14 True Facts About "Hogan"s Heroes"

It’s funny how the moments of your childhood that seem the most irrelevant are usually the ones you remember the most. For instance, when I was a kid there was about a 90-minute period of the day that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. Every single day I’d get out of school at about 3:30 and rush home to sit in front of the TV with my father (and sometimes sister) while we waited for mom to get home at about 5:30. I’d park myself on the carpet in front of the TV while my dad would doze off on the couch. But while life was good for that first hour while we watched reruns of Happy Days or Coach or something, I’d always have to leave when Hogan’s Heroes came on. 

Sure, my dad loved it, but my pre-adolescent mind couldn’t help but get bored as soon as those military drums started banging and the yellow letters that read Hogan’s Heroes came up on the screen. But as I got older, I started to open up to the show, and nowadays I even kind of enjoy it.

What I didn’t realize, however, were some of these amazing facts about the making of the program.

1. The original script took place in an American jail.

They rewrote the script to take place during WWII after they learned that a competing network was working on a similar type of show. 

2. The theme song actually had lyrics.

Heroes, heroes, husky men of war,Sons of all the heroes of the war before.We’re all heroes up to our ear-o’sYou ask the questionsWe make suggestionsThat’s what we’re heroes for.

3. The show eventually aired in Germany but not until the early ’90s.

In German the title was reworked to Barbed Wire And Heels.

4. Klink was actually a trained violinist.

Col. Wilhelm Klink was played by Werner Klemperer, who was an incredibly talented violinist in real life.