''Polizeiruf 110'' ("Police call 110") is a long-running German-language

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

television series likened to Poirot. The name links to the emergency telephone number of the '' Volkspolizei''. The first episode was broadcast 27 June 1971 in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and after the dissolution of Deutscher Fernsehfunk the series was picked up by ARD. It was originally created as a counterpart to the West German series '' Tatort'', and quickly became a public favorite. In contrast with other television crime series in which killings are practically the primary focus, while ''Tatort'' handled homicide cases, the cases handled in the GDR TV's ''Polizeiruf'' were more often more frequent crimes such as

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

, extortion,

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

, theft and

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...

, as well as alcoholism,

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

and rape. Contrary to ''Tatort'', which concentrated on the primary characters and their private lives, police procedure was the center of attention of ''Polizeiruf'', especially in the earlier episodes. The scriptwriters attached particular importance to the representation of the criminal and his state of mind, as well as the context of the crime. Many episodes aimed to teach and enlighten the audience about what does and what does not constitute appropriate behaviour and appropriate thought, rather than just to entertain. ''Polizeiruf'' was one of the few broadcasts by GDR media in which the real problems and difficulties of the supposedly more advanced socialist society could be displayed and discussed to some extent, albeit in a fictionalized and pedagogicalized environment. In 1990 the episode was produced as a crossover with the West German ''Tatort'' crime series, in which Horst Schimanski coworked with Hauptmann ''Peter Fuchs'' and

Oberleutnant () is the highest lieutenant officer rank in the German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. Austria Germany In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Trans ...

''Thomas Grawe'' in a case of homicide and

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

committed by former members of the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

. After the end of the GDR, the series was taken over by the ARD as a franchise similar to the ''Tatort'' series. The local members of the ARD produce their own episodes, which are aired by the ARD. West German settings and characters came into the show. Parallel to the ''Tatort'' series, the

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of t ...

joined the ''Polizeiruf'' franchise with its own productions. Consequently, those episodes are renamed ''Polizeiruf 133'' because of the different emergency telephone number in Austria, while the West German emergency call uses the same number as the East German. The ARD's ''Polizeiruf'' deals mostly with murders and homicides, while the focus has been more on entertainment rather than any teaching or enlightening. More emphasis was put on the characters and personal lives of the detectives, and there has been relatively little difference overall between the newer ''Polizeiruf'' episodes and the contemporary ''Tatort'' episodes. However, ''Polizeiruf'' continues to feature more (post-reunification) East German settings than in ''Tatort''. A 1974 episode based on the case of serial killer Erwin Hagedorn was banned by the politburo, which feared an uncomfortable public debate about the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. A script and silent tape of the episode, thought lost, were rediscovered in 2009, and the sound was re-dubbed for broadcast with new actors (the episode was aired 23 June 2011 by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk DR. In 2014, the series was broadcast with English subtitles in the USA on MHz WorldView under the title ''Bukow and König'' (2010–2014 episodes).

Prominent cast members

* Peter Borgelt as Hauptmann, later Kriminalhauptkommissar Peter Fuchs (84 episodes, 1971–1991) *

Jürgen Frohriep Jürgen Frohriep (28 April 1928 – 13 July 1993) was a German actor. After 1972 he became widely known for his role as Oberleutnant Jürgen Hübner in ''Polizeiruf 110'', a long running television series that originated in the German Democrati ...

as Oberleutnant, later Kriminaloberkommissar Jürgen Hübner (68 episodes, 1972–1994) *

Sigrid Göhler Sigrid is a Scandinavian given name for women from Old Norse ''Sigríðr'', composed of the elements ''sigr'' "victory" and ''fríðr'' "beautiful". Common short forms include Siri, Sigga, Sig, and Sigi. An Estonian and Finnish variant is Siiri ...

as Leutnant Vera Arndt (49 episodes, 1971–2001) *

Wolfgang Winkler Wolfgang Winkler (27 October 1940 – 11 May 2001) was a West German luger who competed in the late 1960s. He won the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as ...

as Hauptkommissar Herbert Schneider (50 episodes, 1979–2013) *

Andreas Schmidt-Schaller Andreas ( el, Ἀνδρέας) is a name usually given to males in Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Armenia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Finland, Flanders, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Indonesia. The name ...

as Leutnant, Oberleutnant, later Kriminaloberkommissar Thomas Grawe (40 episodes, 1973–2004) * Jaecki Schwarz as Hauptkommissar Herbert Schmücke ''(together with Schneider)'' (38 episodes, 1987–2007) * Horst Krause Polizeihauptmeister Krause (35 episodes, 1987–2015) *

Lutz Riemann Lutz is a surname and given name, occasionally a short form of Ludwig. People with the name include: Surname *Adolfo Lutz (1855–1940), Brazilian physician *Aleda E. Lutz (1915–1944), American Army flight nurse * Alois Lutz, Austrian figure s ...

as Oberleutnant, later Kriminaloberkommissar Lutz Zimmermann (25 episodes, 1983–1991) *

Edgar Selge Edgar Selge (born 27 March 1948) is a German actor and writer. Selge was born in Brilon in 1949, the son of a prison warden, grew up in Herford. He studied philosophy and German in Munich and Dublin as well as classical piano in Vienna. He gradu ...

as Kriminalhauptkommissar Jürgen Tauber (21 episodes, 1998–2009) *

Günter Naumann Günter Naumann (17 November 1925 – 6 November 2009) was a German actor. He is Best known for his performance in the TV-serials ''Zur See Zur See is a 9-part television series, produced by the GDR television from 1974 to 1976. It covers the j ...

as Kriminalhauptkommissar Günter Beck (21 episodes, 1973–2001) *

Michaela May Michaela (Hebrew מיכאלה) is a female given name. It is a female form of the Hebrew name Michael (מִיכָאֵל), which means "Who is like God". As of 2008, it was 357th in rank for newborn girls in the United States, and 325th in England ...

as Kriminalhauptkommissarin Jo Obermaier (17 episodes, 2001–2009) * Imogen Kogge as Hauptkommissarin Johanna Herz (12 episodes, 2002–2010) * Henry Hübchen as Tobias Törner (5 episodes, 2003–2005)Imdb.de
/ref>

External links

* * *List of episodes in the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

References

{{Authority control ARD (broadcaster) Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg German drama television series 1980s German television series 1990s German television series 2000s German television series 2010s German television series 1971 German television series debuts German crime television series Detective television series 1970s German police procedural television series 1980s German police procedural television series 1990s German police procedural television series 2000s German police procedural television series 2010s German police procedural television series 2020s German police procedural television series Television in East Germany German-language television shows Grimme-Preis for fiction winners