''Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei'' ("Alarm for Cobra 11 – The Highway Police") is a long-running, popular German television series about a two-man team of highway police (Autobahnpolizei), originally set in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and since 1999 in the area of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. The series has been broadcast in 120 countries worldwide. The last regular episode "Das Team" aired on 12 August 2021. In an interview, main star Erdoğan Atalay blamed the stoppage on

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In 2022, the series will return in the form of 90-minute TV movies.

Plot

The tasks of the Cobra 11 team consist primarily in solving crimes and catching the perpetrators. Typical elements of the action genre are mixed, so that there are regular car crashes, shootouts, explosions and fistfights. These action scenes are elaborately produced in most cases, and appropriately presented in a spectacular way. The high number of unrealistic scenes is a common criticism of the series; for example, large explosions often happen after small collisions while people emerge unharmed out of cars which have sustained catastrophic damage.

Stunts

The series is known for its extremely well performed stuntwork, which features the destruction of various vehicles in every episode. Almost every episode has a distinct structure, with at least one daring action sequence and the pre-title sequence usually consisting of the main event (i.e. a devastating crash on the Autobahn). The stuntwork is often so spectacular that it would not look out of place in a full-fledged movie, with cars commonly reaching implausible heights as they vault through the air.

Production locations

From 1996 to 1998, the series was produced jointly (responsible for all other production aspects such as filming/postproduction/location scouting etc.) an
ActionConcept
(stunts). Those episodes were shot in

, notably in the site of the former Checkpoint Bravo and in the surrounding state of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

. In 1998, Action Concept took over as the sole production company and shifted all filming/production work to its headquarters in

Hürth Hürth is a town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Hürth shares borders with the city of Cologne and is about 6 km to the southwest of Cologne city centre, at the northeastern slope of the natural preserve Kott ...

just south of

. Since then, episodes have been shot in and around Cologne and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

as well as on several major Autobahnen (A540/A44 and now mainly on the Filmautobahn Aldenhoven near Düren – ) between Cologne and Düsseldorf in the state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

(NRW).

Cast

Main

* Johannes Brandrup as Detective Chief Inspector Frank Stolte (main: season 1; guest: season 22) * Rainer Strecker as Detective Chief Inspector Ingo Fischer (season 1) * Erdoğan Atalay as Detective Chief Superintendent Semir Gerkhan (season 1-present) *Almut Eggert as Police Chief Katharina Lamprecht (season 1; recurring season 2) * Mark Keller as Detective Chief Inspector André Fux (main: seasons 2–4; guest: season 19) * René Steinke as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Kranich (seasons 5–8, 10–12) * Christian Oliver as Detective Inspector Jan Richter (seasons 9–10) * Gedeon Burkhard as Detective Chief Inspector Chris Ritter (seasons 12–13) * Tom Beck as Detective Chief Inspector Ben Jäger (seasons 14–19; guest: season 25) * Vinzenz Kiefer as Detective Chief Inspector Alex Brandt (seasons 19–21) *Daniel Roesner as Detective Chief Inspector

Paul Renner Paul Friedrich August Renner (9 August 1878 – 25 April 1956) was a German typeface designer, author, and founder of the Master School for Germany's Printers in Munich. In 1927, he designed the Futura typeface, which became one of the most ...

(season 21–25) *Pia Stutzenstein as Detective Inspector Vicky Reisinger (season 25-present) *

Katja Woywood Katja Woywood (born 10 May 1971) is a German actress and former child star in her native land. She started playing in movies and series as a 15 year old girl. Her hobbies are drawing and roller skating. Since episode 189 she plays the new chief ...

as Police Chief Kim Krüger (season 21–25; recurring seasons 14–25) * Katrin Heß as Detective Sergeant Jenny Dorn (season 21–25; recurring seasons 16–21) *Niels Kurvin as CSU Hartmud Freund (season 21-present; recurring seasons 9-21) *Daniela Wutte as Secretary Susanne König (season 21–25; recurring seasons 12–21)

Recurring

* Dietmar Huhn as Officer III Horst Herzberger (season 2–16). An older police officer and good friend of Semir's, until he was killed in the line of duty. * Gottfried Vollmer as Officer III Dieter Bonrath (season 3–17). Horst's partner with a teenage son. Also killed in the line of duty. * Carina Wiese as Andrea Gerkhan (née Schäfer). She was the precinct's secretary before becoming Semir's wife and the mother of his two younger daughters (season 2–14, 16-present). * Gizem Emre as Dana Gerkhan (née Wegener), a police officer and Semir's illegitimate daughter (season 19-present). Tesha Moon Krieg played her as a child in season 16.

