Reality star from the very beginning
Fred Fussbroich is dead
10/18/2022, 4:40 p.m
Today there are reality TV documentaries in which more or less prominent protagonists are followed in their everyday life, like sand on the sea. The series about “Die Fussbroichs” did pioneering work for this. Now the head of the family, Fred, has died.
In the meantime, only his son Frank is tinkering through the reality TV formats. But once Fred Fussbroich and his wife Annemie were also TV stars. It’s been over 20 years now. And so the head of the well-known Cologne documentary family has now died at the age of 81.
With his wife Annemie, Fred Fussbroich became a reality TV star.
(Photo: picture alliance/United Archives)
on son Frank’s Facebook page numerous expressions of condolences can be read. In addition, the 54-year-old colored his profile picture black. The “Express” also reported that “the sad news” had been confirmed to him from those around the family.
100 episodes in 17 seasons
The family became known at the time through the reality documentary simply called “Die Fussbroichs” on the television program of West German Broadcasting (WDR). The series was filmed between 1989 and 2001 and is considered the first German TV docu-soap ever.
At the time, director Ute Diehl wanted to portray the life of a typical German working-class family and, during her research, came across the Fussbroich family in Cologne, consisting of father Fred, mother Annemie and son Frank. Initially, only an 85-minute documentary film was made. But eventually “Die Fussbroichs” became a long-lived series with 100 episodes in 17 seasons.
Frank Fussbroich was seen in 2021 in the “Jungle Show” on RTL.
(Photo: picture alliance /)
The format also showed how Fred Fussbroich took early retirement in 1997. Meanwhile, his wife worked for the Cologne city administration until she retired.
Awarded the Grimme Prize
In 1992 director Diehl was awarded the Grimme Prize for the series. In 2013, another longer film was created under the title “Die Fussbroichs today”, which addressed the current living conditions of the family at the time.
While Fred and Annemie have hardly appeared in public recently, Frank Fussbroich still likes to let off steam in reality TV formats. In 2018 he moved with his wife Elke to the “Summer House of the Stars”, where the couple took third place. He also took part in the RTL program “I’m a Star – The Big Jungle Show” in 2021. However, his hope of getting a ticket for the regular jungle camp on the show was not fulfilled.