Browse all episodes of ZDF Magazin Royale

Behind the scenes with Jan Böhmermann and the ZDF Magazin Royale. What drives the people behind the show? A team of journalists got exclusive insights.

Makers & Laughers

Gaming, Twitch, Steam – even in the world of computer games, there's a catch: people, especially men, in internet subcultures. How apolitical can a scene be where racism, sexism, and right-wing extremist communities are part of everyday life?

Gaming Communities: The last apolitical Place on Earth

In the heart of the beautiful Sachsenwald forest in Schleswig-Holstein, the promised land of the young CDU veteran Daniel Günther, one can often be puzzled while taking a break at a mysterious hut. Why are there so many mailboxes at the entrance?

The Ghost Office in Bismarckwald

Episode 8

Paying for things online? Never! Especially not for pornography, which is accessible 24/7. And the age restriction is even easier to bypass than the Sanifair turnstile. So, all good, right?

Porn on the Internet

Wine drinkers have style, solid wood bookshelves, and can explain complex issues like the Middle East conflict or the dangers of cancel culture in just a few words. But they can only do all of this with a liquid companion in hand.

How noble is Wine really?

Jan Böhmermann describes how a deadly pandemic can sometimes be seen as an opportunity.

Corona Entrepreneur of the Year

Austria, you are our favorite neighbor! You gave the world Wiener Schnitzel, DJ Ötzi, and, unfortunately, a young boy as Chancellor. That's why it's always good to have a true friend who, in difficult times, can honestly tell you that your dear little Penate Chancellor with the €600 gel hair is painting the four pillars of democracy turquoise.

Sebastian Kurz and His Turquoise Family

What a week! There's another war in Europe. War in the 21st century! Should we update all our news apps around the clock and follow the Klitschkos' Instagram stories, or just put our smartphones away?

What's Happening here? - Putin's War in Europe

Right-wing populist rulers are all the rage! And the current show is about one of these right-wing poster boys: Viktor Orbán – formerly liberal, now right-wing nationalist.

The Power of Viktor Orbán

The new HuFo at Berlin Castle is so fresh, hip, and above all, retro! It really has EVERYTHING in the new old Hohenzollern Palace: souvenir shop, museum café, quiet room, and maybe even stolen art from the colonial era?

The Humboldt Forum – Looted Art in Berlin?

Storks fly south in winter, Thor Steinar jackets march from west to east year-round. There are good reasons why Nazis like to settle in the East.

Nazi Hotspot Dresden – What is the Reason?

Jan Böhmermann is in election fever. Still electrified by the exciting US election, he's immediately back to analyzing the CDU party chairmanship race.

Volkswagen – The World Car!

On May 10, 1991, angry demonstrators threw eggs at Chancellor Helmut Kohl on the market square in Halle an der Saale, prompting Kohl to promptly launch a brawl with the protesting East Germans.

The ZDF MAGAZIN ROYALE presents a gripping musical about unity, the power of revolution, and the power of love, centering on this now almost forgotten turning point in the relationship between East and West Germany.

The Egg Throw of Halle - The Musical

If you click through the timelines and hashtags, you'll quickly find yourself talking about cosmetic surgeries from fitness influencers. And these surgical procedures are advertised there just as casually as the latest running shoes from the human fountain of youth, Kai Pflaume.

Look like you're on Instagram

There is agitation against trans people. Journalists, activists, academics, and even veteran feminists take to the streets to protest self-determination or write "opinion-driven" articles in "liberal" daily newspapers.

Transphobia is a Trend

Water – H2O, as we Quarks viewers call it. This super element is a true all-rounder, versatile, and something we take for granted in Germany. But: We have a water problem.

Germans and their Water: It's complicated

At Guinness World Records you will not only find absurdities such as the longest beard or the most cups in one hand, but also records set by governments whose basic democratic understanding is not really record-breaking.

World Records for sale!

