The television director Siegfried “Sigi” Rothemund has died on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Menorca. This was confirmed by a subsidiary of the German Press Agency. “It is true that our father Sigi Rothemund passed away on Saturday, January 13th in Menorca after a serious illness.”
Siegfried Rothemund became known, among other things, for the ZDF Christmas series “Timm Thaler” based on James Krüss. The series about the boy who sells his laughter became a popular success in 1979. Rothemund also directed the Christmas series “Silas” (1981) and “Jack Holborn” (1982) with Patrick Bach.
He also directed Commissario Brunetti cases for the ARD crime series “Donna Leon”, including the best-selling film adaptations “Eternal Youth”, “Stille Wasser” and “The Golden Egg”.
“Der Spiegel” initially reported on the death, citing the magazine “SigiGötz Entertainment”. This characterized him as a “publicity-shy director” and wrote that the director – “the (involuntary) namesake of our publication” – had died at the age of 79.
Siegfried Rothemund initially worked under the pseudonym Siggi Götz and also took part in the sex film boom of the 1970s. These included soft sex comedies with Alpine, yodeling and lederhosen flair, such as “Go, take off your dirndl” or “Alpenglühn in a dirndl skirt”; Elisabeth Volkmann starred in both.
Sigi’s son Marc Rothemund followed in his father’s footsteps: In 2006, his film “Sophie Scholl – The Last Days” with Julia Jentsch and Fabian Hinrichs was nominated for an Oscar. In 2017, the tragicomedy “This Stupid Heart” with Elyas M’Barek was released in cinemas.
