He invented "Pleiten, Pech & Pannen"Television legend Max Schautzer has died at the age of 84
Andreas Fischer
29.1.2025
At the beginning of January, Max Schautzer attended a circus premiere in Cologne.
IMAGO/Horst Galuschka
"Pleiten, Pech & Pannen" was just one of his hits: since the 1980s, Max Schautzer was present on television with top ratings and at prime time. He has now died at the age of 84.
29.01.2025, 20:32
30.01.2025, 12:02
Andreas Fischer
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TV legend Max Schautzer has died in a Cologne hospital at the age of 84.
The presenter shaped television entertainment in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for many decades.
The presenter and actor Max Schautzer is dead. He died "after a short, serious illness" on Wednesday afternoon in Cologne, as Jürgen Ross from the Ross acting agency confirmed to Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa). Bild" had previously reported on the 84-year-old's death.
Schautzer was known from the ARD program "Pleiten, Pech & Pannen", which showed funny private videos about misadventures. In the mid-1980s, he made millions of viewers laugh.
Other successful shows included "Alles oder nichts", "Allein gegen alle", "Die goldene Eins" and "Ein Platz an der Sonne". Schautzer was also the face of major Saturday evening shows in the 80s and 90s.
In 2004, he experienced a great disappointment when the show "Immer wieder sonntags", which Schautzer had invented and hosted for nine years, was to be presented by a younger man. However, his successor Sebastian Deyle was unsuccessful. Stefan Mross later made the show one of ARD's most-watched on Sundays.
Schautzer turned his back on television as a presenter years ago. The program had become monotonous and the quality was in decline, the Austrian, who lives in Cologne and Kitzbühel, told dpa on his 75th birthday. Schautzer turned to the theater and could be seen on many stages.
Schautzer's wife Gundel died on Boxing Day 2021. "We were married for 53 years, had a full life and were happy until the last day," Schautzer said at the time. "Gundel was and remains the great love of my life."