Whether it's Southside, Rock am Ring, or Deichbrand – who makes these entertainment fireworks possible? Eventim, of course, our trusted ticket provider. Well, often you have no other choice.

With Fantasy Fees to the Event Empire

Get out of Germany and get a taste of something new! If we want to improve our German, the following places remain: Austria, Switzerland, Mallorca, everything around Lake Garda, campsites in the Netherlands, and Liechtenstein.

Why Germans should love Liechtenstein

Police officers send each other racist, anti-Semitic, and other degrading memes on WhatsApp. Things they find really funny. But how are these "satire" chats actually viewed by their own colleagues in the police force?

Crime Scene Group Chat: What Police Officers find funny

Are officers from Frankfurt's 1st Police Station involved in the "NSU 2.0" threatening letters? What role does a homemade wedding cake play? Satirical investigator Jan Böhmermann searches for the perpetrator(s).

What the Police have to do with the NSU 2.0

Most Germans take their organs with them to the grave. Every eight hours, someone in Germany dies because they don't receive a life-saving donor organ. Is the organ shortage solely our fault, or is it (once again) those at the top?

Hands off my Kidney

It's time for the ZDF Magazin music episode! THE music festival of the year with Alli Neumann, Apsilon, Oliver Tree, Domiziana, Ski Aggu, Badmómzjay, Blumengarten, and a special surprise act, now on your favorite MainStage: the ZDF Mediathek.

Turn it up!

Same-sex marriage has been legal in this country for six years. However, the government still prefers the following scenario: the man earns more than the woman, the woman stays at home. And the government also offers generous incentives for this form of marriage.

Safe Space for Men in Germany: Marriage

Networking is no longer done at wobbly bar tables at trade fairs, but digitally! Tincon, Maker Faire, OMR, re:publica, and the like – they're all united on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn: Business, Digging, Bullshit

The war in the Middle East has never been so clear and easy to understand. It's obvious: Who is to blame, who is anti-Semitic, who is racist, and who—and this is ultimately the most important thing—is right?

How Germany talks about the Middle East War

Maximilian Krah is one of the AfD's most extreme figures and knows exactly how to appeal to the voters of the future. In addition to a "traditional" image of masculinity, he also propagates misogyny, racism, and anti-democratic thinking.

The AfD's TikTok Star

Professional teeth cleaning and braces: Only the best for your teeth, and you're happy to pay extra out of pocket. But what do the legendary studies actually say about this?

Everything for a Beautiful Smile

The ZDF Magazin Royale is like a regular episode of "Die Rosenheim-Cops": There's a dead body. Who does the lifeless body belong to? Jan sets out to find clues, as there are clues as to who might be involved in this criminal case.

A Corpse in Olaf Scholz's Basement

Johann Sebastian Bach, Klaus Kinski, Goleo. All great names who have one thing in common: They are geniuses. Some attentive readers may have noticed that the list includes only men. So where are the female geniuses?

How dangerous is the Genius Cult?

Once fashionable, now stigmatized: smoking. Can disposable e-cigarettes bring us back to the good old days? Will flavors like "Mango Guava" and "Strawberry Iced Peach" reintroduce our youth to healthy snacking?

Smoking for the Bin: Disposable Vapes

Football is a passion, a fandom, a popular sport. But it's also an opportunity to earn a lot of money. There's plenty to be had not only with TV rights and merchandise, but also with sports betting. Tipico, Bwin, and Betano are some of the big players.

Top, the Sports Bet is valid

Instead of working outdoors, weather forecasters are slumbering in stuffy TV studios, waiting to ruin everyone's evening with one word: "Rain." They deserve to be able to host a show in the glistening snow once a year.

Cloudy with a Chance of Product Placement

In some regions of eastern Germany, there are free advertising papers that resemble local newspapers. In them, Grandpa Kurt finds obituaries, reports on club events, and the occasional guest article by Hans-Georg Maaßen.

