Ukraine war on "Die Anstalt" (ZDF): self-reflection and moral fast food

On March 8, Max Uthoff and Claus von Wagner actually wanted to talk about other things. But because of the Ukraine war, they invite Oleg Denisov, Lena Liebkind, Diana Maria Miller and Nikita Miller to “The Anstalt”.

Valdimir Putin’s Russia is violating the territorial integrity of sovereign neighbor Ukraine. This gives the ZDF cabaret format “Die Anstalt” with the hosts Max Uthoff and Claus von Wagner the opportunity to carry out supposedly satirical educational work with a raised index finger during prime time. This happened back in 2014, when the Tsar of Moscow annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in violation of international law.

Well remembered are Uthoff’s remarks on the “lies of the US-controlled quality press” and – as my colleague Katja Thorwarth aptly wrote here at the time – the tale of the fairy tale of “a Russia that only cares about the security of the innocent East Ukrainian population sees it as a duty, which – supported by the NATO devil – is being bombed flat by a fascist government”.

Uthoff’s fairy tale from the 2010s of Russia as a de-escalating actor has aged badly: in the language of cabaret it could perhaps be said that the Russian President has now torn off the mask of harmlessness. It’s just stupid that Vladimir Putin planned the attack on Ukraine in 2022 with the aim of – fanfare! – “Denazification” of the country justified. The only new thing – and probably only arose after the election of TV star Volodymyr Zelenskyj as president – is the outrageous tale of a Ukrainian government made up of drug addicts. In this light, even the 2003 administration of Goerge W. Busch’s claim of the existence of weapons of mass destruction as the basis for the war in Iraq seems almost serious.

Ukraine war at “Die Anstalt”: 50 euros donation for each joke

With this history of the “Anstalt” in mind from 2014, the opening of the current episode takes on a new meaning when the Russian stand-up comedian Oleg Denisov, who fled the Putin regime, asks the hosts Uthoff and von Wagner if they want Putin “with attack with all the weapons at your disposal?”. The two from the institution are still a bit shy – albeit played – and point out that Putin has put the nuclear forces on standby. “Is this the right time to tease someone like Putin?” Claus von Wagner asks. And his co-host promises in the same breath that jokes about Putin should still be made. Uthoff’s statement that he “liked to differentiate between NATO’s eastward expansion and terminated disarmament agreements” and that he would have tried to understand Putin’s security interests sounds almost plaintive. And he probably really would have liked to try. But he’s not allowed to do it this evening.

So now is no longer the time to differentiate. That’s why jokes about Putin should be made. And for each of these jokes, “Die Anstalt” donates 50 euros to the disaster relief action alliance. With Abdelkarim, Hazel Brugger, Moritz Neumeier and Maxi Schaffroth, via Carolin Kebekus, Jochen Malmsheimer, Tobias Mann, Till Reiners, Martin Sonneborn and the inevitable Oliver Welke, the united German-speaking comedy front has been brought up. Fire-free! Can you do it. Doesn’t necessarily make it better. Still nice for the money. Thanks for that.

This special edition of the “Anstalt”, for which the original screenplay was shelved, finally gains a comic level with the appearance of the stand-up comedian Lena Liebkind, who was invited at short notice, and the YouTube comedy duo Diana Maria Miller and Nikita Miller (“Russian whip”) ). The three discuss the multi-nationalism of the former Soviet states, which the three not only demonstrate in the sketch shown, but also represent in their own biographies and unite on stage. And they agree on the tragic point that it is neither Russia’s war nor Ukraine’s war when Diana Maria Miller says: “It’s Putin’s war”. Comedy can work that way too

“The institution” on the Ukraine war: Moral fast food for rapid political (opinion) formation

The stand-up program by Oleg Denisov, who according to the organizers of the “Anstalt” was able to take one of the last flights out of Russia, convinces with great self-irony and reflected gallows humor: “We are all prisoners of our own decisions and we are constantly pay the price for it,” the Russian begins. “We just hope we don’t have to pay the price in dollars or euros because we don’t have that money anymore.”

But the year 2014 echoes in the self-occupation of the “Anstalt”: Claus von Wagner questions “behind the scenes” Uthoff’s old song about the neutrality of Ukraine against the perceived threat to Russia from NATO’s eastward expansion and states: “The Ukraine had a good reason for wanting to join NATO: the well-founded fear of Russia.” In fact, it follows that the western defense alliance is not praised, although according to Claus von Wagner it was very successful. On the contrary, a history lesson is given that NATO’s Soviet antagonist, the Warsaw Pact, was the only alliance that attacked only its own members and crushed every pro-democracy movement. Max Uthoff therefore concludes: “Maybe we just underestimated why NATO was so attractive to outsiders?” Yes, they both did. And finally, the two cabaret artists have made their work very easy in recent years. However, they cannot convincingly capture their missed advance performance.

“Lena Liebkind, comedienne of Ukrainian descent, Russian stand-up comedian Oleg Denisov, and Diana Maria and Nikita Miller – two comedians with Russian roots”.

In difficult times – which have actually never been anything but difficult since the economic miracle – the German public thirsts for a morally superior position. And the audience at the “Anstalt” loved being offered a bite-sized 45-minute meal by the two hosts, Max Uthoff and Claus von Wagner. The formation of one’s own moral point of view seems too complicated and fraught with possible pitfalls. Since the morally sour Volker Pispers gave up the TV spoon, “Die Anstalt” has been good as a zapp-in ethics seminar with moral fast food for rapid political (opinion) formation and the good feeling of a point of view reflected through satire, together with half-knowledge presented at the same time , which the viewers brag about in discussion rounds in German inns from Baden-Württemberg (here: “Zur Schwemme”) to North Rhine-Westphalia (here: “Zur Zeche”) to Schleswig-Holstein (here: “Zum Inselkrug”) and apparently feel confident can feel.

“Die Anstalt” convinces with good research on the Ukraine war

Nevertheless: The cabaret artists and the editorial team of the “Anstalt”, which has been expanded for the new season, not only do solid work, especially in this new season, but also highly praiseworthy work – the collection of facts and sources on the pages of the show speaks for itself and is resilient. Allegations of poor research, which could still be heard a few years ago, have died down. But the habitus of the host duo has not changed significantly over the years, as the first episode of the current season has shown.

Apparently, it took a war in Europe for the show’s moderation to not require the host’s constantly nagging tone of satirical exposure rhetoric, which constantly oscillated between moral and intellectual superiority, in order to still address the oh-so-tired authoritarian character of the Germans in the years to be found in 2022. It is doubtful whether this was sustainable. Uthoff still likes to speak in short, commanding sentences with his co-part Claus von Wagner. (Moritz Post)