Willkommen 20xx

Willkommen 20xx (English: Welcome 20xx) is the name given to the New Year's Eve show broadcast on German broadcaster ZDF since 2010/11. It is currently presented by Andrea Kiewel and Johannes B. Kerner.

Willkommen 20xx
Genre	New Year programming
Presented by	Andrea Kiewel (2013-) Johannes B. Kerner (2016-)
Country of origin	Germany
No. of episodes	15
Original release
Network	ZDF
Release	31 December 2010 (2010-12-31) – present

Format

The show broadcasts a live New Year's party from the Brandenburg Gate to the Victory Column along the Straße des 17. Juni. Many domestic artists have performed on the show, including ; as well as international artists including the Gipsy Kings with Bamboléo in 2019/20; Johnny Logan and Nemo in 2024/25.

Due to the energy crisis affecting Germany, the 2022/23 edition was moved from the Brandenburg Gate to a smaller stage at the Pariser Platz, where, for security reasons, only a few thousand could stand in front of the stage.^[1] The next year's edition returned to the Brandenburg Gate.

In the minute before midnight, producers have usually played Europe's The Final Countdown since 2016/17 while Kiewel and Kerner chat to fill time. Thirty seconds before midnight, the clock in the top-right screen will disappear and an announcer says Deutschland, macht sich bereit. ("Germany, get ready.") before a ten-second countdown. After midnight, producers either play Ode to Joy, a cover of it; or have performers sing Auld Lang Syne.

The show's usual slogan is Celebrate at the Gate.^[2]

Broadcast

ZDF replaced RTL Zwei, which used to broadcast the party from the Brandenburg Gate, attracting impressive ratings.^[3] The first episode was broadcast live on New Year's Eve 2010 from 11pm, after the music show Die ZDF-Hitparty, which started at 9:30pm. The next year, the show was extended to start at 9:45pm, pushing Die ZDF-Hitparty back to start at 8:15pm. For the 2015/16 edition, the Hitparty was replaced by Guten Rutsch!, with no change to the start time of Willkommen... In 2016/17, the show was extended again to 8:15pm with Johannes B. Kerner joining the show, replacing Matze Knop. For the 2018/19 edition, the show returned to 9:45pm, before going back to 8:15pm the next year. In 2019/20, the show started at 9:45pm once more, yet since 2021/22 it has returned to the 8:15pm timeslot.

Episodes

Episode	Title	Start time	Presenters		Ratings
1	Willkommen 2011	23:00	Mirjam Weichselbraun	Norbert Lehmann	3,990,000
2	Willkommen 2012	21:45		Joko und Klaas	3,520,000
3	Willkommen 2013				3,110,000
4	Willkommen 2014		Andrea Kiewel	Alexander Mazza	4,110,000
5	Willkommen 2015				3,580,000
6	Willkommen 2016			Matze Knop	3,630,000
7	Willkommen 2017	20:15		Johannes B. Kerner	3,210,000
8	Willkommen 2018				2,980,000
9	Willkommen 2019	21:45			3,040,000
10	Willkommen 2020	20:15			2,990,000
11	Willkommen 2021	21:45			3,580,000
12	Willkommen 2022	20:15			2,250,000
13	Willkommen 2023				3,050,000
14	Willkommen 2024				3,110,000
15	Willkommen 2025				TBA