Stromberg

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Stromberg is a German Mockumentary Work Com, on air since 2004. There are currently five seasons. Stromberg is a Foreign Remake of Gervais' and Merchant's Britcom The Office, although it took a lost lawsuit for the makers to acknowledge this. Like Ein Herz und eine Seele three decades before, this is one of the very few German sitcom remakes that are actually good.

The main setting is an office of the fictional insurance company Capitol Versicherung AG, more precisely the Department of Damage Adjustment M to Z, presided over by Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist Bernd Stromberg. Like in the British original, the characters are very aware of the cameras being on them, all the time. Stromberg in particular can often be seen cracking jokes and showing off for the camera.

The show has nothing to do with the main villain of the Bond-movie The Spy Who Loved Me.

Tropes used in Stromberg include:


  • Aside Glance: Stromberg, whenever he has just cracked one of his unfunny jokes.
  • Bad Boss: Guess who.
  • Bald of Evil: Bernd Stromberg. Yeah okay, more like Sparse Hair Of Being A Jerkass. Stromberg also tries to make out Möllers, the bald-headed and somewhat gruff canteen chef, as a villain, even though his long-standing enmity with Stromberg is entirely the latter's fault.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: The In Universe Cameras rarely have any influence on the plot, with two exceptions:
    • Ernie improvising a lonely hearts ad into the camera - and being successful with it!
    • After Stromberg has been accused of sexual harassment, Becker watches the footage from earlier that day, in order to find proof of this.
  • Break the Cutie: Tanja Seifert in the fourth season, utterly failing in her new position as assistant department chief.
  • Character Title
  • Cold Opening
  • Convenient Miscarriage: In season five, when Jennifer got pregnant.
  • Crapsack World: The Capitol office is an incredibly dull and grey place, and mood and working morale reach new lows regularly. And the village Finsdorf in the fourth season is even more dull and grey.
  • Creator Cameo: Series creator Ralf Husmann has made four brief appearances as co-worker Hans Schmelzer throughout the first three seasons.
  • Cringe Comedy: Especially Stromberg has to suffer in this regard.
  • The Danza: Most of the minor office co-workers share both their first and last names or some slight variation thereof (e.g. Stefan Lampadius - Steffen Lambert) with the actors who portray them. Tatjana Berkel (played by Tatjana Alexander) and Sinan Turçulu (played by Sinan Akkus), two more major characters, are other examples.
  • Girlfriend in Canada: During the first few episodes of Season Two, Ernie is often having phone conversations with - he claims - his new girlfriend. Ulf naturally thinks that he's just faking it. Nope! The gal is real.
  • Good Girls Avoid Abortion: When Jennifer gets pregnant with Stromberg's child, she seriously considers having an abortion. Only after persuasion by Ernie does she decide against it.
  • Half Arc Season: Most noticeable in season four, with Stromberg's new position in Finsdorf.
  • Heroic BSOD: Ernie, after his girlfriend leaves him and his mother dies, falls into a serious depression, and even attempts suicide.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Happens often to Stromberg when he has a plan e.g. for how he can suck up to his superiors.
  • Hypocritical Humour: Whenever Stromberg gives a statement directly contradictory to something he has said just one or two scenes earlier.
  • In-Universe Camera: Also, In Universe Interviews.
  • Jerk Jock: Football fan Ulf is this towards Ernie.
  • Law of Inverse Fertility: While Tanja and Ulf are trying to have a baby and it turns out that Ulf is infertile, Jennifer gets pregnant even though she did not plan to.
  • Like a Weasel: Bernd Stromberg of course, to his superiors.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: Ernie is often trying to remind everyone that his given name is actually Berthold. Guess where his nickname stems from.
  • The Nicknamer: Bernd Stromberg. Constantly. He could easily be considered one of the best examples of this trope. A short selection of the nicknames he gives to people:
    • Bert(hold) Heisterkamp: Ernie
    • Herr Becker: Uncle Detlef, Mecker(=nagging)becker
    • Sabine Buhrer: Sabbel
    • Frau Berkel: Tuberkel (tubercle), Eva Braun, Die Führerin
    • Lars Lehnhoff: Blockflötengesicht (recorder face)
    • Frank Montenbruck: Monte, Aktenmongo (filing mong)
    • Rita Klüver: Lumpen-Erna (Rags-Erna)
    • Herr Möllers: Nazi cook
    • Vanessa Schubert (Ernie's black girlfriend): Roberta Blanca, choco crossie
    • Birgit (his wife): Biggie
Rarely, Ulf falls under this habit too, e.g. when he calls Lars Lehnhoff "Grinsekatze" (Cheshire Cat).
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