Sesamstrasse Sesamstrasse ( " Sesamstraße " in German ) is the international version of " Sesame Street " in Germany . " Sesamstrasse " was the first co - production of " Sesame Street " outside the United States . " Sesamstrasse " has been primarily running on Norddeutscher Rundfunk ( NDR ) since January 8 , 1973 ; it is currently in its 42nd season . " Sesamstrasse " ' s 30 - minute episodes can also be seen on ARD ' s children programming affiliate KI . KA . In January 2012 , " Sesamstrasse " stopped airing on ARD , but continues to be broadcast on KI . KA . History . The Dubbed Era : 1973 - 1977 . After a short test run of a few original , undubbed " Sesame Street " episodes from August 1972 onward , the German version of the show premiered on January 8 , 1973 . The first three seasons , or 250 episodes of " Sesamstrasse " consisted of the original American episodes dubbed to German in Hamburg . Merely the opening and closing songs and sequences were changed , featuring new lyrics written by Volker Ludwig and tunes by Ingfried Hoffmann . The title of the German theme song is " Der , die , das ( wer , wie , was – wieso , weshalb , warum – wer nicht fragt , bleibt dumm ! ) " , literally translating to " This , this and that ( who , how , what - why , why and why - those who don ' t ask stay dumb ! ) " . The exception to air the program was Germany ' s most southern state of Bavaria , where the local TV station felt that the Sesame Street set was too gritty to suit German children , and consequently had to develop its own children ' s programming called " Das feuerrote Spielmobil " ( " The fire - red Play - mobile " ) . Variety shows like " Peter Alexander präsentiert Spezialitäten " in 1975 promoted the show by stopping by the original US set , and taping special footage . Yet from 1976 through 1977 the street scenes were dropped , due in part to a consistent onslaught of protesting parents that were unhappy with the " controversial " character of Oscar the Grouch . Instead a new framing story was created , following the antics of a boy named Bumfidel and his mother . Since these stories did not take place on a street , the show ' s title was temporarily rendered incomprehensible . The most controversial moment of this early period was a film showing . The Studio Era : 1978 - 1988 . In 1977 , a German street set was built at Studio Hamburg for German framing stories . Samson the bear ( 1978 - 2012 ) and Tiffy the bird ( 1978 - 2005 ) replaced Big Bird ( Bibo ) and Oscar the Grouch ( Oskar der Griesgram ) as main characters , and the new version debuted on January 2 , 1978 . The early puppets were built by Kermit Love ; nowadays Jim Henson ' s New York Workshop builds the puppets for " Sesamstrasse " ( under appointment of Sesame Workshop ) . Each episode featured the new puppets interacting with a pair of human characters ; consistently one male , one female . The individual sketches of " Sesame Street " ' s original American inhabitants remained the dubbed main part of the show , but some were edited due to intros that exhibited English words ( such as The Adventures of Super Grover , or the Sesame Street News Flash skits ) . In the following years more characters were added to the German street scenes , such as the German - built , androgynous Uli von Bödefeld ( Uli is short for Ulrich ) , also called Herr von Bödefeld ( 1978 - 1988 ) , and Finchen the Snail ( 1979 - 1983 , 1989 - present ) . Just as in its American counterpart , the German characters have been remodeled over the decades . Most obvious were changes in the first main characters Samson and Tiffy ( as can be seen here for and Tiffy Through the Years ) . Finchen has also had his fair share of fabric surgery . From 1978 to 1988 , the fact that the street stories took place in a studio was never kept a secret . Some parts of the street were simply ' matted in ' during an episode , or the characters would ask for help from the studio crew . ( One episode about Samson trying to scratch an annoying flea ends with the entire studio crew itching ! ) The matting also allowed the characters to show up in different locations , like a beach , a small deserted island that would be surrounded by an entire ocean through the snap of one ' s fingers , a nearby train station , or the roof of the studio . While Big Bird ( " Bibo " in German ) and Oscar the Grouch , both performed by Caroll Spinney , had visited " Sesamstrasse " for the special episode 750 before , another highlight of this era was the celebration of " Sesamstrasse " ' s 1000th episode ; the " Sesamelly Zirkusshow , " a circus gala performance taped at " Zirkus Althoff " in which Big Bird appeared alongside the German characters one more time . Remarkable is that Caroll Spinney did not just perform the character to be dubbed later , but also provided his voice in German , resulting in Bibo having a noticeable American accent . The opening for this episode , that aired on January 26 , 1985 , can be seen here ; special guest host Big Bird does not appear in it . In the years 1984 and 1985 no new episodes were taped ; instead a wild mix of repeats was shown on TV . From 1986 onward new episodes with two new human actors were produced , and while the studio set remained largely the same , a bicycle shop was added , run by the new residents . Tiffy and Samson were slightly remodeled for the first time for these episodes . In 1988 , the studio