There is nothing in public service broadcasting that does not exist.

There are not only top salaries that eclipse all others in the public sector.

There is also the so-called pension, so to speak, to bridge the gap between top salary and top pension.

This is paid out in the event that a peak contract ends before peak retirement age is reached.

As was to be expected, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg is right at the forefront of this system.

Where top executives are known to receive the controversial top bonuses, seven former and current top executives are currently entitled to a pension after their first day at work.

In the case of the program director, whose top base salary is €215,000 a year, the pension amounts to €8,000 per month, for life.

In this regard, the executives in Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk and Hessischer Rundfunk are also well cushioned financially (however, this does not apply to the new director Florian Hager there).

Anyone who has worked long enough at Hessischer Rundfunk will have pension entitlements of 75 percent of their original salary when they retire (the common pensioner can only dream of something like that).

ZDF sets aside 20 million euros

On the Lerchenberg on ZDF, they go to great lengths for the director and the five directors.

The broadcaster has set aside twenty million euros for the pensions of its top people.

The provision for the MDR amounts to fifteen million euros.

At Norddeutscher Rundfunk there is a pension in a small circle - for the director and the deputy director.

At Radio Bremen, three at the top of the station are entitled to pensions, at BR, SWR and WDR such escapades have been said goodbye, but WDR has set aside fourteen million euros for the pensions of four managers.

At the Saarländisches Rundfunk and the Deutschlandradio there is no such thing as a financial institution called a pension.

"That was great!" We could now say with the "Dalli Dalli" presenter Hans Rosenthal, who died 35 years ago.

Or: That's great!

But actually: That's crazy!

But it's also great or crazy where we know all this from: from a research team from Norddeutscher Rundfunk, which tracked the pension payments mentioned here in public broadcasting down to the last penny, which everyone can read at tagesschau.de.

At this point, we can say that the broadcasting fee that we all have to pay is well spent.

Who knows what else will come of it.

What the top broadcasters have for takers!

Maybe a pension in the afterlife, for resting in peace on cloud nine under public law?

We'd rather not rule anything out.