till Demtrøder	Thomas Wolf	2011-
Wolfram Grandezka	Ansgar von Lahnstein	2004-
Jens Hartwig	Tristan von Lahnstein	2009-
Isa Jank	Clarissa von Anstetten	1995-2001, 2011-
Tatjana Kästel	Rebecca von Lahnstein (#2)	2012-
Jana Julie Kilka	Jessica Stiehl	2010-
Melanie Kogler	Marlene von Lahnstein	2011-
Konrad Krauss	Arno Brandner	1995-
Miriam Lahnstein	Tanja von Lahnstein	1995-1998, 2001, 2004-
Krystian Martinek	Ludwig von Lahnstein	2009-
Gabriele Metzger	Charlie Schneider	1995-
Nicole Mieth	Kim Wolf (#2)	2011-
Dirk Moritz	Dr. Daniel Fritzsche (#2)	2011-
Christoph Mory	Hagen von Lahnstein (#2)	2011-
Dominic Saleh-Zaki	Andi Fritzsche	2001-2007, 2009-
Patricia Schäfer	Viktoria Wolf	2011-
Thore Schölermann	Christian Mann	2006-
Remo Schulze	Timo Mendes	2011-
Daniel Sellier	Dr. Ricardo Mendes	2011-
Martina Servatius	Elisabeth von Lahnstein	1999-
Renée Weibel	Helena von Lahnstein	2009-
Jo Weil	Oliver Sabel	1999-2002, 2007-
Diane Willems	Dana Wolf	2011-
Florian Wünsche	Emilio Sanchez	2011-

Recurring cast members

Actor	Character
Melvin-Maximilian Eisenstein	Hannes von Lahnstein (#3)
Holger Franke	Kurt Schiller
Frank Maier	Alexander Rheinsberg
Lutz Marquardt	Waiter Luca
Marcel Spang	Waiter Niklas
Claus Thull-Emden	Butler Justus Stiehl

Comings and goings

Actor	Character	Status
Birgit Würz	Alice Stein	Debuts and exits February 22, 2012
Cecilia Pillado	Carmen Sanchez	Debuts April 3, 2012
Garry Fischmann	Diego Sanchez	Debuts April 3, 2012

Schedule and ratings

Schedule

VL German Broadcast History:

• 2 January 1995 - 30 December 2004: Mon-Fri 5:55pm on Das Erste, approx. 23 minutes
• 3 January 2005 - 28 December 2007: Mon-Fri 5:50pm on Das Erste, approx. 23 minutes
• 7 January 2008 - 20 June 2011: Mon-Fri 6:00pm on Das Erste, approx. 23 minutes
• 21 June 2011 - 18 January 2012: Mon-Fri 6:00pm on Das Erste, approx. 44 minutes
• 23 January 2012 – present: Mon-Fri 5:50pm on Das Erste, approx. 38 minutes
  • 22 June 2011 – present: Mon-Fri about 8:00am on MDR (previous day's broadcast)
  • 6 September 2011 – present: Mon-Fri 12:00pm on EinsFestival (previous day's broadcast)
• 1 December 2006 – present on Passions (syndicated reruns)

In the beginning, VL aired weekdays at 5:55pm on Das Erste, with repeat broadcasts the following weekday mornings. The start time was moved to 5:50pm in January 2005. In December 2006, the new Pay-TV Network Passions began broadcasting the show from the beginning. In January 2008, Das Erste changed the start time of Verbotene Liebe to 6:00pm because of the RTL soap opera Unter Uns. The show expanded to 44 minute episodes on June 21, 2011, picking up air time from the canceled program Marienhof. The following morning, MDR began repeating the previous day's broadcast at 8:00am. EinsFestival followed suit two months later, repeating the previous day's broadcast at noon. Due to changes in Das Erste's evening lineup, on January 23, 2012, Verbotene Liebe returned to its 5:50pm time slot, with six minutes shaved off of its running time, now ending at 6:30pm.

Ratings

In the show's best years, Verbotene Liebe had three million viewers per episode, the second highest rated soap opera behind Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten, with a 16 percent market share overall. That all began to change in 2007, when the show began losing viewers. In 2008, ratings dropped dramatically as viewers became dissatisfied with recent casting changes and lackluster storylines. On December 15, 2008, only 1.57 million viewers watched the show. Producers reacted immediately and moved the storylines in a different direction. The 3333rd episode was seen by 2.18 million viewers and featured an elegant masked ball.

One year later, Verbotene Liebe faced rumors of cancellation, when Das Erste announced intended changes to the lineup. The show was revamped, and eventually it was lead-out soap Marienhof that went off the air in mid-2011. Verbotene Liebe was extended to an hour and took over Marienhof's problematic time-slot, resulting in a dip in ratings. In 2012, the show returned to its old time slot at 5:50pm, and now runs for 40 minutes.

Year	Timeslot	Network	Episodes	Viewers (in millions/overall)	Viewers (in millions/target group 14-49)	Market share (overall)	Market share (target group 14-49)
2007	Monday-Friday 5:50pm	Das Erste	244	2.23	0.63	13,7%	10,8%
2008	Monday-Friday 6:00pm		227	1.96	0.59	12,2%	10,0%
2009			229	1.83	0.54	11,5%	9,3%
2010			224	1.78	0.47	10,8%	7,9%
2011			234	1.61	0.40	9,6%	7,0%

Awards

German Soap Awards

• 2011 "Sexiest Woman" Jasmin Lord (Rebecca von Lahnstein)
• 2011 "Fan Award Male" Jo Weil (Oliver Sabel)
• 2011 "Most Beautiful Couple" Oliver Sabel and Christian Mann

Rose d'Or

• 2005 "Best Soap"

See also

• List of Verbotene Liebe characters
• List of cast members of Verbotene Liebe
• Minor characters of Verbotene Liebe
• List of longest-serving soap opera actors

External links

• Das Erste: Official website (German)
• Vebotene Liebe at the Internet Movie Database
• Verbotene Liebe-Spoiler

This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia.

• Maxdome.de: Video on demand - Extensive archive & new episodes