set and original puppets were destroyed in a fire . The Bicycle Shop Era : 1989 - 1999 . The puppets were rebuilt in 1989 with significant changes . The new set was centered around the new bicycle shop that was introduced in 1986 , but the street stories no longer took place in a studio set . Instead a courtyard was added , and new characters were introduced : Rumpel the Grouch ( 1989 - 2008 ) , living inside a water barrel , and Buh the owl ( 1989 - 2000 ) , housed inside a hollow tree . While the set offered Tiffy a new apartment - like living room in the coming years , it still featured Samson ' s cave in which he had lived in prior to the set change . " Sesamstrasse " fans divide the series between the Studio Episodes and the Bicycle Shop Episodes in the same way that American fans talk about the pre - Elmo days . In recent years the courtyard slowly transitioned into an entire marketplace , a common social center for German towns and even city districts . Leonie Löwenherz ( Leonie Lionheart in English ) , a female lion ( 1986 - 1989 ) , was featured for a very short time after the set and puppets were destroyed in the fire . Just like Uli von Bödefeld , she was built by German puppet makers and not the Muppet Workshop . After her short - lived Sesame career , she got her own ( ALF - like ) show called " Leonie Löwenherz " on ARD , featuring herself , her two lion brothers and a few human characters . During the early years of this era , older puppets were re - used for new characters such as Simson ( on and off in 1986 - 1998 ) , Samson ' s cousin ; with slight changes being made to his appearance ( equipped with a hat , a tie , etc . ) . For the first few episodes that his name was mentioned , Simson was only imagined by Samson and other characters doubted his existence , similarly to as it happened with Snuffy on " Sesame Street " when he was only being seen by Big Bird . The Marketplace Era : 2000 - 2012 . In 2000 , the cast expanded anew . The additions to the puppet cast were Feli Filu ( 2000 - 2007 ) the Monster reporter , the comic duo Pferd the horse ( 2002 - present ) and Wolle the sheep ( 2002 - present ) , as well as a few recurring grouches , and some Anything Muppets . In 2003 the German co - production ' s 30th anniversary was celebrated with a press conference and boxer Axel Schulz , Ernie , Bert and Elmo ( performed by Kevin Clash ) in attendance , as the show gave a donation of € 12 , 271 . 00 to UNICEF . Ernie and Bert appeared on a regular episode that year , as well as on the show ' s 30th anniversary TV - special . In 2005 , after a 27 - year presence on the show , Tiffy was replaced with single mom Moni ( 2005 - 2007 ) and her pink and furry daughter Lena ( 2005 - 2009 ) . Since then , " Sesamstrasse " has been visited by the most diverse cast of supporting Muppets than any other international version . One - shot characters include for example Super Franky , Grouchella , Knut Köffelström , Turbo Theo , Sinan , as well as a whole slew of wolves , chickens and other creatures . In 2006 , German audience ' s long - time favorites Ernie and Bert began appearing regularly in newly produced . For the 36th season , the two moved into their own apartment on " Sesamstrasse " , above new human character Frau Kowalski , commenting on the street events from their balcony . As more and more previously used Muppets were borrowed from Sesame Workshop , more secondary characters evolved in their own sketches , such as the green Wolf vom Wörtersee in 2007 . For decades the show used to consist of around 50 percent of American material , like most of " Sesame Street " . But from 2007 onwards , the American material has been used less and less , so that by today an average " Sesamstrasse " episode only contains two or three American produced sketches . Also , just as it has become common practice on " Sesame Street " since 2002 to drop the framing story format , " Sesamstrasse " ' s street scenes began airing as a whole at the beginning of each episode . Beginning in 2008 , the show was shot in high definition . On December 24 , 2008 , a German - produced , 45 - minute Christmas special called " Weihnachten mit Ernie und Bert " aired , featuring Ernie , Bert , and an Anything Muppet Santa Claus . In 2011 , more segments were produced to air both as standalone segments outside the show , and within : " Ernie & Bert Songs " and " Ernie & Bert Märchensongs " . The Elmo Era : 2012 - present . For the show ' s 40th anniversary , Elmo was introduced as a resident on the street , appearing in a tree house setting as the new host of the show . New characters include a female friend to Elmo , played by Julia Stinshoff , and Susi Schraube , an inventive girl who appears in a series of new stop - motion segments . Established characters such as Rumpel and Samson were retired ( although Samson made a special appearance on the show in 2013 ) , while Pferd , Wolle and Finchen remain part of the cast . Established characters such as Cookie Monster and Grover make guest appearances . Super Grover 2 . 0 was also added to the show beginning in 2013 . The new season debuted on October 1 , 2012 , with the special birthday themed episode airing on the anniversary date of January 8 , 2013 . Other anniversary events include : Characters . Human Cast . " Sketch actors " ( years are production dates ) Sources . _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _