The series premiered on 13 October 2017 on Sky 1. The first release consisted of a continuous run of 16 episodes, with the first eight officially known as Season 1, and the second eight known as Season 2. Season 3 premiered in January 2020,[3] followed by Season 4 in October 2022.[4] In June 2023, the show was renewed for a fifth and final season with production expected to begin at the end of 2024.[5]
Netflix exclusively streamed seasons 1 through 3 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States until they were removed in February 2024. In April 2024, the first three seasons of the show began streaming on MHz Choice in the United States, with the fourth season added in June.[6][7][8]
Plot
The series is set in Berlin during the latter years of the Weimar Republic, beginning in 1929. It follows Gereon Rath (Volker Bruch), a police inspector on assignment from Cologne who is on a secret mission to dismantle an extortion ring, and Charlotte Ritter (Liv Lisa Fries), police clerk by day, prostitute by night, who aspires to become a police inspector.[9]
Cast
Main
Volker Bruch as Inspector Gereon Rath, a combat veteran of the Imperial German Army during World War I and a policeman newly transferred from his home town of Cologne to Berlin; he struggles with morphine dependence linked to his war experiences, particularly his survivor's guilt over the loss of his brother (seasons 1–4)
Liv Lisa Fries as Charlotte Ritter ("Lotte"), a flapper from the slums of Neukölln and an occasional sex worker at the Moka Efticabaret, who works as a police clerk and dreams of becoming the first female homicide detective in the history of the Berlin Police (seasons 1–4)
Peter Kurth as Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Bruno Wolter, a Berlin Police investigator whose affability masks unseemly tendencies; he becomes the primary antagonist in season 2 (seasons 1–2)
Matthias Brandt as Councillor August Benda, the Jewish chief of the "Political Police" department of the Berlin Police. A tenacious investigator and true believer in the Weimar Republic, Benda is equally loathed by monarchists, communists, and Nazis; for years, he has been investigating the Black Reichswehr (seasons 1–2)
Leonie Benesch as Greta Overbeck, a down-on-her-luck childhood friend of Charlotte Ritter who eventually finds a job as domestic servant to Councillor Benda and his family and reluctantly gets entwined in an assassination scheme (seasons 1–3)
Ivan Shvedoff as Alexei Kardakov, an anti-Stalinist Russian refugee and the leader of a fictional Trotskyist cell in Berlin called the "Red Fortress" (season 1; guest season 2)
Anton von Lucke [de] as Stephan Jänicke, a young detective in the Berlin Police who has been assigned by Councillor Benda to investigate Wolter for ties to the Black Reichswehr (season 1; recurring season 2)
Mišel Matičević as Edgar Kasabian, "the Armenian", the impeccably dressed owner of the Moka Efti cabaret and the leader of organized crime in Berlin; a ruthless but deeply principled gangster, he acts as a secret protector to Inspector Gereon Rath for personal reasons (season 1–3; recurring season 4)
Henning Peker as Franz Krajewski, a drug addict who works as a police informant (season 1; guest season 3)
Fritzi Haberlandt as Elisabeth Behnke, a kind friend of Bruno Wolter who maintains a boarding house where Inspector Rath stays (seasons 1–4)
Karl Markovics as Samuel Katelbach, an eccentric writer and sometimes journalist who befriends Rath at the boarding house (seasons 1–4)
Jens Harzer as Dr. Anno Schmidt, a mysterious doctor whose atypical practices are considered fringe by the Berlin medical community but heralded by others, including The Armenian (seasons 1–4)
Hannah Herzsprung as Helga Rath, Inspector Gereon Rath's secret lover of more than ten years and the wife of his brother, who has been missing since the First World War (seasons 2–4; recurring season 1)
Ivo Pietzcker as Moritz Rath, Gereon Rath's nephew and Helga's son whose curiosity gets him into trouble (seasons 2,4; recurring season 3)
Benno Fürmann as Colonel Gottfried Wendt, an ambitious and untrustworthy political police counselor who is a power player with the NSDAP (seasons 2–4; guest season 1)
Ronald Zehrfeld as Walter Weintraub, the mysterious and ruthless partner of the Armenian who returns from time in prison (seasons 3–4)
Meret Becker as Esther Kasabian, a former actress married to the Armenian who dreams of returning to acting as well as reconciling the men she loves (seasons 3–4)
Udo Samel as Ernst "Buddha" Gennat, the stern but kind head of Berlin's Homicide Department, based on a real director of the Berlin criminal police (seasons 3–4; recurring season 2)
Luc Feit as Leopold Ullrich, detail-oriented police analyst (season 3; recurring season 2)
Trystan Pütter as Hans Litten, a pro bono attorney interested in Greta's case, based on a real lawyer (seasons 3–4)
Thorsten Merten as Alfons Henning, a homicide investigator working under Rath with Czerwinski (seasons 3–4; recurring seasons 1–2)
Rüdiger Klink as Paul Czerwinski, a homicide investigator working under Rath with Henning (seasons 3–4; recurring seasons 1–2)
Godehard Giese as Wilhelm Böhm, a high-ranking homicide detective who often clashes with Rath and Ritter (seasons 3–4; recurring seasons 1–2)
Saskia Rosendahl as Marie-Luise Seegers,[b] a communist law student who disagrees with her father General Seegers (seasons 3–4)
Sabin Tambrea as Tristan Rot, aka Herbert Plumpe, widower of Betty Winter, a melodramatic actor with an interest in the occult (season 3)
Julius Feldmeier as Otto Wollenberg/Horst Kessler,[c] a friend of Fritz with villainous intentions (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2)
Jacob Matschenz as Fritz Höckert/Richard Pechtmann, a friend of Otto with villainous intentions (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2)
Tom Tykwer, Hendrik Handloegten and Achim von Borries at the premiere of "Babylon Berlin" at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, 28 September 2017
Development
The series was co-directed by Tom Tykwer, Hendrik Handloegten [de], and Achim von Borries, who also wrote the scripts. The 16 episodes of the first two seasons were adapted by Tykwer, von Borries and Handloegten from the novel Der nasse Fisch (The Wet Fish) (2008) by Volker Kutscher[11] and were filmed over eight months beginning in May 2016.