Endangered Species: Local Journalism

Inclusion - Deficient! People with disabilities in Germany often face barriers. They cannot participate in activities that are taken for granted. Institutions such as special needs schools and workshops often further contribute to their exclusion.

How Exclusion is sold as Inclusion

Political parties use social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook for their election campaigns. Microtargeting allows them to place personalized campaign ads—a win-win situation for the parties and the platforms. But also for voters?

Election Campaign on the Internet - Microtargeting 2.0

How wonderful that was: Two crosses on Sunday and the election was over. Four years of peace! But first, we need to talk about the mood during the election campaign: Why was there so much talk about migration – and does Alice Weidel prefer a suit or joggers?

Politics and Media and the Mood in the Country

We often avoid contact with our neighbors, Poland. Unless it's about cheap gas, cheap Baltic Sea vacations, or firecrackers. But why is that?

Long prepared for Emergencies: Poland

When we suggested Jan get some fresh air, we actually meant a short walk – but Jan preferred to cross the country on his e-scooter. Who do you meet on a trip like that? How long does a battery charge last? And what's the point of all this?

Germany - An experience

Protecting the population should actually be an uncontroversial issue, right? Far from it, because such an unsightly dike is a thorn in the side for some: angry residents, greedy archdukes, and a forgetful leaflet-distributing brother are putting obstacles in the way of flood protection.

And with us the flood: Flood protection in Germany

Have you ever noticed that YouTube has more to offer than just awesome ZDF content? If you look in the dark corners, you'll find them: right-wing extremists! They've figured out that right-wing content gets a lot of clicks. Naturally, one political party is especially pleased about this support.

Right-wing YouTubers: The front line of the AfD

Jan bought his first condominium with his pocket money. Today, he shares his property with many tenants in solidarity – and, as a true benefactor, shares his real estate hacks with you!

Two rooms/kitchen/money

Episode 1

Episode 4

Episode 6

Episode 11

Episode 12

Episode 13

Episode 16

Jan Böhmermann answers the question why former Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek has balls of steel.

Eggs of Steel: Jan Marsalek

Jan Böhmermann deals with right-wing extremist structures in the German police.

Racism in the Police

Jan Böhmermann wonders why digitalization is progressing so slowly in Germany.

Stop & Go on the German Internet

Just a few days ago, the Oscars were awarded in L.A. And in Germany, the film industry is doing what it does best: always casting the same three men in leading roles, producing films with shallow storylines, and never a single film without a penis joke.

The Problem of the German Film Landscape

Who is actually responsible for prosecuting hate speech online? Each of the 16 federal states is responsible for its own actions – what could possibly go wrong? The Internet police patrol car urgently needs to be inspected.

404: police not found

We're talking to you about the most contagious virus since the dawn of humanity: enthusiasm and success. Now some people might say, "Wait, those are two different things." Simple formula: You always have more than one of the good things in your pocket.

Money-back-guarantee

Online Gambling in Schleswig-Holstein

Jan Böhmermann answers the question why so many influencers are drawn to Dubai.

Influencer Paradise Dubai

True crime is EVERYWHERE! Besides Helene Fischer's new album, there's nothing hotter right now than mysterious stories about real crimes! True crime experts on TV are especially mysterious.

Profiler - too true to be true

Will Star Wars soon become a reality? And what do satellites have to do with it?

Satellites: Toys of Billionaires

If your old schoolmate contacts you again after years, there are only two options: Either he finally wants his "Fast and Furious" DVD box set back, or he now works at Deutsche Vermögensberatung AG and wants to sell you 15 life insurance policies. What one in ten Germans, including your old schoolmate Sascha, does can't be wrong! Can it?

The DVAG Pyramid System

Music, dance, life, passion – nowhere are these powerful concepts more united than in pop music. And pop shows are always on TV! Brilliantly produced events with special effects, stars, and all of it packed into a compact 180 minutes.

The Godfather of Schlager

We love vacations. Whether it's winter or summer break, we're basically always on some beach with cocktails and diving lessons included. We especially enjoy traveling with TUI. Let the ozone hole be the ozone hole for a while and chill out.

