Wer wird Millionär? (German game show)
Wer wird Millionär? (English translation: Who will become a millionaire?) is a German game show based on the original British format of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The show is hosted by Günther Jauch. The main goal of the game is to win €1 million (earlier 1 million DM) by answering 15 multiple-choice questions correctly. Wer wird Millionär? has been broadcasting from 3 September 1999 until today. It is shown on the German TV station RTL on Mondays and Fridays at 20:15 (UTC+1). If contestants get the fifth question correct, they will leave with at least €500 (earlier 1,000 DM). If they get the tenth question correct, they will leave with at least €16,000 (earlier 32,000 DM), unless they enabled the fourth lifeline (added in 2007).
| Wer wird Millionär? | |
|---|---|
 Logo of Wer wird Millionär? | |
| Created by | Endemol |
| Presented by | Günther Jauch |
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Production | |
| Running time | about 45 minutes 180 minutes (celebrity edition) |
| Production companies | Celador (1999–2007) 2waytraffic (2008–present) Endemol (1999–2015) Endemol Shine Germany (2015–present) |
| Release | |
| Original network | RTL |
| Original release | 3 September 1999 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Wer wird Millionär? Payout structure
| Question number | Question value (Yellow zones are the guaranteed levels) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Former version (1999-2001) |
Current version (2002–present) |
Gamblers' Special ("Zocker-Special")[l2] (2013–present) | |
| 1 | 100 DM (€51) | €50 | €100 |
| 2 | 200 DM (€102) | €100 | €200 |
| 3 | 300 DM (€153) | €200 | €300 |
| 4 | 500 DM (€255) | €300 | €500 |
| 5 | 1,000 DM (€510) | €500 | €1,000 |
| 6 | 2,000 DM (€1,020) | €1,000 | €2,000 |
| 7 | 4,000 DM (€2,040) | €2,000 | €4,000 |
| 8 | 8,000 DM (€4,080) | €4,000 | €8,000 |
| 9 | 16,000 DM (€8,160) | €8,000 | €16,000 |
| 10 | 32,000 DM (€16,320) | €16,000[l5] | €32,000[l7] |
| 11 | 64,000 DM (€32,640) | €32,000 | €64,000 |
| 12 | 125,000 DM (€63,911) | €64,000 | €125,000 |
| 13 | 250,000 DM (€127,822) | €125,000 | €250,000 |
| 14 | 500,000 DM (€255,644) | €500,000 | €750,000 |
| 15 | 1,000,000 DM (€511,288) | €1,000,000 | €2,000,000 |
Fourth Lifeline (Ask One Of The Audience)
Since 2007, there has been a fourth lifeline, called Zusatzjoker (additional lifeline). It can be added to the three normal lifelines "Ask the Audience" ("Publikumsjoker"), "Fifty-fifty" ("Fünfzig-fünfzig-Joker") and "Phone a Friend" ("Telefonjoker"). When using this lifeline, members of the audience who think to know the answer can stand up and one of them can talk to the contestant after being chosen by them. If the member of the audience gives the right answer, they will win €500. The contestant can follow the chosen person but they don't have to. If the contestant walks away and does not trust the chosen person but the answer is right, the chosen person will nevertheless win €500 because they got the correct answer. The contestant can add this lifeline before the game starts, however, if one does so, there will be no guaranteed prize sum of €16,000 upon getting the 10th question correctly. If a contestant chooses the fourth lifeline, they can also phone a person in Germany selected at random (extended phone-a-friend lifeline). The contestant can say the gender, age and the town of the person which shall be called. Then RTL calls to see if the person picks up (after 30 seconds the phone call will be interrupted.) If the person picks up but does not want to help or cannot help, the phone-a-friend lifeline is considered to be played and is not usable anymore. If the phoned person answers correctly, they will get €500. But the extended phone-a-friend lifeline is only usable with the fourth lifeline. It is an alternative to the normal phone-a-friend lifeline. If a contestant has used the extended phone-a-friend lifeline, they are not allowed to call one of his previously three selected friends.
Top prize winners
These are the questions with which people have won the biggest prize.
- Eckhard Freise (2 December 2000) – 1 million DM (€511,288)[1]
| With whom did Edmund Hillary stand on top of the Mount Everest in 1953? | |
| • A: Nasreddin Hodscha | • B: Nursay Pimsorn |
| • C: Tenzing Norgay | • D: Abrindranath Singh |
- Marlene Grabherr (20 May 2001) – 1 million DM (€511,288) [2]
| Which of the two Gibb brothers from the popband The-Bee-Gees are twins? | |
| • A: Robin and Barry | • B: Maurice and Robin |
| • C: Barry and Maurice | • D: Andy and Robin |
Marlene Grabherr died in 2013 at the age of 60.