German public broadcaster ARD and pay TV channel Sky co-produced the series, a first time collaboration in German television.[citation needed] As part of the arrangement, Sky broadcast the series first, and ARD started broadcasts by free-to-air television on 30 September 2018. Netflix purchased rights for the United States, Canada, and Australia, where the series became available in 2018 with English dubbing and subtitles.[12]
With a budget of €40 million that increased to €55 million due to reshoots, the series is described as the most expensive television drama series in Germany, [13] as well as the most expensive non-English language television drama series ever produced.[14]
Later seasons
The third season of Babylon Berlin was filmed over six months from late 2018 to May 2019.[15][16] At the 32nd European Film Awards in December 2019, showrunners Achim von Borries, Henk Handloegten and Tom Tykwer stated that the third season was in post-production and that a fourth season was planned.[17]
The third season was developed loosely around the second novel in Volker Kutscher's trilogy The Silent Death. The showrunners chose to diverge from the source material to better address the social and political unrest during the time period as they felt that the Weimar Republic is often overlooked by both media and historical sources.[18] The third season is set in late 1929 around the Black Tuesday stock market crash and navigates the rise of the subversive Black Reichswehr and communist political groups as well as the advent of talkies.[citation needed]
In a January 2020 interview with Berliner Zeitung, actress Liv Lisa Fries said that production would likely begin on the fourth season in late 2020 or early 2021.[19] Planning and writing for the fourth season, based on the novel Goldstein, began in October 2020. Filming began in early 2021[20][21] and was completed in September 2021, with the production having shot for 129 days at Studio Babelsberg and at locations around Berlin. Season 4 is set in late 1930 and early 1931.[22] It premiered on 8 October 2022.[4]
The creators of Babylon Berlin have stated in numerous interviews that they intend to end the series at the year 1933, with the assumption of power by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. While the novels are set one per year, and have currently reached 1937, the seasons of the series have not followed that model, with Seasons 1, 2, and 3 all set in 1929 and Season 4 set in 1930–1931.[citation needed]
Handloegten has stated that: "We decided to go on until 1933... if you call the show Babylon Berlin, it is about this special city in a very special time. And this special time, the Babylon times, the free and liberated times, just ended in 1933."[23] Von Borries has spoken along similar lines, saying:
We always said it was over in 1933. If there is a final season, it would be the first months after the so-called seizure of power before the Reichstag fire. The National Socialists had turned the country upside down so fundamentally that the Babylonian in Berlin was over. After that we don't want to go on.[24]
After Sky Deutschland decided to stop ordering scripted originals in June 2023, the producers of the show ARD Degeto, X Filme Creative Pool and Beta Film committed to developing a fifth season.[2] In a February 2024 interview, star Liv Lisa Fries said the fifth and final season is tentatively scheduled to film in late 2024.[25]
In June 2024, it was announced that the fifth and final season would be filmed in late 2024. It consists of eight episodes and is based on the fifth novel in the series, The March Fallen. It takes place in February 1933, after the inauguration of Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.[26][27] Handloegten, von Borries and Tykwer said in a press release:
In the final season of Babylon Berlin, we put February 1933 under the magnifying glass: Rarely has a society been torn apart more radically in such a short period of time than Germany in this chaotic month. Not only Gereon Rath and Charlotte Ritter, but all our protagonists also must realize that they only have a few options left: Subordinate themselves, risk their lives in open opposition, retreat into inner emigration or flee into exile. However, this decisive month also opens the possibility of changing the course of history at the last second.[27]
Era
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, one of the show's co-creators, Tom Tykwer, spoke about the era:
At the time people did not realize how absolutely unstable this new construction of society which the Weimar Republic represented was. It interested us because the fragility of democracy has been put to the test quite profoundly in recent years... By 1929, new opportunities were arising. Women had more possibilities to take part in society, especially in the labour market as Berlin became crowded with new thinking, new art, theatre, music and journalistic writing.[28]
Nonetheless, Tykwer insisted that he and his co-directors were determined not to idealize the Weimar Republic: "People tend to forget that it was also a very rough era in German history. There was a lot of poverty, and people who had survived the war were suffering from a great deal of trauma."[28]
In the first season, communists, Soviets and especially Trotskyists play a prominent role (the Soviet ambassador to Germany from 1923 to 1930 was former Trotsky ally Nikolay Krestinsky). The show depicts what became known as Blutmai, violence between communist demonstrators and members of the Berlin Police in early May 1929,[29] and extra-legal paramilitary formations promoted by the German Army, known as the Black Reichswehr.[30] In the first season, the Soviet ambassador in Berlin, who appears to be a loyal Stalinist, is involved in the massacre of Trotskyists in the printing shop, who were buried in a mass grave outside the city. According to Nathaniel Flakin, this event never happened.[31] Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, on the other hand, is only mentioned in passing during the first two seasons of Babylon Berlin.[32]
Locations
Production of Babylon Berlin at Babelsberg Studio's Metropolitan Backlot, 2016
Babelsberg Studio constructed a massive addition to its Metropolitan Backlot for the filming of the series and for future productions.[33] This permanent standing set is billed as one of the largest in Europe.[34] The set includes recreations of various Berlin neighbourhoods, from a range of economic classes. It also includes the large exterior of the night club Moka Efti.[35]
In addition, the series was filmed throughout Berlin and at other locations in the surrounding state of Brandenburg. Numerous scenes were filmed on Alexanderplatz in front of the historic Alexanderhaus [de]. The police headquarters, once located directly behind it, and other surrounding buildings, were destroyed in WWII, but were recreated with computer simulations. The Rotes Rathaus (Berlin City Hall) was used for most closeup scenes involving the exterior of the police headquarters, because their red brick appearance and architectural style are very similar. Interiors of the police headquarters lobby were filmed at the Rathaus Schöneberg, including scenes with its paternoster elevator, while the elegant Ratskeller restaurant in the same building was used as the nearby café Aschinger [de][36] in multiple scenes. Other interior scenes in the police headquarters were filmed in the historic Robert-Koch-Forum [de].
A number of new locations were introduced in Season 3. Berlin's Old City Hall served as the interior and exterior of the Berlin Stock Exchange. The Ullsteinhaus was used as the editorial offices of the Tempo (newspaper) newspaper, which were actually located there at the time. The Kammergericht in Berlin served as the Ministry of the Reichswehr. The Cafe Grosz doubled for the historic Romanisches Café, destroyed in WWII. The District Council Hall of the Rathaus Treptow [de] was used for the court room for both Greta's trial in Season 3 and Katelbach's trial in Season 4. The Gästehaus am Lehnitzsee, a hotel housed in the historic Landhaus Adlon [de], the pre-WWII mansion of Louis Adlon, manager of the famed Hotel Adlon, was used as the villa of Edgar and Esther Kasabian.[39]
New locations introduced in Season 4 include the Karl-Marx-Allee, used in multiple episodes as the Kurfürstendamm; the Amtsgericht Wedding, the exterior and interior of which appear in multiple episodes as the Landgericht Berlin-Mitte; and the GASAG Building on Littenstraße, used as the Berlin headquarters of the Nazi Party.[citation needed]
Amtsgericht Wedding, used as the Landgericht Berlin-Mitte in Season 4
Lobby of the Amtsgericht Wedding
GASAG Building
Music
In 2018, the show formed an in-house band, The Moka Efti Orchestra, to perform the original music from the show. The group plays period-era music in a variety of styles ranging from ragtime to klezmer. Named after the nightclub featured in Babylon Berlin, The Moka Efti Orchestra is a 14-member group and is fronted by the Lithuanian actress Severija Janušauskaitė as Svetlana Sorokina. In the first double episode of the first season, Janušauskaitė's character, crossdressing as the male singer Nikoros, performs the main theme of the series, "Zu Asche, zu Staub" in the Moka Efti cabaret. This song was later released and charted on the German singles chart.[40]
The group performed in concert in May 2018 and, due to popular demand, toured the country later that year. With the release of the third season of the show, the musical group released their debut album Erstausgabe (English: First Edition).[40]
In addition to period music, "Dance Away", from the 1979 album Manifesto by Roxy Music, plays occasionally in the background (adapted to the style of the period) and also included is an adaptation of "These Foolish Things" and, in the Season Two finale, a Russian version of "Gloomy Sunday". Singer Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music appears toward the end of the first season as a cabaret singer performing "Bitter-Sweet", half in English, half in German, from the 1974 album Country Life.[41]
A major action sequence in season two takes place during a performance of The Threepenny Opera. The song "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" ("The Ballad of Mack the Knife") is featured in that scene, and also as a plot device. Two different characters hum the tune, giving detective Rath clues to the unfolding plot.[citation needed]
Broadcast
Babylon Berlin premiered in Germany on 13 October 2017 (Sky 1) and in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland on Sunday, 5 November 2017 (Sky Atlantic).[42] The series debuted in Australia, Canada, and the United States on 30 January 2018 (Netflix).[43] Broadcasting on the German TV channel Das Erste started Sunday 30 September 2018.[44] The Swedish broadcast began on 19 June 2019 on SVT.[45]
The third season premiered[12] in Germany on Sky 1 in January 2020;[12] and subsequently on German public television station ARD in October 2020.[46] The international distribution rights for the third season were sold to more than one hundred countries and many different networks including Netflix, HBO Europe, and Viaplay in early 2019.[12][46]
In territories where the show was distributed by Netflix, the third season was released in its entirety on 1 March 2020.[47][48][49] The series was removed from Netflix on 29 February 2024.[50] The first three seasons of the series began streaming again in the United States on MHz Choice on April 16, 2024,[51][52] the fourth season made its US premiere on the service on 25 June 2024.[53]
Episodes
The first and second seasons, of eight episodes each, were written as one story (covering the first novel of the Kutscher book series) and filmed as one production.[54] They premiered as one block, numbered 1–16 and have been broadcast throughout the world en bloc.[55] In addition, all 16 episodes of both seasons were made available simultaneously on Netflix.[56] In many territories the show was broadcast as a season comprising eight double-length episodes.
