Sesame Street Celebrates 50 Years in Germany

NDR and Sesame Workshop are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sesamstraße, the German version of Sesame Street, with a special birthday episode and family concert this month.

The Sesamstraße birthday episode is set to air on KiKA on January 8 and will be available on ARD Mediathek later. On January 28, a concert with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra will take place in Hamburg, featuring characters and songs from the show.

Since 1973, NDR has produced 2,931 episodes of Sesamstraße, and since 2009, the show has been a purely NDR in-house production. The series airs on both NDR television and KiKA. Content is also available via ARD Mediathek, the Sesame Street app and YouTube.

“NDR has cultivated and constantly developed Sesamstraße in Germany for generations of children and has thus also created a classic of children’s television in Germany with its own stories from the American Sesame Street,” said Frank Beckmann, program director of NDR. “Sesamstraße is a children’s program with a public service profile and a long tradition. Entertainment that educates children—pedagogically valuable and hilarious at the same time.”

Stefan Kastenmüller, general manager for Europe at Sesame Workshop, added, “In 2023, we have the pleasure of celebrating an extraordinary partnership with NDR: for 50 years, we have been bringing laughter and learning to children and their families with our beloved characters in the co-production of Sesamstraße in Germany. With NDR, Sesame Workshop has a partner at its side that is as serious as it is creative. Together we have reached generations of families in Germany with our educational content and values. Celebrating differences and embracing similarities, helping children feel confident and proud of who they are, that’s what Sesame Street has stood for since its creation. We sincerely thank everyone who has supported our mission with Sesamstraße over the past decades.”