- Gerhard Krammer (18 October 2002) – €1 million[3]
| Which famous writer, as an architecture graduate, built a pool of water in Zurich? | |
| • A: Joseph Roth | • B: Martin Walser |
| • C: Max Frisch | • D: Friedrich Dürrenmatt |
- Dr. Maria Wienströer (29 March 2004) – €1 million[4]
| Who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 and Nobel Peace Prize in 1962? | |
| • A: Linus Pauling | • B: Otto Hahn |
| • C: Pearl S. Buck | • D: Albert Schweitzer |
- Stefan Lang (9 October 2006) – €1 million[5]
| Which chemical element makes up more than one half of the mass of the human body? | |
| • A: Carbon | • B: Calcium |
| • C: Oxygen | • D: Iron |
- Timur Hahn (8 January 2007) – €1 million[6] With the help of his brother as a phoned friend
| Which sea is named after a mythological king who is said to have plunged into it? | |
| • A: Ionian Sea | • B: Aegean Sea |
| • C: Adriatic Sea | • D: Caspian Sea |
- Oliver Pocher (30 May 2008) (celebrity version) – €1 million With the help of 'Ask the Audience'
| The Nagel-Schreckenberg Model provides an explanation for the emergence of...? | |
| • A: Desert | • B: Traffic congestion |
| • C: Influenza | • D: Stock market crash |
- Thomas Gottschalk (20 November 2008) (celebrity version) – €1 million With the help of Marcel-Reich Ranicki as a phoned friend
| What was the name of Franz Kafka's last companion, that he met in 1923, one year before his death? | |
| • A: Dora Diamant | • B: Sarah Saphir |
| • C: Rita Rubin | • D: Olga Opal |
- Ralf Schnoor (26 November 2010) – €1 million[7] He phoned a friend but he did not need his help. He told him he would win the million euros. His behaviour was similar to John Carpenter's, the first ever million winner of the entire franchise.
| What is the name of the first German postage stamp, which was brought in the kingdom of Bavaria in 1849? | |
| • A: Schwarzer Einser (One kreuzer black) | • B: Roter Zweier (Two kreuzer red) |
| • C: Gelber Dreier (Three kreuzer yellow) | • D: Blauer Vierer (Four kreuzer blue) |
- Barbara Schöneberger (30 May 2011) (celebrity edition) – €1 million With the help of Pankraz Freiherr von Freyberg as a phoned friend.
| What is the name of the boy from whose head Wilhelm Tell shoots the legendary apple? | |
| • A: Fritz | • B: Heinrich |
| • C: Walter | • D: August |
- [Sebastian Langrock] (11 March 2013) – €1 million[8]
| Who should be familiar with the twenty-past-four position? | |
| • A: Driving instructor | • B: Karate master |
| • C: Waiter | • D: Agricultural architect |
- Thorsten Fischer (17 October 2014) (15th anniversary) – 15th Anniversary Special Game – you could go to the million euro question after reaching question 10 and jump to the €1 Million question. But if you chose this, you could not walk away. Answering incorrectly meant dropping back to €500. Fischer chose to hear the €1 Million question after reaching question 10 and answered correctly.
| The distance from the German capital Berlin to the center of the earth is approximately the same as that between Berlin and...? | |
| • A: Tokyo | • B: Cape Town |
| • C: Moscow | • D: New York |
- Nadja Sidikjar (13 November 2015) (2nd Jackpot special) – €1,538,450 In the jackpot special the total number of money increases, with every players' winning total being added to the prize pool. One contestant wins the entire amount; the rest of them go home empty handed. In the 2nd jackpot special there was a head-to-head between two candidates. The first contestant to answer three questions correctly scooped the total prize. Nadja Sidikjar's last question was:
| Which of these instrument names is an abbreviation? | |
| • A: Violin | • B: Cello |
| • C: Double bass | • D: Guitar |
- Leon Windscheid (7 December 2015) – €1 million
| How many cubes does the cube designed by Ernö Rubik consist of? | |
| • A: 22 | • B: 24 |
| • C: 26 | • D: 28 |
- Georges Devalois Yepnang Mouhoutou (17 October 2014) (15th anniversary) – €500 Mouhoutou was the first and currently only contestant in the German version of the show who answered question 15 incorrectly. He also chose going for the million after reaching question 10. As he chose playing with all four lifelines and had to answer, he dropped from €1,000,000 to €500. He answered a, but the correct answer is b.
| What was invented within a radius of 20 kilometres within 5 years? | |
| • A: Otto engine & Diesel engine | • B: Basketball & Volleyball |
| • C: Gyros Pita & Doner Kebap | • D: Toothbrush & Toothpaste |
- Jan Stroh (2 September 2019) (20th anniversary) – 20th Anniversary Special Game – every question Stroh had to answer had already been asked in the past 20 years of the show. He also received four lifelines (Phone A Friend being replaced with a second Ask one of the Audience) and the guaranteed level at €16,000 which is usually disabled when contestants choose the additional Ask one of the Audience.
| Which fairtytale by the Brothers Grimm does not begin with the words Once upon a time? | |
| • A: Rumpelstiltskin | • B: Hans in Luck |
| • C: The Star Money | • D: Little Red Riding Hood |
- Ronald Tenholte (24 March 2020) – €1 million
| The classic, standardized EUR-pallet EPAL1 consists of 78 nails, nine blocks and how many boards? | |
| • A: Nine | • B: Ten |
| • C: Eleven | • D: Twelve |
Notes
- l2 In this version, the possible wins are increased significantly. However, if you use a lifeline before the tenth question, all other lifelines will be taken away as well. Also, there is no second guaranteed sum at question 10.
- l5 not applicable in case of choosing the fourth lifeline/selected before the beginning
- l7 from this question you can use all lifelines
References
- „Wer wird Millionär?“: Eckhard Freise schaffte es als Erster Westfälische Nachrichten, 8 December 2010
- TV-Millionäre erzählen, wie sie ihr Geld verprassen Welt Online, 22 October 2009
- Jauchs erster Euro-Millionär Spiegel Online, 19 October 2002
- Still number one after ten years RTL Group, 28 September 2009
- Aufzugsmonteur räumt Million ab Stern.de, 9 October 2006
- Still number one after ten years RTL Group, 28 September 2009
- Millionengewinner spendiert seinen Angestellten Lohnerhöhung Spiegel Online, 27 November 2010
- Der erste Millionengewinner seit über zwei Jahren! Bild.de, 11 March 2013