The second block of 12 episodes are officially known as Season 3 but were broadcast as Season 2 in some territories where the previous episodes premiered as one block.[57][58]
In April 1929, a train bound for Berlin has to stop near Novorzhev due to a burning tree lying on the rails. The engine driver and a train worker are ambushed by several armed, Russian-speaking men. The men couple an additional car to the train, and two Russian men replace the Germans who are killed by shots to the head. Gereon Rath, a morphine addict and World War I veteran who worked as a police inspector in Cologne, is transferred to Berlin. He and his new partner, Bruno Wolter, visit a photographic studio, which is actually a pornographic film set and production studio. As they arrest Johann König, the owner, another man flees and shoots at Gereon but is subdued by Bruno. Bruno lets him go since the man is Franz Krajewski, one of his informants. He fought in World War I and was fired from his job as a policeman because he overreacted in a shoot-out, due to his PTSD. Franz goes to a therapist (Dr. Schmidt), revealing that the police arrested König and are looking for "the film". The therapist later meets with a mysterious man, referred to only as "The Armenian". The Armenian says he will take care of the film. At the police station, Gereon bumps into Charlotte Ritter after stepping out of a paternoster lift. She works as an archivist at the homicide division to provide for her family, who live under pitiable conditions. She and Gereon part ways after gathering up their respective files they had dropped. Two Trotskyists named Kardakov and Svetlana receive a telegram at a printing shop, alerting them that the train will arrive soon.
2
"Episode 2"
13 October 2017 (2017-10-13)
Gereon interrogates Johann König, who had been tortured by a mysterious man before the interrogation. König seizes the inspector's handgun and wants to shoot Gereon, but after Gereon convinces him that his situation is hopeless, Johann commits suicide instead. This triggers Gereon's PTSD, so he rushes to nearby toilets to take some morphine but is unable to do so because of his heavy trembling. Charlotte, in the neighbouring stall, finds him and helps him take his drugs. After this incident, Gereon phones with his father, who is disappointed that the film has not been found, and urges his son to destroy it, should it reappear. Gereon and Bruno are summoned into the office of August Benda, head of the political police, to explain why König was injured after Bruno's interrogation, but neither of them tells the truth. Benda has a private conversation with Gereon and asks him why he had been transferred. Gereon admits that his friend Konrad Adenauer, the mayor of Cologne, was blackmailed with a film that is said to be in Berlin. Adenauer asked Gereon to find it before the elections. Gereon finds Krajewski, who cannot tell him anything about the film. At night, Charlotte visits the Moka Efti, a popular variety theatre. She listens to a singer called Nikoros, who is actually Svetlana in disguise. Charlotte follows one of the patrons to the club's basement, which houses a brothel where she works as a prostitute to supplement her family's income. Svetlana's fellow Trotskyists at the printery are killed by the same men who ambushed the train, but miss Kardakov, who is hiding in the latrine.
3
"Episode 3"
20 October 2017 (2017-10-20)
The Russian train arrives in Berlin. Svetlana appears at the railway and tells the driver that the last car will be redirected to Paris instead of Istanbul as originally planned. When the driver gets suspicious, Svetlana threatens him with a gun but gets stopped by German rail workers and is arrested. The driver goes to Kardakov's boardinghouse, which happens to be Gereon's too. The next day, Benda says during a speech that communist associations have planned to demonstrate on 1 May even though such rallies have been banned in Berlin. When Gereon refuses to tell Bruno anything about his conversation with Benda, Bruno gets angry and arranges for the two of them to oversee the demonstrations together. Gereon returns to his rooming house, where he finds the landlady, Elisabeth Behnke, gagged. He finds the Russian engine driver in his room, and they get into a fistfight. The driver escapes over Gereon's balcony and down onto the street. When the driver then gets kidnapped on the street, Gereon tries to intervene, but fails to save him. The driver gets taken to a warehouse where he is questioned by Trokhin, the Soviet ambassador. The driver admits that the train is loaded with a large number of gold bars belonging to Svetlana Sorokina.
4
"Episode 4"
20 October 2017 (2017-10-20)
Gereon and Bruno search the apartments of alleged communists during demonstrations, but find no incriminating evidence. As they leave, a large convoy of policemen begins randomly firing at the crowds which horrifies Gereon. He and Bruno flee into a nearby house where two civilian women standing on a balcony are hit by bullets and seriously wounded. Gereon is able to find Dr. Volcker, a female doctor who treats poor people and is a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). The wounded women die before Volcker and Gereon can reach them. Later, Gereon and Charlotte, who now compiles reports, go to the morgue to examine the body of the Russian engine driver. Charlotte points out how the victim's bruises are even and that he therefore probably did not die from natural causes. Gereon recognises the corpse as that of the man who had broken into his apartment. Charlotte meets Greta, an old friend, and takes her to the Moka Efti. Bruno meets Charlotte at the Moka Efti and blackmails her into spying on Gereon.
5
"Episode 5"
27 October 2017 (2017-10-27)
Kardakov is shot by Svetlana after she calls the Soviets to her apartment. Dr. Volcker leads a mass rally in front of the police station protesting the killings during the Blutmai riot and the police hold a press conference claiming self-defence but decorate a police officer accidentally shot by his toddler. Gereon continues to investigate the picture. Following Gereon's tip, Charlotte breaks into Svetlana's apartment to investigate and finds a book dropped by Kardakov. Kardakov tells the Armenian about the Sorokin gold. Gereon and Charlotte interview Trechkov, who gives them the address for the Red Fortress printing house.
6
"Episode 6"
27 October 2017 (2017-10-27)
Kardakov goes to the Armenian for help. Katelbach asks Gereon for help to investigate the wounded police officer. Stephan invites Charlotte and Greta to the rowing club where Greta meets Fritz, a KPD member. Gereon struggles writing a favourable police report of the riot shooting, despite pressure from Zorgiebel. Major General Seegers discusses Operation Prangertag on Nyssen's family estate. Bruno helps Gereon find Krajewski, who take him into custody for questioning. Kardakov goes with the Armenian and his men to the railway yard to find the gold but accidentally releases poison gas from the mislabelled railcar.
