Say hello to Brötchen, a pygmy hippo born at Zoo Berlin on May 9th. She’s round, she’s playful and she’s so cute you just might want to eat her up! Like another famous pygmy hippo calf of a few years ago, Moo Deng, little Brötchen takes her name from a food item, the word meaning “bread roll” in German.
The zoo announced the new name in partnership with German actress and television presenter Enie van de Meiklokjes . Not being well-versed in German television culture, I had to look up Ms. van de Meiklokjes’ credentials. Given the food-related tie-in, it wasn’t too much of a surprise to find that she is an avid baker and host of the cooking show Sweet & Easy – Enie backt.
But the thing I was most excited to discover is that Enie van de Meiklokjes guest-starred in the role of Kiki in 1997 on one of my favorite German exports, Alarm für Cobra 11, an over-the-top police action series centered on a fictional team that patrols the Autobahn highway. As you can imagine, there are a lot of scenes that feature high-speed car chases, and the series is known for it’s well-performed, movie-quality stunt effects, explosions and destruction of an impressive quantity of vehicles in nearly every episode. It’s a show I discovered after moving to Europe, as it has been dubbed in French and rebroadcast in afternoon rotation for a number of years.
In fact, the show is so popular, that it has been rebroadcast in 120 countries (the US is not one of them). The show ended its amazing 27 year continuous run in 2021, a victim of COVID shutdowns, but the series continues as a handful of 90-minute made-for-tv movies.
The sources for today’s gif: here, here, here and here.
Discover Germany: “Enie van de Meiklokjes – An ambassador for great taste”
Wikipedia: Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei (in German)
Hello Brötchen!
Of course, she is called Brötchen because she is so adorable you want to eat her all up. As I did to many brötchen when I lived in Germany. There are a lot of foods that I miss from Germany as well as the architecture and museums and, anyway, back to the precious creature. Such a face. Welcome to the world, Brötchen! Thanks, Martini, for showing us the good things in life.