Yes, "quote unquote" is together, indicates that one is about to quote something.
"As Mr Muller said, quote unquote: 'Are those not the violets?' by which he meant that blah blah blah."
Here it is clear how long the quote is, especially as one changes intonation slightly.

The above URL is helpful (the first I came across):
"besides, it sounds insufferably pedantic to insist on "quote [word] unquote"; and -- the clincher -- you would never write it, because you could use real quotes. So it's exclusively colloquial, and "proper" written usage is therefore irrelevant, because there isn't any."

But you can say: "As Mr Muller said, and I quote: ...... End of quote", ONLY IF your quoted sentence is a bit longer, so it is not clear where it ends.

Ich kenne es aus den Zeiten von AFN:

Radiosprecher: Mr. X said, -- quote --, bla bla bla, -- unquote.

wobei die '--' deutliche Sprechpausen waren.

This morning I heard on the BE news: "the soldiers will be stationed in a quote 'non-combat zone' [in Iraq]". Realised that it is probably more common to have 'quote' on its own than using the word "unquote" with it.

Ghol: Am Ende des Satzes ist es auch im Deutschen durchaus üblich, dass man das 'Zitatende' weglässt. Aber wenn noch etwas danach kommt, ist es schon angebracht.

After his landfall election Putin stated quote "This is a victory for democracy" unquote. He went on to .........

IMHO only ignoramuses say "quote unquote" and then quote!
And to Ghol: commentators often make mistakes in logic, grammar, etc. as speed is often of the essence. If anything goes, what are we doing here?????????

Carol - I think it is interesting to read suggestions by different people, there is rarely just one perfect solution to a translation. Lots of people listen to commentators and radio announcers, I think it is a fair point by Ghol, to let people know which expressions are used in various circumstances, even by commentators etc.

Carol: it's not a matter of whether "anything goes", but of trends in the language that become acceptable after a while. We are "here" to describe the languages as they are used nowadays as well as to apply what the rules of language prescribe.

I agree that using "quote unquote" sounds a bit unnecessary, but it is a fact that it is accepted and widespread English.

But I think your "proposed translation" sticks a little too closely to the German and would not be understood by most English speakers ;-)

Personally, on reflection, I prefer the one word "quote" for short quotes, as long as it is clear how long the quote is. It does the job perfectly.
It the quote is longer, you need "unquote"/"end of quote" at the end.

In German you can say: "und ich zitiere", without following the quote by "Zitat Ende", if the quote is short.

OK Ghol and Elke. Fair enough comments!