7
"Episode 7"
3 November 2017 (2017-11-03)
Greta is employed by Benda despite her inexperience. Dr. Schmidt conducts a lecture on PTSD, which is denounced by the audience. A mysterious priest provides a barbiturate to the pharmacist to give to Gereon. Charlotte investigates the Anhalter freight yard as the railcars are being inspected by the Soviets. Benda takes over the inspection with police officers and informs Gereon that he is investigating illegal weapons imports by the Black Reichswehr. Charlotte goes with Stephan to investigate the Red Fortress printer. Bruno invites Gereon to a Black Reichswehr gathering, whose attendees display stab-in-the-back myth beliefs. Gereon recounts being captured on the front line after carrying his brother from no man's land.
8
"Episode 8"
3 November 2017 (2017-11-03)
Nyssen is interrogated by Benda about the chemical weapons. Benda's family goes on a vacation, so Benda has dinner alone with Greta. Krajewski divulges the location of the film to Gereon and Bruno. Gereon breaks into the safe in the Armenian's private room at the Moka Efti, and escapes with the films after a shoot-out with the Armenian's men. Gereon and Bruno destroy the films after watching several known politicians on the films, including Gereon's father. Gereon and Bruno celebrate the success of the investigation but the Armenian's contacts drug Gereon. Gereon is pursued by the priest before losing consciousness.
Season 2 (2017)
The second-season episodes were written and directed by Henk Handloegten, Achim von Borries, and Tom Tykwer.
No.
Title
Original release date
1
"Episode 9"
10 November 2017 (2017-11-10)
A mass grave of fifteen bodies from the Red Fortress print shop is discovered and Gereon is assigned to Homicide to investigate the execution-style murders. Charlotte provides Gereon with the waybill showing the original railcar number of the Sorokin gold. The Homicide investigation team identifies the mysterious priest as Saint Joseph Wilczek, who was found killed. Nyssen is released from prison in time to attend a Nyssen AG Board meeting, only to discover he has been removed from the Board by his mother. Helga and Moritz surprise Gereon by arriving in Berlin after his brother Anno is officially declared killed in action.
2
"Episode 10"
10 November 2017 (2017-11-10)
Gereon and Helga re-kindle their relationship, but Moritz does not approve. At the Moka Efti, Charlotte eavesdrops on a meeting between Trokhin, Wendt and Zorgiebel regarding the seized train. Greta talks to Fritz, who is walking in the funeral procession for the women shot during the riot. Gereon arrests Soviet embassy attachés Selenski and Fallin after finding ballistic evidence tying the Soviets to the massacre. Stephan spies on a meeting where Wendt divulges the location of the train. Benda and Gereon confront Trokhin with the massacre evidence, where Benda offers Trokhin a deal to cover up the incident in exchange for information on the Black Reichswehr personnel responsible for the illegal arms shipments. Böhm investigates the Saint Josef murder. Stephan is killed by unknown attackers.
3
"Episode 11"
17 November 2017 (2017-11-17)
In exchange for releasing Selenski and Fallin, Trokhin provides Gereon evidence that Beck and Seegers have been developing a secret German Air Force in Lipetsk. Following a tip off from the Armenian, Gereon listens to a radio broadcast by Dr Schmidt, discussing psychiatric treatment. Gereon and Graf fly to Lipetsk to get photographic evidence of the secret airbase. Gereon recalls memories of killing Saint Josef. Benda informs Minister Gustav Stresemann of the Black Reichswehr investigation, who is aware and sympathetic to the cause.
4
"Episode 12"
17 November 2017 (2017-11-17)
Playing in the former LUX-factories, Moritz finds Stephan's body. Homicide detectives question Gereon and Bruno after ballistics evidence shows the same gun killed Saint Josef and Stephan, while Gereon and Bruno suspect each other. Gereon moves Helga and Moritz out of Bruno's home to a hotel. Fritz visits Greta in Benda's house. Gereon asks Charlotte to help translate Stephan's shorthand diary after finding it in Bruno's house. Charlotte is kidnapped by a familiar face from the train tracks who appears to be aligned with unknown assailants.
5
"Episode 13"
24 November 2017 (2017-11-24)
Charlotte is brought to the Armenian and locked in the Moka Efti fridge when she cannot answer questions about the Sorokin gold. Behnke discovers the import authorization form for the train dropped underneath Gereon's bed at the rooming house. Benda convinces the Prussian Court to authorise an arrest of Seegers, Beck and other members of the Black Reichswehr. Bruno shows Moritz how to shoot a rifle after he finds an arms cache in the Wolters' apartment block basement. Benda and Gereon interrogate the Black Reichswehr. Bruno and the Black Reichswehr set Operation Prangertag in motion, a government coup to install Erich Ludendorff as Chancellor and restore the emperor, Wilhelm II. Greta sees Fritz get shot by police outside the KPD office. Gereon questions Svetlana about the Sorokin gold. After reading a detailed article by Katelbach on the Black Reichswehr, Gereon goes with Katelbach to meet his informant.
6
"Episode 14"
24 November 2017 (2017-11-24)
Katelbach's informant is murdered before the meeting with Gereon. Gereon and Benda interrogate General Seegers before all the arrested officers are released. Otto tells Greta that Benda's men killed Fritz and she says she will do anything to get revenge. As part of Operation Prangertag, Bruno and Scheer attempt the assassination of the German and French foreign ministers but fail due to Gereon’s intervention. Charlotte translates Stephan's diary and informs the Armenian of the train robbery. President Hindenburg arrives prior to the press conference and removes General Seegers and orders the train to be returned to the Soviet Union.
7
"Episode 15"
1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
Gereon and Charlotte inform Benda of the train robbery and attempt to intercept the robbery against Benda's orders. Greta lets Otto plant a bomb in Benda's home office. Charlotte is shown to drown as the car that she is riding in with Gereon gets run off the road by Bruno into a lake. Greta arms the bomb and tries to flee Berlin but changes her mind as she runs into Fritz at the train station, now dressed in a Sturmabteilung (SA) uniform. Greta runs back to the Benda house but is too late to stop the bomb from detonating, killing Councillor August Benda and his daughter Margot.
8
"Episode 16"
1 December 2017 (2017-12-01)
It is revealed that Gereon managed to revive Charlotte. Henning and Czerwinski pick up Gereon and board the train. Bruno and the Black Reichswehr halt the train but are ambushed by the Armenian's gang. Gereon confronts Bruno on the train and discovers that the gold is actually fake. Henning and Czerwinski incapacitate the Armenian gang with anaesthetic gas while Bruno starts the train. After fighting with Gereon on top of the train, Bruno is killed after causing a gas explosion. Wendt becomes the new Head of the Political Police and wants Gereon to unofficially lead a new covert Internal Review department that investigates internal political crimes and corruption. Charlotte becomes a deputy homicide detective. Observing the Sorokin painting in Svetlana's apartment, Gereon and Charlotte deduce that Svetlana is an imposter and that the round container of the freight train car, not its content (which was fake gold), was made of pure gold. In Paris, Kardakov watches Svetlana sing in a cabaret. Gereon is attacked by a KPD group led by Dr. Volcker but is rescued by the Armenian and taken to Dr. Schmidt. Under hypnosis, Gereon realises the truth: that he did not attempt to rescue his brother Anno, who was injured in no-man's-land but that he in fact ran away. The badly scarred Dr Schmidt is actually Gereon's brother, Anno.
Season 3 (2020)
No.
