Embodying the zeitgeist more than ever': German sitcom character Stromberg revived for Merz era

"He's the middle-manager who talks as if he's the CEO, a beacon of workplace inclusivity in his own head but a bigoted chauvinist as soon as he opens his mouth. And listening to him creates a mix of familiarity and embarrassment-by-proxy that turns out to be surprisingly pleasurable. Ricky Gervais's cringe-making general manager of a soul-destroyingly dull Slough-based paper merchant stopped being a regular presence on British TV over two decades ago, but the many comedic characters that he spawned across the globe have outlived him."

"In Germany, where a feature film based on a German sitcom inspired by The Office opens in cinemas on Thursday, some are even starting to suspect that their own David Brent is now leading the country. The mockumentary sitcom Stromberg launched on German TV in 2004, three years after the start of the British series; its makers denied it was based on the British show until the BBC threatened legal action."

"The only difference is that Stromberg realises when he makes a faux pas and often corrects himself. In recent weeks, Merz elicited fremdschamen (vicarious embarrassment), especially among younger Germans, when proclaiming during a trip to Angola how much he missed German bread, or when he asserted upon returning from Belem, Brazil, that everyone was delighted to be back in Germany and to have left that place."

An archetypal cringe-inducing middle-manager persona talks like a CEO while being bigoted and chauvinistic, generating both familiarity and vicarious embarrassment. Ricky Gervais’s David Brent ceased regular British TV appearances decades ago, yet his comedic blueprint spawned international counterparts. Germany produced Stromberg, a mockumentary sitcom debuting in 2004 and running eight years; its makers initially denied The Office influence until the BBC threatened legal action. Stromberg’s titular character became a persistent social-media meme. Contemporary German politics revived that culture after federal elections, with comparisons between Stromberg and chancellor Friedrich Merz over generational tone-deafness and public faux pas that elicited fremdschamen.

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