the day, when the TV bedtime story begins. Thus ended the fairy-tale, and the children are already going to bed, so good night. Supporting characters The Sandmännchen stories contained a number of characters who remain popular today: Pittiplatsch, a little round-bodied kobold, with his friends , a duck, and Moppi, a dog. , a fox, and his friend , a magpie. , a water sprite, and his friend Küken, a baby chicken. In popular culture Even after German unification merged the former German Democratic Republic into the Federal Republic of Germany, the Sandmännchen has retained a following, and it continues to be shown every night on German television. Periodic references have been made to it in film and literature. In 2009, the band Oomph! released the single "Sandmann". The song is about the child poverty in Germany and has many references to Sandmännchen. Unser Sandmännchen is featured in the 2003 film Good Bye, Lenin!. The German industrial metal band Rammstein uses the opening monologue from the West German Sandmännchen, Nun, liebe Kinder, gebt fein Acht. Ich habe euch etwas mitgebracht (Now, dear children, pay attention. I have brought you something), in the intro to their song "Mein Herz brennt". The original demo version of the song was called "Sandmann". In the demo version, the contents had a darker tone than the finished version. In "Sandmann", a psychopath has murdered the real Sandmann, and masquerades as him. The Norwegian 52 minute long documentary Sandmann – Historien om en sosialistisk supermann (Sandmännchen – The History of a Socialistic Superman) by Jannicke Systad Jacobsen from 2005 looks back on the rise and fall of East German socialism through the tales of Sandmann. An application for iOS has been released on 11 November 2015. Unser Sandmännchen is the protagonist of the pop-essay La Repubblica di Sabbiolino - DDR... ma non troppo! (The Sandman Republic - DDR… but not too much!), by italian journalist Francesco Cristino published in Italy in 2020. See also List of animated television series References External links Official homepage (Games) Behrendt dies at 77 (RBB) Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg German children's animated comedy television series German children's animated fantasy television series German supernatural television series Television in East Germany 1959 German television series debuts 1991 German television series endings 1959 establishments in East Germany 1959 establishments in West Germany Television characters introduced in 1959 1950s German television series 1960s German television series 1970s