Episodes

Preamble

* The opening titles of the first 158 episodes (1996-2006) had the following preamble: ''Ihr Revier ist die Autobahn'' (Their precinct is the autobahn)
''Ihr Tempo ist mörderisch'' (They work at break-neck speed)
''Ihre Gegner: Autoschieber, Mörder und Erpresser'' (They're up against car thieves, killers, and extortionists)
''Einsatz rund um die Uhr für die Männer von Cobra 11'' (They're on call around the clock: the men of Cobra 11)
''Unsere Sicherheit ist ihr Job'' (Our safety is their job). * During Episodes 159-243 (2007-2012), the preamble was: ''Ihr Revier ist die Autobahn'' (Their precinct is the autobahn)
''Ihr Einsatz heißt: volles Tempo'' (Their mission: full speed)
''Ihre Gegner von heute: extrem schnell und gefährlich'' (Their enemies today: extremely fast and dangerous)
''Verbrechen ohne Limit – Jeder Einsatz volles Risiko'' (Crimes without limit – every job at full risk)
''für die Männer von Cobra 11'' (for the men of Cobra 11). * Since Episode 244 (2013), the preamble was: ''Ihr Revier ist die Autobahn.'' (Their precinct is the autobahn)
''Ihre Gegner: extrem schnell und gefährlich.'' (Their enemies: Extremely quick and dangerous)
''Verbrechen ohne Limit.'' (Crimes without limit)
''Jeder Einsatz - volles Risiko'' (Every job: at full risk)
''für die Männer von Cobra 11.'' (for the men of Cobra 11) * From 2014 to 2019, the preamble was: ''Ihr Revier ist die Autobahn.'' (Their precinct is the autobahn)
''Ihre Gegner: extrem schnell und gefährlich.'' (Their enemies: Extremely quick and dangerous)
''Volles Risiko'' (Extremely risky)
''für die Männer von Cobra 11.'' (for the men of Cobra 11) Episode 365 onwards features an all-new variation of the theme song, but lacks any opening preamble.

International broadcasters

*: 1TV (Yak TV) *: SBS2 *: ORF *: AB3 *:

Band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

*: Diema, Nova *: Séries+ *: La Red *: CCTV *:

RTL Televizija RTL (previously known as RTL Televizija) is a Croatian free-to-air television network founded on 30 April 2004. It was owned by the RTL Group from 2004 to 2022. Since 1 June 2022, it is owned by the CME Group. The logo consisted of three prima ...

*: TV Nova, Nova Action *: RedTeleSistema *: TV6, TV3 *:

MTV3 MTV3 ( fi, MTV Kolme, sv, MTV Tre) is a Finnish commercial television station. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Yle TV1 (from Yle) took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV (literally "Advertisemen ...

*: TF1, Télé Monte Carlo *:

RTL Television RTL (from '), formerly RTL plus and RTL Television, is a German-language free-to-air television channel owned by the RTL Group, headquartered in Cologne. Founded as an offshoot of the German-language radio programme '' ,'' RTL is consider ...

, RTL Crime, RTL Nitro *: RTL Klub, Cool TV, Sorozat+, RTL+, Paramount Channel *: BIG RTL Thrill *:

Tehran TV IRIB TV5 (شبکه پنج, ''Shibkâh-e Penj'' in Persian language, Persian), is an Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting television channel. The channel is one of the newer television channels in Iran and was established on November 26, 1995. Th ...

, IRIB Tamasha *:

Rai 2 Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting ''TG2'' news bulletins, tal ...

AXN AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Funded th ...

*: AAB, ATV,

Fox Classics FOX Classics is an Australian cable and satellite channel that specializes in showing television series and ad-free classic movies, themed movie nights and miniseries from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. History FOX Classics began as ...

, KBS, BS11, Sun TV, TeNY,

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...

*: TV3, TV6 *:

LRT televizija LRT televizija, formerly known as LTV 1, is the flagship television channel of Lithuanian National Radio and Television Lithuanian National Radio and Television ( Lithuanian: Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija) is a non-profit publi ...

, TV3, TV6, BTV *: The Film Zone *: SBN TV *: RTL 7, RTL 4 *: Телевизија Телма, Сител Телевизија *: TVN 7,

TELE 5 Tele 5 is a German free-to-air television channel that broadcasts classic American films, series, cartoons and Japanese anime. On 3 July 2020, Discovery, Inc. agreed to acquire the channel from Leonine Holding, completing the purchase on 1 ...