Title
Original release date
1
"Episode 17"
24 January 2020 (2020-01-24)
The series opens with Rath at the stock exchange, where share prices have plummeted and people are committing suicide. We then go back to five weeks earlier, 20 September 1929. Charlotte tries to visit Greta in prison but she does not want to see her; in the meantime she takes her crime scene permit exam, but is failed by Ulrich on a technicality, against Gennat's wishes. Walter Weintraub, in prison for tax evasion, is fingerprinted and a sample of his hair placed on file and then released from prison. At the set of a new sound film, a hooded figure boobytraps a spotlight, which falls and kills the film's star, Betty Winter. The film's producer, Bellman, informs the Armenian, who is his financier, of the incident.
At the film studio, Bellman tries to get Rath to declare the death an accident, for insurance purposes. Weintraub is greeted affectionately at the home of his business partner, Edgar (the Armenian). Nyssen and his mother are reassured that the stock market is booming and she wants to make a large investment. Rath reviews the footage of Winter's death and notices that one actress, Tilly Brooks, appeared to be looking up. Edgar and Weintraub visit Moka Efti, which has been closed due to damage from a water pipe explosion. Edgar thinks the damage to the club and Winter's death were not accidents but has covered the murder up as their million-dollar investment is at stake.
2
"Episode 18"
24 January 2020 (2020-01-24)
Greta goes on trial, where Benda's widow gives passionate testimony against her. Rath discovers that Wendt has ordered Greta's files to be sealed. The police find out that the electrician in charge of the spotlight that killed Winter had been impersonated by a former co-worker, Felix Krempin. The death is deemed a murder, for which insurance will not cover the losses. Tilly Brooks tells Rath that she saw a ghost-like man in a cloak when the spotlight fell and confesses to Charlotte that she overheard Winter argue with her husband, co-star Tristan Rot, about going to America. Rath confronts Wendt about Greta, but is told to focus instead on Hans Litten, a Communist Party lawyer, who he says is demanding that Zörgiebel be put on trial. Rath shares his suspicions with Charlotte that Wendt is covering up for the Nazis and they agree to try to help Greta. A Nazi party organizer, Stennes, meets with Wendt at his estate and tells him he must handle the threat of Greta's testifying against the Nazis or there will be no more assistance. Rath catches Krempin, who admits to sabotage but denies killing Winter, before being shot dead by a cloaked figure, resembling the figure Brooks saw.
3
"Episode 19"
31 January 2020 (2020-01-31)
The murderer of Betty Winter is now dubbed The Phantom by the Press. Sebald locates Greta's child in an orphanage and takes custody in Wendt's name. Wegener, posing as a securities auditor, gathers investment information from various people from all walks of life, including Böhm. They have all bought stocks on loaned money and Nyssen realises that a collapse is inevitable. Ulrich finds a ballistics match on the gun belonging to Krempin, but at normal viewing it is not possible to see the name of the owner (pausing shows that it belongs to Sandor Grostozny); he tries to tell Gennat immediately but is shut down for violating the chain of command and decides to keep the information secret out of spite. Weintraub gets rough with the insurance adjustor who has denied Edgar's claim.
Recasting of Winter's role begins at Babelsberg. Rath interrogates Tristan Rot, who admits to an occult connection with Krempin. The cloak is discovered to be Rot's costume for the film, and a seamstress admits that Krempin got her to steal a copy of it but confirms his alibi for Winter's murder. Tilly Brooks is cast in Winter's role, with the others not being given a chance to audition but Vera, who had also wanted the starring role, locks Tilly in the dressing room. The producers, angered by Tilly not showing up on the set, replace her with Vera. Tilly is killed by the cloaked figure, whom Charlotte then sees escaping from the window to the courtyard.
4
"Episode 20"
31 January 2020 (2020-01-31)
Greta recants her testimony, now stating that communists rather than Nazis incited her to plant the bomb. Despite Charlotte's account of what happened at the film studio, Gennat assigns Böhm to lead the investigation in Rath's place. In prison, Greta is attacked by Dr. Völcker, who tries to find out why she changed her story and blamed the Communists. Amongst Krempin's belongings, Rath finds a box of occult items and a secret invitation to a ceremony at Rot's house. Charlotte is given a bundle of her mother's letters by her former neighbour and finds a postcard from "E", who may be her real father. Helga meets with Nyssen, who offers to let her use the suite, which belongs to his family, for as long as she wants. Rath asks Henning to find Helga. At Rath's bidding, Gräf gets into the archives to photograph Greta's interrogation documents. The archive attendant remembers him from the red-light district and forces him to perform oral sex. Later, Gräf and Rath look at the photos and notice Katelbach's name on a secret list compiled by the political police. Over drinks, Gräf tells Rath about how Gennat pulled him off the street and got him a job as police photographer. He hints at his love for Rath and they dance together drunkenly. Charlotte goes dancing with Vera, who is her old friend from Moka Efti. She encourages Charlotte to go find "E" and comes onto her. They go home together.
5
"Episode 21"
7 February 2020 (2020-02-07)
Rath, Böhm and Charlotte attend the secret gathering at Tristan Rot's house. Masked and cloaked, they watch as Dr. Schmidt summons Betty Winter's spirit in a seance, before Böhm breaks the ceremony up with a gunshot. Schmidt scurries off, seen by Rath (who calls him "Anno") and gives Rath a hypnotic command to forget he saw him. Rath meets with Katelbach and admits that he was toeing the company line when he gave his testimony in the Zörgiebel case. Rath warns him that his name is on the secret list along with Litten's. Katelbach tells him about a manuscript proving Lufthansa's illegal work with the Reichswehr and warns him not to trust anybody.
In an interrogation, Rot admits that he needed to get into the courtyard as part of the process of reconnecting with Winter's soul. Edgar and Weintraub meet with rival gangs and accuse them of trying to sabotage their operation, which they deny.
Böhm gives Charlotte a menial assignment but Rath tells her to instead investigate the secret list. A Nazi agitator named Horst Kessler, whose name is on the list, hires a sex worker named Erna for the night, with plans to rescue her from her pimp, Ali. In court, Greta is sentenced to death and refuses to appeal. Rath finds out where Helga is staying, and when he goes to the hotel he sees flowers and a note from 'A', but only Moritz is there. Dr. Völcker arranges to be assigned as Greta's new cellmate.
6
"Episode 22"
7 February 2020 (2020-02-07)
Wendt's henchmen, including Kessler, raid the offices of Tempo and beat up Heymann. Katelbach flees with the documents. General Seegers' daughter, Marie-Luise (MaLu), who is a law student and volunteers in Litten's office, reluctantly agrees to attend Frau Nyssen's party with him and her sister. Helga refuses to let Moritz attend a Nazi Youth outing.
Two names, NSDAP members Richard Pechtmann and Horst Kessler, stand out on the secret list with initials beside them and Rath discovers that they are Fritz's and Otto's real names. Litten agrees to take Greta's case pro bono and Charlotte offers to help at the office in return. Kessler and Pechtmann search Elisabeth's apartment. She hides Katelbach and delivers the documents to Heymann, after losing Pechtmann's tail. Helga finds out that she's pregnant. Pretending to be a Nazi, Rath breaks into Kessler's rooms and finds Erna who tells him Kessler is at a Hitler Youth camp.
At the Nyssen soirée, MaLu discusses politics with Wendt. Wendt proposes allowing the Nazis to create civil unrest to further the conservatives' plans; the General disagrees. Stresemann suddenly walks in and asserts that the monarchists and the military should work together. Moritz asks to move in with Rath and gives him a letter from Helga asking him to let her go. Weintraub denies Esther the lead role in the film. Charlotte confronts Vera about her relationship with Weintraub and she admits that he told her to lie that they were together when Winter was murdered.
