In aller Freundschaft

In aller Freundschaft (English: In all Friendliness) is a German television soap opera that began airing in 1998 every Tuesday. The series follows the staff of the fictional Sachsenklinik hospital in the city of Leipzig. The series is produced by Degeto (a subsidiary of the German TV channel ARD) and by Saxonia Media Filmproduktion GmbH in the studios of Media City Leipzig. The first broadcast was on 26 October 1998. Since then, approximately 600 episodes have aired. Initially, the focus was on three main characters and their friendship Dr. Roland Heilmann, Dr. Achim Kreutzer, and Dr. Maia Dietz. Nowadays, there is a growing cast of 15–20 characters which the plot follows (of the original trio, only Dr. Roland Heilmann can still be seen in the program). Many actors were already acting in the television and cinema in the German Democratic Republic. Other locally renowned directors from the former GDR that contribute to the program include Celino Bleiweiß, Klaus Gendries, and Peter Hill. Even though the series is set in the city of Leipzig (Saxony), which is home to the Upper Saxon German dialect, it is rarely used in the series in order to make it easier for the rest of the German population to understand.