Pittiplatsch is going on an anniversary tour and is also coming to Ballenstedt

Aschersleben/Ballenstedt/MZ - Phew! Well, the brown-bellied goblin with his brush hairstyle doesn't look 60 at all. Curious, cheeky, a bit cheeky - these are still his trademarks even after six decades. And anyone who wants to experience Pittiplatsch, dear ones, on their birthday-anniversary tour can see that.

Unfortunately, he does not come to Aschersleben and Seeland. But on December 12th to neighboring Ballenstedt. "Almost 60 years have passed since his first TV appearance in 1962 in Sandman's Evening Greeting," says Mario Behnke from Show-Express Könnern, who has been traveling through the country with Pitti and his fairy-tale forest friends since the reunification and after the active television end .

"To everyone's delight, he's still up to mischief," says Behnke, delighted at the bright eyes of the children and the nostalgic parents. "His head is full of crazy ideas, he wonders about everything he doesn't know with 'Oh my nose. He's a bit cheeky, sometimes cheeky, but not angry, but in the end he's insightful and then again the lovely Pittiplatsch," says the agency boss, describing the charismatic puppet figure that has enchanted generations.

On his anniversary tour, Pitti travels in a discarded railway wagon. "The passengers include Schnatterinchen, Mr. Fuchs and Mrs. Elster, who didn't want to fight, Meow and Hoppel, Mischka Bear and Moppi," reveals Behnke.

Songs and skits would be the focus of the hour-long stage show created by the original puppets and members of the Berlin Pittiplatsch ensemble. A tour that almost never happened.

"Because Kobold Pittiplatsch's television career began with a kink," the boss of Show-Express can still remember well. "After his first appearance on television, he was immediately banned from the screen. Those responsible at the time were simply too bold for this round, chocolate-brown wretch with his beady eyes.”

They were afraid that the children would emulate him. But baskets full of protests made her rethink. “Half a year later, Pitti moved back into Master Nadelöhr's tailor's shop with defused texts and a new outfit. In addition to Schnatterinchen, who knows everything better, and good Bummi, he was the third person in the group who greeted all fairy tale fans big and small once a week,” enthuses Mario Behnke.

When there were no more new television productions with the fairy tale forest characters after reunification, the Show-Express kept the magic alive. Since the early 1990s there have been regular guest performances in theatres, inns or on open-air stages. Pitti was also a regular guest in Aschersleben and Nachterstedt - and in the enchanting palace theater in Ballenstedt.

Pitti is coming to the Ballenstedter Schlosstheater on December 12 from 4 p.m. Maps are available from the Tourist Information, Tel. 039483/263.