Pokémon in Germany

ThePokémon franchise first reachedGermany on September 1, 1999, with the first airing ofPika - Pikachu onRTL II in the German language. The German release ofPokémon Red and Blue Versions followed shortly afterwards, on October 8, 1999.

Pokémon video games

Most of thecore series andspin-off Pokémon games have been released in Germany. All Pokémon games sold in Germany, as well as in Austria and German-speaking part of Switzerland have been translated into the German language. As in the rest of Europe,Pokémon Trozei! is sold under the titlePokémon Link! In Austria, all Pokémon games prior to 2014 were sold by Stadlbauer which was Nintendo's distributor in that region.

With some exceptions such asPikachu, most of the Pokémon species names are completely localized into the German language. For more information on these translated names, seelist of German Pokémon names.

FFF Grupe, the studio behind the German Pokémon animated series dub for awhile, is credited inSuper Smash Bros. alongside Mara Winzer (the German voice ofJigglypuff) and Frank Wolfel (the German announcer), and was where the German dubs ofPokémon Channel,PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure, andPokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond were recorded. Additionally, the German,French,Italian, andSpanish Pokémon-related voices inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl were recorded here atMSM GmbH. Meanwhile,Pokémon Battle Revolution's German dub was done inthe United Kingdom.

Pokémon animation

The German dub of the mainPokémon animated series was recorded and produced byFFF Grupe up until Season 17.SDI Media became involved as early as Season 14, then took over dubbing entirely starting with Season 18 at their Munich studio. The German dub is based on the English adaptation produced by4Kids Entertainment andThe Pokémon Company International. Most characters who did originally appear in the video games in some form or another, such asBrock,Dawn, andIris, have had their names changed to mirror their respective name-changes in the German localisation of said games. Most animated series original characters meanwhile—such as the main characterAsh Ketchum—do retain their English dub names in German, with a handful of exceptions, such asOfficer Jenny being renamed to Officer Rocky.

In Germany, the animated series was initially aired on theRTL II weekday afternoon children's programming block, where it was aired along with other popular Japanese import shows, such as Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball. New Episodes ran from the debut of theoriginal series up toPokémon the Series: Black & White, when RTL II terminated all of its children’s programming on February 24, 2013.

Disney XD andProSieben MAXX picked up the broadcasting license for the animated series in 2012 and 2013 respectively, and had aired the animated series until their broadcasting rights expired in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

From there,Super RTL picked up the series for its Toggo programming strand, starting withPokémon the Series: Sun & Moon—Ultra Legends. They, along withNickelodeon, best known for it's longest-running animated showSpongeBob SquarePants, have also been rerunning many older seasons.

In Austria and Switzerland, the German dub airs onNickelodeon Austria andNickelodeon Schweiz.

In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, the animated series is also available onNetflix andPrime Video.

Music

All theme songs used in the German dub of the Pokémon animated series are translated versions of the songs used in the English dub, with the exception ofThe Power of One, which was replaced byan original German song.

At least five Pokémon soundtrack albums have been released in Germany. The first album, released in 2000, isPokémon - Schnapp' sie dir alle, a translated version ofPokémon 2.B.A. Master. It was released by KOCH Records (catalogue number 333 33-2). Also in the same year, thePokémon the Movie 2000 score was released with the titlePokémon 2: Die Macht des Einzelnen - Original Musik aus dem Kinofilm (catalogue number 333 88-2). Two albums were released in Germany in 2001:Pokémon - Die Johto Reisen, a translated version ofTotally Pokémon, andPokémon 3: Der Ultimative Soundtrack, a translated version ofPokémon 3: The Ultimate Soundtrack. The fifth album isPokémon Weihnachtsparty, the only international translation ofPokémon Christmas Bash.

Three singles have been released in Germany as well. The first,Pokémon Welt, is a translated version of the EnglishPokémon World single. There were alsotwo different singles released for the songIn der Dunkelheit der Nacht (Misty's Song). One single with a pink cover has the original instrumentation in English and German, while a version with a blue cover has a remixed version in English and German. Both singles also contain a karaoke version. All versions on these singles are performed by Barbi Schiller. Many of the television theme songs in the German dub have been performed byNoel Pix and were also released on CD through compilation albums of the broadcasting channel titledRTL II: Anime Hits.

Cover artwork forPokémon - Schnapp' sie dir alle
Cover artwork for theIn der Dunkelheit der Nacht CD single
Cover artwork for thePokémon the Movie 2000 score

Cast and crew

Many voice actors and actresses have contributed to the production of the German dub of the Pokémon animated series.

Ash Ketchum was originally voiced byCaroline Combrinck fromEP001-EP157 before she quit the show to study in New York City. Ash was voiced byVeronika Neugebauer fromEP158-DP104. Neugebauer had earlier provided the voices ofMarina in theOrange Islands episodes andLisa in thethird movie. After Neugebauer's sudden death, Combrinck returned to voice Ash beginning with episodeDP105. As ofSM001, Ash is now voiced byFelix Mayer.

During most of the first season,Ash's Pikachu was dubbed over bySabine Bohlmann. Starting with the Orange Islands season,Ikue Otani's Japanese voice has gone undubbed. However, Bohlmann returned to voice Pikachu inM20.

Misty was voiced byAngela Wiederhut andBrock (Rocko) was voiced byMarc Stachel.Tracey Sketchit was voiced byDirk Meyer.