, Stopklatka,

TV Puls TV Puls is a Polish commercial television channel, which was based on Telewizja Niepokalanów with the support of companies such as PKN Orlen, KGHM Polska Miedź, PZU Życie, Prokom and which started broadcasting in March 2001. Due to financi ...

RTP1 RTP1 (''RTP um'') is a Portuguese free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainst ...

*: Pro Cinema,

*: СТС, Рен ТВ *: TLC *:

Prva Srpska Televizija Prva (; sr-Cyrl, Прва) or Prva Srpska Televizija ( sr-Cyrl, Прва српска телевизија, lit=First Serbian Television), is a Serbian commercial television network with national coverage. Launched on 31 December 2006 at 7&nbs ...

Markíza Markíza (also known as Televízia Markíza) is a Slovak television channel launched on August 31, 1996. The channel was founded by a later politician Pavol Rusko, and is now part of the Central European Media Enterprises (CME). It also operat ...

Kanal A Kanal A is the first Slovenian commercial television station. The channel, which operates within PRO PLUS d.o.o., has national coverage. In its primary target group of viewers (18–49 years), Kanal A is the second most watched TV channel in Sl ...

*: KykNET (Dubbed in Afrikaans) *: CNTV (2003-2005), SCREEN (2012) *:

Cuatro Cuatro is Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the number four. Cuatro may also refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), name for two distinct Latin American instruments, one from Puerto Rico (see Cuatro) and the other from Venezuela (see Cuatro) ...

Energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

Kanal D Kanal D, also known as Channel D, is a nationwide television channel in Turkey and part of Demirören Group. It was founded by Ayhan Şahenk and Aydın Doğan in 1993. The network also runs an international channel, Euro D which is available ...

, TV8, tv2, Olay TV, Beyaz TV, Ege TV, Abant TV, TV41 *: Новий канал, 2+2, Уніан *:

V-me V-me (, a pun on ''veme'', "watch me") is an American Spanish-language television network, formerly carried as an over-the-air public broadcasting network in association with public television stations created for the United States Hispanic mar ...

(dubbed in Spanish)https://www.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20110519-911031.html Coverage of announced 2011-2012 programming highlights for United States

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in th ...

broadcaster V-me, documenting intent to broadcast ''Alerta Cobra'' ( Spanish title). *: ANTV

Legacy

Game adaptations

The series has also spawned numerous game releases in Europe, primarily for PC, but they have generally met with mixed receptions. The latest title is ''Crash Time 5: Undercover.'' '' Crash Time'' was also dubbed into English and sold in many other markets worldwide.

Spin-off

In 2002, a spin-off named ' (''Alarm for Cobra 11 – Team Mission 2'') was started. Because of its limited success, only two seasons were produced.

Parodies

*''Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei'' was regularly parodied as "Alarm für Kebap 11 – Die Dönerpölizei" by ', a German comedy sketch program. The segments feature the team talking in exaggerated Turkish accents and many references to Döner Kebab. Erdoğan Atalay and René Steinke themselves have made cameo appearances in some. *The series has also been parodied on Switch TV and Switch reloaded. * ''Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei'' was also parodied in the Latvian comedy show ''Savādi gan''.

World's Wildest Police Videos

Some of the clips from season 1 to season 5 were used as crash test footage in

World's Wildest Police Videos ''World's Wildest Police Videos'' (shortened to ''Police Videos'' in Season 4) is an American reality TV series that ran on Fox from 1998 to 2001. In 2012, Spike announced that it had commissioned 13 new episodes with the revival of the origina ...

, alongside '' Der Clown'' and one crash from ''

Die Wache ''Die Wache'' is a German weekly police procedural show that was broadcast from 1994 until 2006 by RTL Television. Set in a fictional police station in Cologne, it was modelled on the British series ''The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British p ...

''.

References

External links

Official RTL site

Official Italian Fan Club ** Squadra Speciale Cobra11

Fernsehserien

Alarm für Cobra 11 - Spoiler / News

The official German Fanclub of Alarm for Cobra 11

Alarm fur Cobra 11 Episode Videos

First Official German Erdoğan Atalay-Fanpage (English version, many translated interviews)

Alerta Cobra official information page at United States broadcaster V-me
*
The Number 1 Fanpage of Alarm for Cobra 11 in 3 languages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alarm Fur Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei 1996 German television series debuts 1990s German television series 2000s German television series 2010s German television series 2020s German television series German crime television series German drama television series RTL (German TV channel) original programming German action television series Television shows set in Berlin Television shows set in North Rhine-Westphalia German-language television shows 1990s German police procedural television series 2000s German police procedural television series 2010s German police procedural television series 2020s German police procedural television series