The Big Read initiative was launched in Germany by the public television broadcaster ZDF in 2004, under the name "Das große Lesen", with the support of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels and Stiftung Lesen. Based on the BBC version of Big Read, it was designed as a game show to determine the top 50 books read and liked by the German people.
An initial list of 200 books was sent to more than 10,000 bookshops to start the survey. 60,000 votes were already cast within the first week. Four weeks later, the list had grown to 12,615 book nominations, and after the casting of 250,000 votes the 'winners' were determined. [1][2][3]