May (Maike) has been voiced byNicola Grupe-Arnoldi throughout the series and was voiced byStephanie Kellner in movies six and seven. Grupe-Arnoldi has also voicedErika'sGloom (Duflor),Jessie as a child,Rebecca,Misty's Horsea (Seeper),Sabrina as a child, andMisty's Togepi. May's brother,Max, has been voiced byUte Bronder in the series and bySolveig Duda in the sixth and seventh movies.Dawn (Lucia) was voiced byJana Kilka.

Iris (Lilia) was voiced byMarieke Oeffinger andCilan (Benny) byTim Schwarzmaier. Both of them have voiced several characters before.

Serena is voiced byGabrielle Pietermann,Clemont (Citro) byTobias Kern andBonnie (Heureka) byShandra Schadt.

James has been voiced byMatthias Klie.Jessie has been voiced byScarlet Cavadenti for the series but byClaudia Lössl in a few movies (4–7 & 10).Meowth (Mauzi) has been voiced byGerhard Acktun for the entire series.

Gary Oak (Gary Eich) is voiced byNiko Macoulis. His grandfather,Professor Oak (Professor Eich), is voiced byAchim Geisler. Another of Ash's rivals,Paul, is voiced byJohannes Wolko.

Nurse Joy (Schwester Joy) has been voiced by four voice actresses:Christine Stichler (season 1–6 & 8),Melanie Manstein (season 7 & 9),Tatjana Pokorny (season 10–13) andKatharina Iacobescu (season 14–present), who currently voices her.Officer Jenny (Officer Rocky) has been voiced by five different voice actresses:Stefanie von Lerchenfeld (season 1–6 & 8),Beate Pfeiffer (season 7 & 9–13),Solveig Duda (season 14),Nina Kapust (season 15) andAngela Wiederhut (season 16–present), who currently voices her.

Pokémon Trading Card Game

ThePokémon Trading Card Game has been sold in Germany since December 1999 with the introduction ofBase Set. The game was originally distributed byWizards of the Coast and later byThe Pokémon Company International after Wizards of the Coast lost their license to distribute the TCG. Both partnered with local board and card game companyAmigo to utilise their distribution channels and for game store-centred organised play.

Most expansion sets released in English are also available in German, with only a handful of exceptions, such asGym Heroes andEX Team Rocket Returns. Prior to the release of theXY base-set, German TCG product typically became available about two or three months after it had been in English, mirroring the then-staggered international release schedule of the video games. Since XY, German TCG product now releases concurrently with the English product. German-language cards are recognized as tournament legal byPlay! Pokémon.

Pokémon manga

Volume 3 of Pokémon Adventures in German

The first three volumes of thePokémon Adventures manga were released in German language by Egmont Manga & Anime. The names of characters such asProfessor Oak andLt. Surge were switched to their German names from the games andanimated series. Additionally,Red andBlue were renamed to "Ash" and "Gary" to match the animated series.

PublisherPanini Comics, who has already distributed an official Pokémon Magazine, acquired the rights to Pokémon Adventures in 2013. It began releasing the manga, starting withBlack & White arc under the titlePokémon: Schwarz und Weiß. Then in May 2015, before the final volume of Black & White chapter released, the first volume ofX & Y arc (adapted from theJapanese mini volume edition) hit store shelves. The following January then, Panini started releasing the series from the very beginning, withRed, Green & Blue arc and following chapters being released with the titlePokémon: Die ersten Abenteuer. New volumes from different chapters were released monthly between 2016 and 2021. As of September 2025, the publication is mostly up to current with the Japanese publication. Alongside the regular volumes, several special editions were also released. Starting in February 2025, larger collection volumes started to be released under the titlePokémon: Die großen Abenteuer

Like with Egmont’s version beforehand, Panini’s German edition changes the characters’ names to their localised equivalent from the German version of the video games wherever one exists. As such, characters likeRed,Blue andGreen are named “Rot”, “Blau” and “Grün” respectively. Nicknames for Pokémon, on the other hand tend to be reinterpreted, such asSun’s convention for naming his Pokémon: While in the English version he names them after common names for US-coins and bills, in German he names them after common slang words for money: “Moos”, “Kies” and “Knete”, just to name a few.

Community

One of the largest German-language Pokémon sites isFilb.de. Filb offers Pokémon-related news, game, and animated series information, a forum and a wiki namedPokéWiki.

Other notable German-language Pokémon communities include Bisafans, who also offer Pokémon-related news and host their own forums.

Events

Bulbanews has an article related to this subject:

XY Trainer Tour 2014 traveling around Germany

Like in other European countries, a GermanPokémon Day was held every year from 2004 to 2013. This event celebrated Pokémon and distributed items, trading cards, and event-exclusive Pokémon to participants.

To commemorate the release of theXY Trainer Kit from thePokémon Trading Card Game, a small promotional tour was announced, with stops in Germany and Austria. The tour began on March 15, 2014 and ended April 19, 2014. On this tour, attendees were able to exchange 50 cards from a non-Pokémon-related trading card game and would receive an XY Trainer Kit in return. The intention of the tour was to introduce new players to the TCG and offered them the opportunity to learn how to play the Trading Card Game.

External links

The official Germany Pokémon website (full website)
Pokémon on RTL II's website (in German)

ThePokémon franchise around the world
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