7
"Episode 23"
14 February 2020 (2020-02-14)
Unable to find Rath, Charlotte asks Czerwinski and Henning to put surveillance on Weintraub without telling Böhm. Litten enters an appeal for Greta and the judge calls Wendt. Rath tracks down Pechtmann and brings him in for a police lineup with Greta, who denies knowing him and Rath has to let him go. Ullrich goes over Tilly's possessions and in a locket finds a hair that belongs to Weintraub, thus revealing him as the murderer. Nyssen describes to the General's group how the manipulation of over-extended small investors is about to cause the economy to collapse and suggests that, by short-selling massive amounts of stock, they could make billions, creating an opportunity to change society radically. Wendt is intrigued, but the others scoff.
Czerwinski and Henning observe Weintraub arriving at Babelsberg and ordering his men to protect Vera. Rath and Charlotte arrive at the studio as well, but The Phantom kills Vera's guard and stabs her, but she wounds him and escapes. Rath intervenes but is also injured and the Phantom escapes. A disoriented Vera appears on a catwalk above the soundstage; The Phantom appears and throws Charlotte off the catwalk. She barely survives by grabbing a chain. The Phantom carries Vera to the roof and Charlotte and the others watch as The Phantom and Vera plunge from the roof. Vera is killed and the Phantom injured in the fall. The Phantom's mask comes off, revealing Weintraub.
8
"Episode 24"
14 February 2020 (2020-02-14)
Pechtmann meets with Wendt to blackmail him, but is killed by him instead. A seriously injured Weintraub lies in the Charité hospital; Rath is also being treated there. Gennat publicly announces that the murderer has been caught, although his identity is not revealed. Esther tries to convince Edgar that Weintraub cannot be the murderer, and shows him how Weintraub went to prison for him. Helga visits Rath in hospital to tell him about the pregnancy and he confronts her about the identity of "A." and also questions whether he is the father. Moritz goes on a hunting trip with the Hitler Youth and swears allegiance to Hitler. The prison warden notifies Litten that Greta's execution is set for five days' time, even though the appeal has not been processed. She is confused when Greta denies Litten is her lawyer. Greta confides in Dr. Völcker that she lied because of threats to her child.
Katelbach's article about the Reichswehr/Lufthansa illegal arms deal is published, causing him to be sued for treason. Wendt calls Nyssen and says he will persuade the General's group if Nyssen asks his mother for 100 million to invest in the short-buy scheme. During a power cut, Edgar visits Rath in hospital and seeks confirmation that Weintraub is guilty. Rath later finds that Weintraub has been taken from his hospital bed. Dr. Schmidt revives Weintraub with ECT. He tells Edgar that the real Phantom pushed Vera and him off the roof and admits to loving Esther. Helga arranges for an illegal abortion. Charlotte performs in a sex show to earn money for Ilse's surgery. Edgar confronts Esther about being lovers with Weintraub as the police arrive to search their house.
9
"Episode 25"
21 February 2020 (2020-02-21)
Esther has the idea of the film's plot changing so that the main character is a 'man-machine', so that she can play her, thereby completing the film's shoot; she also helps Weintraub hide and recover at the studio. Police interrogate Edgar while conducting a city-wide search for Weintraub. Charlotte takes Ilse to meet the eye doctor; the surgery appears to be successful and Ilse is told to remove the bandages in three days. Horst pays Ali to release Erna but Stennes tells Horst to get rid of her and move address. Wendt questions Rath about Katelbach and gets a warrant to search Elisabeth's place, but comes up empty; Rath has ensured that he appears to be genuinely trying to find Katelbach to avoid Wendt's suspicions, but in fact he is hiding him in his own flat.
Nyssen forges a document to obtain power of attorney from his mother and enters into a three-month short futures contract with the bank. Rath talks to Helga about Moritz, who wants to stay with him, and gets into a fight with Nyssen, who he suspects is "A.", over her. Litten takes on Katelbach's treason charge and without Litten's knowledge, Malu offers to provide secret Reichswehr plans to Elisabeth for Katelbach's case. At Gräf's birthday party, Charlotte and Rath admit their attraction for one another and kiss. Ali is confronted by Wendt's henchman, who gives him a gun and pays him to kill Horst.
10
"Episode 26"
21 February 2020 (2020-02-21)
The homicide department brings in Dr. Schmidt to conduct a psychic reading to find Weintraub. At her suggestion, a follow-up inspection on the roof of the film studios is carried out and Rath finds a bloody knife, identical to the one already found where Weintraub and Vera fell. Edgar is released from jail and makes peace with Esther, and accepts that she will complete the film. He discover's Weintraub's hiding place and tells him that, once he has recovered, he must leave his house and never have anything to do with Esther and himself again.
Charlotte convinces Greta to accept Litten's representation. Nyssen's mother is furious when he tells her of the current 11 million Reichsmark loss on the 106 million Reichsmarks futures position and threatens to have him declared mentally incompetent. Ali goes to kill Horst at his apartment during a Hitler Youth meeting, and shoots him dead as Moritz and his friend knock at the door; Ali goes to shoot Erna as well but is out of bullets and he runs off; Rath is watching the address from the street and runs over when Moritz appears but Ali gets away. Charlotte asks Cziczewicz about Toni's whereabouts and stumbles across Helga's illegal abortion. Malu photographs documents at night in the Reichswehr Ministry, as promised to Elizabeth. Ulrich plants Weintraub's fingerprints on the newly discovered knife.
11
"Episode 27"
28 February 2020 (2020-02-28)
In a flashback to two weeks earlier, Ullrich approaches Gosztony at his beverage store with evidence that ties him to the Krempin murder. He blackmails Bela and Sandor Gosztony, who have previous convictions, to continue killing those associated with the film in the manner of the Betty Winter murder he knows Sandor committed when Krempin refused, using the Phantom costume which he knows will attract press attention. Back in the present, Ulrich shows Rath that Weintraub's fingerprints are on the knife that was discovered, but Charlotte is not convinced as the attacker wore gloves. Wendt is given Benda's diary by his widow; it proves that Zörgiebel ordered the police to start shooting during the Blutmai riots, and Wendt confronts Zörgiebel with the diary to try to get him to resign. Nyssen attempts suicide, but is saved by Helga who having found a suicide note in her room rushes to Alfred's home. Ilse's husband confronts Charlotte at work over Ilse's surgery which has made her almost blind, believing she made an appointment with an incompetent physician. Gereon and Zörgiebel suspect Wendt arranged Benda's murder and then covered up all the evidence, ensuring all those involved are killed, but lack enough evidence to act. Malu gives photographic evidence of plans by the Reichswehr to illegally rearm to Elisabeth, who forwards it to Katelbach and Rath.
Charlotte inspects Weintraub's fingerprints and points out the suspected forgery to Ulrich, who knocks her unconscious. Ulrich kills Weißhaupt, his assistant, then gives her a potentially lethal insulin injection. Ulrich also injects Rath, who has come to police HQ with Graf to develop the film, but Rath shoots and wounds Ulrich. Gennat, who is sleeping in the office, is taken hostage by Ulrich, who conducts a lecture in the auditorium to an imaginary press corps. In the 'lecture' Ulrich reveals that the Gosztony brothers wanted to bankrupt the film production as revenge against Edgar for cutting out Sandor's tongue and feeding it to his brother, and that Ulrich conspired to falsify the police evidence and frame Weintraub. Rath saves himself by finding sugar cubes and eating them, then finds Charlotte alive. He confronts Ulrich in the lecture hall, and police save Gennat and Ulrich is arrested before he can shoot himself.