Deportations, Oligarch Money and Poison Gas

Five months later, we take a closer look at a topic that's still relevant today: the protests in Iran and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. They use torture, terror, and violence to maintain the Ayatollah's rule.

Iran's most brutal Guard Active in Germany

Jan Böhmermann answers the question why millions of dollars continue to flow into professional football during the Corona crisis, while ordinary consumers have to fear for their existence.

Professional Football despite the Pandemic

Jan Böhmermann examines the circumstances of the Corona cluster in Ischgl and delves into the shadowy world of the Austrian ski lobby.

How Ischgl became a Corona Cluster

Jan Böhmermann deals with the long-term consequences of the use of nuclear energy.

Where should we put our Nuclear Waste?

Honestly, our relationship with Deutsche Bahn is a case of couples therapy. They keep standing us up and making us wait, but in the end, we still find ourselves standing hopefully on one of their tracks. And they take our money, too.

Direction of Frustration: Deutsche Bahn

Fynn Kliemann has all sorts of things in his portfolio: DIY, NFTs, and so on. But what do you do when a global pandemic suddenly appears? How can you give something back to society?

Fynn Kliemann: Building Shit (DIY)

Satire in its purest form. Dieter Nuhr has been a fixture in German cabaret for many years and is now hard to imagine without him. He dissects current political events with biting humor.

Nuhr in "Zweiten"

You can hear it on every corner of the internet: Cancel culture. But what does it mean? When you're not supposed to sing racist songs anymore? When you're not even allowed to light a cigarette in the office? Or when media lawyers want to suppress free reporting?

Cancel with Lawsuits

For his first show, Jan ventured into the darkest corners of the internet, into the epicenter of serious Illuminati and clairvoyants – on Telegram. Follow him down the rabbit hole and finally learn the truth about the big "conspiracy."

The Big Conspiracy!

Germans love technological innovations. ACTUALLY. But in reality, we fear a hostile takeover by autonomous robots that will steal our jobs and take over the world.

Siri, Sexbots & Robot Vacuum Cleaners

Yesterday, knitting sweaters in the Bundestag, today climbing the career ladder. Compromises are necessary if you want to govern, and then the traffic light coalition will work. Or, dear Greens?

The Greens: Betrayal of their own Ideals

Facebook is working with crazy fascists and burning down the democracies of the world.

How Facebook is destroying Democracies Worldwide

Why not like someone for once? After all, there aren't only assholes in the world, are there? Well, in the human world... Orangutans have clean lives, shiny fur without split ends, and their mothers lovingly care for their children.

Orangutans – Endangered Champions

One thing is certain in life: death. For relatives, it's a real bummer, because Grandpa Alois also wants a proper burial. But what actually happens between the deathbed and the grave? It's a good thing Grandpa Alois doesn't have to experience that anymore.

Dignity, Piety and chic Urns

Jan Böhmermann investigates the question of who the 17 most spectacular German interior ministers in the world actually are.

The 17 Interior Ministers of the Interior Ministers

Sand doesn't just lie lifeless on the beach and stick to your water shoes six months after a Mallorca vacation: it's everywhere! In cars, houses, soap, computers, and grated cheese—making it arguably the most undervalued raw material of our time.

The international Sand Crisis

Even 16 years later, Hartz IV still does not work as the promised great labor market reform: two-thirds of the people who slip into unemployment today end up directly at the old social assistance level from before 2005.

Clusterfuck Hartz IV

Microtransactions? Sounds kind of boring. Things get interesting when little Johannes can't leave his bedroom for nine weeks and suddenly €15,000 is debited from his dad's account via PayPal.

In-game purchases – Fake Currency, Real Overdraft

Dear Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Honestly, the 90s, 00s, and 10s weren't your era. Even today, things aren't always running smoothly, and you've shredded a few files on the NSU and right-wing extremism too many.

