Mallorca and the Ballermann: This RTL series makes you want summer!

Created: 02/23/2022, 13:18

By: Katja Kraft

Matthias (Henning Baum) is the self-proclaimed "King of Palma".

Baum plays him brilliantly in the RTL+ series of the same name © LIBERTAD

RTL + shows the six-part series "The King of Palma".

Henning Baum and Sandra Borgmann play a couple who move from Dortmund to Mallorca.

Privately, Borgmann does not drink alcohol and has never been to Ballermann.

The “Berlin, Berlin” star explains why in an interview.

"I'm selling my house and starting from scratch somewhere else" - could you also imagine that?

Sandra Borgmann:

I don't know.

I think if there's something that really calls out, something that makes me think, 'Whoa!

You have to do that!”, then yes.

But I'm also a mother, and as soon as children are involved, home takes on a completely different meaning.

My son is 13 now and has his father and friends here - I can't imagine "everything on one card and then gone".

But once he's finished school and doing his own thing, there's nothing wrong with a sunnier home than Hamburg.

Sylvie, who you play, also worries about her children.

Shouldn't you stay crazy and adventurous even as a mother?

Sandra Borgmann:

One doesn't exclude the other.

But the question is whether craziness has to express itself by packing the kids in the suitcase and moving far away.

I think the main thing is that you are there for the children and share the joy of life with them.

Then you can put an asterisk there.

According to the motto: "Even if a lot of things went wrong, I managed it." That's something.

I'd rather be back home in Dortmund: Sylvie (Sandra Borgmann) doesn't feel comfortable with Ballermann.

© RTL+

It's funny that you say "dat" and "wat".

As a native of Mülheim, you will not be unfamiliar with the Ruhrpott dialect.

How difficult was it for you to slip into that slang?

Sandra Borgmann:

Easy.

We didn't talk a lot at home, but I grew up in the Ruhr area setting.

This is my native dialect.

A mentality is also expressed through language.

How are the people in the Ruhr area?

Sandra Borgmann:

Straight ahead.

When communicating with others, they always choose the shortest route.

Be careful what you think.

Maybe through mining, because underground you had to communicate so directly in order to survive.

In the mountains one should not beat about the bush.

Sylvie (Sandra Borgmann) makes the most of her new life in Mallorca.

© RTL+

The Ruhrpottler in the series emigrate to Mallorca.

What is your relationship to Germany's favorite holiday island?

Sandra Borgmann:

I think Mallorca is incredibly beautiful, I've been to the island four or five times now.

I'm very, very happy there.

I don't even know Ballermann.

Never drank sangria from buckets?

Sandra Borgmann:

No!

And only at the end of the shooting time did we get to the party mile at Ballermann.

But of course in a super special situation.

It was Corona time.

And the island was empty.

The hotels were empty, the beaches were empty.

That was so surreal!

It was nothing like anything else. It was wonderful to be in the south for several months.

That really left something in me.

The sky was always blue, the sea was always blue.

That does something to you.

That opens the soul, you slow down, the south gets into you.

In Hamburg, a blanket of lead hangs over your head five months a year.

It's really awesome.

I can only survive this with vitamin D!

You might decide to emigrate one day after all.

Have there been situations in your life where you changed everything from the ground up?

Sandra Borgmann:

The biggest change I've ever made was probably that I stopped drinking alcohol.

For about a year and a half I haven't had anything to do with all that drinking anymore.

Lukas Cordalis plays his father Costa Cordalis in The King of Palma.

© RTL+

Doesn't sound easy, especially for someone in your industry: you're constantly confronted with alcohol at premieres or other film festivals.

Isn't that difficult for you?

Sandra Borgmann:

No, not at all.

The decision to live without alcohol was my move to my island.

In our culture we couple partying and having fun with numbing yourself.

How we think of joy, exuberance, relaxation is totally linked to alcohol.

And for me it's just not coupled anymore.

For example, at the end of King of Palma, I danced the night away, drove home in the early morning, and swam a few more laps while the sun came up.

It's funny how quickly alcohol can become unimportant.

On New Year's Eve we forgot to buy drinks at all.

We only had water in the house, neighbors then gave us lemonade.

Otherwise you would toast New Year's Eve with alcohol.

Yes, that is our rite.

But you can also celebrate in a completely different way.

Depending on what you like to do.

For example, we love to cook.

Or go to the cinema or to the Elbe.

Why do people drink alcohol?

Actually, because they want to be connected.

And there are many alternative and very social ways.