12
"Episode 28"
28 February 2020 (2020-02-28)
Whilst having a meeting with Wendt, Stresemann has a heart attack, and Wendt ignores Stresemann's pleas for help until he is sure he is dead. Edgar and Weintraub kill Sandor while he is in police custody, after bribing some officers. Litten obtains a stay of execution for Greta on the day of Stresemann's funeral, and the judge informs Wendt, who proceeds to the prison to prevent the warden finding out about the stay. Charlotte tries to prevent Greta's execution but is prevented from delivering the stay by prison guards following Wendt's orders and Greta is beheaded. Toni, blaming Charlotte for their sister's blindness, leaves home and leaves a note for Charlotte telling her not to try to find her.
Rath, who is wearing a wire, goes to the Hoppegarten racetrack and gets Wendt to admit to orchestrating the Benda murder, expediting Greta's execution as a cover-up, and arranging for the deaths of Pechtman and Horst, while Gräf secretly records the conversation. Zörgiebel resigns and Albert Grzesinski appoints himself Chief of Police, much to Wendt's frustration. The film (Dämonen der Leidenschaft) is finally finished and has a successful premiere, but a bad review by Jacobi (who has now become Gräf's lover) in Tempo. As Nyssen predicted, Wall Street collapses and throws the Berlin Stock Exchange into chaos. At the stock exchange, Böhm, who had borrowed heavily in the stock market, is talked out of suicide by Rath. The final scene, as Rath leaves the stock exchange, mirrors the first scene of the series' first episode.
Season 4 (2022)
No.
Title
Original release date
1
"Episode 29"
8 October 2022 (2022-10-08)
It is New Years' Eve, December 31, 1930, and the Great Depression has hit Berlin with full force. Gereon attends a meeting of the SA led by the headstrong OberführerWalter Stennes, who ignores orders from Nazi leadership to abstain from any street fighting, and leads his brownshirts in an attack on Jewish businesses on the Kurfürstendamm. Nearby, Gereon's nephew Moritz and several friends prepare a Judenboykottbanner drop on the roof of the Tietz department store, which Charlotte's runaway sister Toni and her boyfriend, Benni, are coincidentally simultaneously burgling. Police from the local precinct, Section 14, arrive and chase the couple to the roof. Moritz helps Toni hide as an officer, Kuschke, pushes Benni to his death. Charlotte is sent to photograph the crime scene; spotting Toni in a crowd of onlookers, she chases after her, only to run into Gereon, whom Charlotte is surprised to see wearing an SA uniform. Meanwhile, Alfred Nyssen throws a New Year's Eve party, where, to his mother's distress, he presents Helga Rath with a family heirloom - a diamond called the Blue Rothschild - and announces their elopement. Nyssen also announces his company's intention to start building rockets, which he hopes will one day bring Germans to the moon. Upon seeing the Blue Rothschild, Jewish businessman Jacob Grün makes a distressed call to his nephew, Abe Gold, in Brooklyn, as Frau Nyssen's manservant Wegener eavesdrops. After the party, Colonel Wendt and Marie-Luise Seegers spend the night together.
2
"Episode 30"
8 October 2022 (2022-10-08)
Toni cuts her hair in a public bathroom. Now together, Walter Weintraub and Esther Kasabian visit the grave of her late husband Edgar, "the Armenian," who died the year prior. The body of Friedhelm Oelschläger, a civil official, is found in a park with his throat cut; papers found on his body indicate that he was working with Ringvereine gambling operations across Berlin masquerading as legitimate non-profits. Wendt arrives at the police lockup to secure the release of several brownshirts, including Gereon, but leaves the disobedient Stennes imprisoned. Charlotte confronts Gereon, who forcefully defends his membership in the SA. Gereon later privately reports his successful infiltration of the organization to Chief Grzesinski. A coat belonging to Toni is recovered from the Tietz crime scene and brought to Charlotte; she covertly stashes it in her desk and replaces it with another, but is seen doing so by Böhm. Toni is arrested trying to pawn jewelry from the burglary. She is brought in for questioning and Charlotte slips her the key to her holding cell, aiding her escape. When the Homicide Department meet to debrief the Tietz burglary and Oelschläger murder, Charlotte reveals that Gereon has joined the SA, and Böhm exposes Charlotte's role in covering up her sister's crimes. Gennat dismisses Charlotte from the Criminal Investigations Department.
3
"Episode 31"
15 October 2022 (2022-10-15)
Businessman Abe Gold flies from New York to Berlin, determined to retrieve the Blue Rothschild. Gereon questions Weintraub about the Oelschläger murder; Weintraub reveals that the official was helping the Ringvereine across Berlin to secure gaming and club licenses, and that few benefit from his demise. Gereon meets with Stennes in prison and informs him that Hitler has personally ordered Stennes removed from his party leadership position in Berlin for disobeying orders on the night of the Kurfürstendamm attack; Stennes intimates that there is evidence that Wendt is gay and entreats Gereon to find it. Arndt, one of Moritz's friends from the Tietz rooftop, sees Wendt riding by a gay cruising site in a park and recognizes him. Toni goes to hide out with her friend Renate, only to find that Renate's mother, family friend Frau Cziczewicz, has died, and her children are living together unsupervised. Toni cases Behnke's home for a robbery. Charlotte participates in a days-long dance marathon at Moka Efti, with a prize of 1000 marks. On the first night, Gräf joins her and provides her with moral support after her sacking from homicide. Gereon visits Dr. Schmidt's laboratory to find him performing tests of the methamphetamine Pervitin on animals; Dr. Schmidt tells Gereon he is preparing to test it on humans.
4
"Episode 32"
15 October 2022 (2022-10-15)
Benni's killer Kuschke takes part in a meeting of the White Hand, a secret society carrying out extrajudicial killings of criminals and the poor. As Abe Gold arrives in Berlin on the Graf Zeppelin, MaLu Seegers is reunited with her lover Oskar Kulanin, a Russian spy who was also on the airship. On the second day of the dance marathon, Charlotte is joined by her lover Rudi, a police coroner. He tells her his autopsy revealed that Benni was pushed from the roof, but the coroner buried the evidence. Arndt attempts to blackmail Wendt, but Wendt sees through him and Arndt expresses his relief, because he admires Wendt and was only acting under orders from Stennes. At Wendt's urging, Nyssen pivots his rocket-building enterprise towards producing missiles. Gereon meets with Katelbach and Litten, who are preparing to face trial for exposing the workings of the Black Reichswehr. Their associate Heynmann surmises that Oelschläger was killed in preparation for the fixing of a boxing match run by Weintraub; his suspicions are borne out when an unknown man coerces the fighters to stage a dive for a massive payout. Officer Naumann, a colleague of Kuschke's from Section 14 catches Toni and prepares to execute her, but she is saved when Moritz stabs the officer in the back. Arndt tells the police that Toni killed Naumann. Gereon interrupts the dance marathon to tell Charlotte that the police are searching for her sister. They go to Frau Cziczewicz's, where Renate lies and says Toni is not there. Charlotte faints from exhaustion and Gereon takes her home.
