“Tatort” German crime series: this long-running classic, featuring also Austria and Switzerland, is great for language, culture and psychology.
“Tatort” German crime series: the premise
A detective from western Germany, sent to investigate a murder in what used to be East Germany, finds evidence implicating a right-wing duelling fraternity.
An Austrian detective investigating a brainwashing cult which makes money preying on vulnerable young people finds his daughter targeted.
A Swiss woman working for a controversial assisted suicide programme is murdered.
A serial killer who targets people with medical or psychological problems decides to kill next the detective investigating him – who is, indeed, suicidal.
Trailer for episode 1,001 “Es lebe der Tod” (Long live death) on 20.11.16
50 years of “Tatort” thrillers
The German police procedural Tatort has been running since 1970. Every Sunday evening at 20.15, a 90-minute episode airs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The series enjoys cult status partly because of its longevity, and the way the long format allows plenty of psychological background. But it’s also because the series is made by different German (and Swiss and Austrian) regional stations, each with distinctive and occasionally overlapping groups of detectives. One result is immense variety, and numerous different quirky teams of detectives with regional characteristics. Some episodes are funny; others, dead serious.
Why I watch the “Tatort” German crime series
Whenever I’m living in a German-speaking country I try to tune in to Tatort at 2015 on a Sunday evening for three reasons.
Learning German
(i) I watch the “Tatort” German crime series partly to learn German. I am a lousy linguist. But I learn well through immersion, and finding something good-quality to watch regularly is invaluable. Tatort fits that need. Plus, because it’s on at a predictable time every week I can remember to turn on the telly.
Understanding Germany – and Austria
(ii) Watching “Tatort” regularly is a great way to understand German-speaking Europe. Tatort is full of background texture. Sure, it’s fiction. You might say it is no more a manual on Germany or Austria than, say, Midsomer Murders (popular in Germany under the name “Inspector Barnaby”) is an accurate guide to life in England. But the background of Tatort, and its evolving preoccupations over time hold, up an intriguing if occasionally warped mirror to life in German-speaking Europe. Hardly any of the detectives, for example, are under 50. Many seem well past retirement age.
The “Tatort” German crime series is fun
(iii) Many “Tatort” episodes have high entertainment value. For example, “Long live death” or Es lebe der Tod, first broadcast on 20 November 2016, are gripping psychological thrillers with plenty of nail-biting moments. Production values are high.
Echoes of “Diva”
I find the random, unpredictable nature of the episodes endearing and intriguing. The Keystone Cops quality of many of the police departments depicted is reminiscent of the stupendously hopeless flics in the visually unparalleled French 1981 movie Diva.
Trailer for “Diva”, 1981.
Come to think of it, even the fantasy-packed Diva included a number of French preoccupations of the moment, including a pet cat called Ayatollah and, of course, police corruption.
Tatort celebrated its 1000th episode on 13 November 2016. May there be many more.
What to do next
I hope you’ve enjoyed this review of the Tatort German crime series. If you’d like to try one of my thrillers set in Germany, take a look at Blood Summit, set in Berlin. For German, scroll down!
Wenn Sie eine Deutsche Rezension von “Blood Summit” lesen möchten, bitte bei Amazon.de schauen oder meine eigene deutschsprachige Rezension hier.
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