It is usually on Friday evenings that Jan Böhmermann makes headlines. Namely when the new issue of his “ZDF Magazin Royale” is broadcast. When it comes to secret NSU files or Fynn Kliemann’s dubious mask deals. Or chats from police circles like last week.
But this time a second report also made the rounds over the weekend. This time not from Böhmermann, but about him. More precisely: about his salary.
Because “Welt am Sonntag” wants to know details that are written down in his contract with ZDF. The 42-year-old will receive “651,000 euros plus VAT from ZDF this year. Next year, the salary will increase by 31,000 euros according to the contract, and a further increase is also planned for 2025 – to a total of 713,000 euros.” That would make a gross monthly salary of 54,250 euros for 2023 alone.
This means his monthly earnings would be higher than the annual income of average employees in Germany, as figures from “Statista” show. “The average gross salary of full-time employees in Germany in April 2022 was 4,105 euros,” according to current statistics. This corresponds to an annual gross salary of 49,260 euros for a full-time position.
Watch the video: Seven exciting facts you should know about Jan Böhmermann.
On X, formerly Twitter, Böhmermann commented on the numbers in his usual satirical manner. “These rumored fees speculated by the Springer press are completely wrong and have absolutely nothing to do with reality! If these numbers were correct, I would have switched to private television long ago in anger!” This is by no means a real denial, but it is not a confirmation either. When asked by Stern, the ZDF press office did not want to comment on this and referred to the data protection of its employees.
It is an explosive topic because public broadcasting has been under observation since last year at the latest. In the summer of 2022, “Business Insider” published a series of revelations about the then RBB director Patricia Schlesinger, who ultimately resigned.
Parquet flooring for 17,000 euros, a separate chauffeur for her husband – all paid for by public broadcasting funds were just some of the costs and points of criticism. A debate about the broadcasting fee followed.
But the current report has not yet sparked such a debate. Böhmermann’s fans comment on the revelations rather casually on X. “You are worth every cent,” it says.
Note: In an earlier version of the text, Böhmermann’s gross salary was compared with the net annual income of German employees. We have corrected the error and apologize.
Source: “Welt am Sonntag”, “Business Insider”, “Statista”