Pssst! The NSU Files

Jan Böhmermann explores the question of where we should get our daily Trump madness from after the end of Trump's term in office and awards the "Orange Angel" seal of quality.

Trump Madness made in Germany

What's on Wikipedia is considered "the truth." If you don't like that, you can let reality be changed where it's made: in the world's most important encyclopedia.

How Wikipedia is Politically Influenced

Welcome to QUARTER TO WELKE – the talk show that's making headlines. Today, we're discussing sex, cabbage rolls, and the loss of power of the former media giant Axel Springer SE with five high-profile guests.

How Cancel Culture is destroying Springer

Thanks to Freud, there has been an effective treatment for mental illness for over 100 years: psychotherapy! While it helps, in Germany it's easier to get a free PCR test than a psychotherapy appointment.

The Problem with Psychotherapy Places

Public broadcasting: Incorrect distribution of funds, poor working conditions and outdated structures in the committees.

A Broadcast for Everyone?

The dirty stepbrother of quality journalism is a pure money-printing machine of the last century. Doing business with lies and misanthropic stories under the guise of press freedom?

The Lies of the Gossip Press

Why are we still in the middle of a fucking pandemic despite the vaccine? The research team at ZDF Magazin Royale has discovered: There's a world outside of Germany. AND who would have thought: When it comes to vaccinations, the world splits in half!

We need Global Vaccine Distribution

Eternal life & world domination - who is Peter Thiel, the future boss of Austria's disgraced former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz?

Who is Peter Thiel?

"That's a lot of opinion for so little knowledge." This sentence is often heard in editorial conferences and got us thinking. Who's constantly calling the landline, and what does the Sunday question have to do with Germans' sex lives?

What Germany thinks about Opinion Research

How about a good mood for a change? And what helps better than music? Lots of music!

There's a Party

Sometimes dad's tirades aren't enough to catapult little Lucas into the Bundesliga. That's when professionals step in: player agents, managers for football talents so young that they occasionally lose a baby tooth while heading the ball.

Player Agent Business Model

We were all deceived by Vladimir Putin—and above all, DISAPPOINTED. But at least we're now on the right side in a war. All of Germany is against Putin. Except for a few who spread Putin's propaganda here, too.

Putin's Puppets in Germany

The greatest threat to Germany is, OF COURSE, left-wing extremism and its most cunning advocate: the FDP.

The Lindner-Lehfeldt Complex

German city centers: Always there for you, but never the way you'd like. A gray concrete jungle, the same old snack bars and optician shops. And if you're under 80, a woman, or poor, leisure activities become difficult.

Strolling between Concrete and Nail Boards

The path to your driver's license: theory lessons, theory test, practical lessons, practical test. Stress-free learning in a pleasant environment – ​​just like in a real school. Only the classroom, aka driving school car, is a bit more cramped and often more oppressive.

Fear Space on Four Wheels

We like to buy German brand-name products, and we're no exception when it comes to guns. But please don't confuse us with the gun nuts over there in the US. After all, they also choose German and Austrian quality workmanship for their guns.

The USA, our Weapons and Us

British week(s) on ZDF Magazin Royale! Baron Steffen Glamour von Bickendorf joins the big names on "You" and "You."

From Great Britain with Love

The International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) is an international organization that has adopted a motto: Good foreigners in, bad foreigners out!

Efficient and Discreet: The ICMPD

Jan Böhmermann welcomes his viewers every Friday to his new late-night satire on ZDF and presents socially relevant topics, paired with wit and irony.

All Episodes of ZDF Magazin Royale

Season 1

Corona Entrepreneur of the Year

Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 12/18/2020

The Humboldt Forum – Looted Art in Berlin?

Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 12/11/2020

Volkswagen – The World Car!

Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 11/13/2020

Eggs of Steel: Jan Marsalek

Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 11/27/2020

Racism in the Police

Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 12/4/2020

Online Gambling in Schleswig-Holstein

Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 11/20/2020

The Big Conspiracy!

Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 11/6/2020