5
"Episode 33"
22 October 2022 (2022-10-22)
Abe Gold breaks into Nyssen's castle and forces him to open the safe containing the Blue Rothschild, only to find it missing. Gold kidnaps Helga and vows to hold her hostage until the gem is found. Katelbach's trial begins, but ends just as quickly, after the judges receive a mysterious message from high-ranking officials. Without allowing the defense to present witnesses or evidence, they seal the trial to the public and the media and summarily sentence Katelbach and Heynmann to 18 months in prison for treason and defamation. Before he is spirited off to jail, Katelbach proposes to Frau Behnke. While she is at the trial, Toni's friend burglarizes Behnke's boarding house, inadvertently stealing a set of negatives capable of proving Katelbach's innocence. The winning betting slips for Weintraub's boxing match go unredeemed by the fight's fixer, but a fellow crime boss, Red Hugo, is found dead in Weintraub's boxing gym with the slips nailed to his body. Max Fuchs, an underling of Weintraub with connections to the mysterious fixer, begins making moves to take over Weintraub's operation. Gereon and Charlotte reconcile after he confides in her that he was placed in the SA as part of a secret plan by Chief Grzesinski in hopes of eventually criminalizing the NSDAP. Arndt confesses to Moritz that he lied and told the police that Toni killed Naumann because he is in love with Moritz and wanted to protect him. Charlotte and Rudi confide in Gereon that higher-ups in the police department are attempting to cover up Benni's murder. Charlotte and Gereon discover that Kuschke's precinct, Section 14, has been murdering vagrants and criminals and staging the killings to appear accidental. Walking to Gereon's flat after work with the evidence, Rudi is stabbed by officer Kuschke.
6
"Episode 34"
22 October 2022 (2022-10-22)
Dr. Völcker is sprung from a prison work camp with the help of Kulanin. The two of them confide in MaLu their plan to kill Wendt. Moritz confesses to the killing of officer Naumann and is jailed. The officers of Section 14 are called in for questioning; all pin the suspicious death of Benni on the recently deceased Naumann. Charlotte visits Litten to apply for work, and learns that all victims of Section 14 were sentenced by the same judge, Ferdinand Voss. She visits Voss' court, and under the pretense that she is still a detective, gains access to his files. Unbeknownst to Charlotte, Voss is in fact the leader of the White Hand, an extra-legal vigilante court. Toni and her siblings are visited by child services and sent to the Sonnenborn youth home. Helga tells Gold that Frau Nyssen is most likely to know the location of the Blue Rothschild, so he kidnaps the matriarch as well, imprisoning her with her daughter-in-law. Weintraub and Esther are narrowly saved from assassination when their bodyguard opens a car door and detonates a bomb hidden within. Gereon visits Moritz in remand, and returns home to find Charlotte there. The two make love.
7
"Episode 35"
29 October 2022 (2022-10-29)
Wendt comes into possession of Katelbach's negatives and burns them. Gereon has a nightmare about Dr. Schmidt testing the Pervitin on him, causing him to kill another man in a fight. Weintraub confesses to Esther that he had the Armenian assassinated after the latter tried to kill him first; Esther leaves him. A series of gang-related killings sweeps Berlin, and the police receive a crate containing the corpse of Red Hugo. Gereon tracks the crate to an abandoned warehouse where he finds the body of another crime lord, Rat-Robert, and a living Edgar Kasabian, who has been orchestrating the chaos in Berlin's underworld. The Armenian asks Gereon to broker a peace conference meeting between the leaders of Berlin's Ringvereine. If Gereon does this, the Armenian promises to kill Dr. Schmidt and set Gereon free of his control. Nyssen asks Jacob Grün to make a copy of the Blue Rothschild, so he can trade it for the freedom of Helga and his mother, but Grün says it would be impossible to reproduce the gem. Gold and Jacob Grün attempt to meet at a dining club to discuss his kidnapping the women for the Blue Rothschild; they are denied entry as Jews. A desperate Nyssen meets with Dr. Schmidt, who convinces him to give up on Helga and his mother, and enjoy his freedom from them. Charlotte inquires with the mothers of children killed by Section 14; she finds that most had been sentenced to Sonnenborn and were autopsied by Dr. Schwarz, Rudi's supervisor at the police morgue. Charlotte calls Sonnenborn, only to discover that the matron, Helene, is Judge Voss' wife. Nyssen tells his servant Wegener he has no intention of trying to get Helga and his mother back. Outraged at this decision, Wegener retreats to his room, where it's revealed that he stole the Blue Rothschild.
8
"Episode 36"
29 October 2022 (2022-10-29)
Aided by Charlotte and Gereon, Litten, MaLu, and Behnke are able to obtain a first-hand document proving that the Black Reichswehr is re-arming. Gräf takes photos of Wendt having sex with Arndt in the gay cruising site in the park, and Gereon blackmails Wendt to secure Stennes' release. At the Moka Efti, Stennes and Gereon instigate a brawl between Stennes' SA loyalists and members of the SS. Gereon arranges for the bosses of the Ringvereine to meet under his protection. Wegener promises to return the Blue Rothschild to Gold. Gold reconnects with his extended family for Shabbat dinner, where Grün insists that his meeting with Wegener is likely a trap. Gold misses their appointed rendezvous. Charlotte sneaks into police headquarters at night and discovers Rudi's body on the coroner's slab; seeing Kuschke and others from Section 14 loading Dr. Schwarz into a truck, she jumps on the back.
9
"Episode 37"
5 November 2022 (2022-11-05)
Kulanin demands the Reichswehr document from MaLu for Soviet intelligence; MaLu refuses, and Kulanin takes it from her by force. The truck brings Charlotte to Sonnenberg, where the White Hand performs show trials and executions. There, she runs into her sister Toni and Renate; Renate escapes and calls Gereon for backup, while Kuschke finds and attacks Toni and Charlotte, who kills Kuschke and barricades the White Hand members in their courtroom until the police arrive to arrest them all. Helga escapes from Gold's makeshift prison on the barge, choosing to leave Frau Nyssen behind. When Gold returns, Nyssen tells him that the Blue Rothschild that Gold is looking for is a forgery, that the original was lost on a shipwreck in Odessa in 1915, which also killed his father, and her husband, who was smuggling the gem into Germany for him. Seeing through her lie, Gold leaves her to die on the sinking barge. Weintraub repossesses Esther's share in the Moka Efti and sells it without her consent. Moving ahead without Kulanin, Völcker orders MaLu to bring Wendt to her father's hunting cabin, so Völcker can shoot him.
10
"Episode 38"
5 November 2022 (2022-11-05)
MaLu brings Wendt to the site of his assassination, but steps in front of Völcker's bullet at the last second; Wendt carries her to safety. Wegener looks to fence the Blue Rothschild, but finds that no one will sell or buy it. Esther looks for work after Weintraub's sale of Moka Efti, and is offered a chance overseas in Hollywood. Böhm, whose salary is being confiscated by his bank, contemplates suicide on a bridge. A man approaches him promising to make all of his financial problems disappear. Gereon and Gräf oversee the unarmed sitdown between the Ringvereine in their own homicide department offices at police headquarters; unbeknownst to them, Böhm helped smuggle the Armenian into the walls of their office with a tommy gun. Fuchs locks the door to prevent any escapes before the Armenian emerges and kills all assembled, including Weintraub and Fuchs. The Armenian stages the scene of the crime to look as if the crime lords turned on one another and leaves before a bewildered Gereon breaks down the door.
11
"Episode 39"
12 November 2022 (2022-11-12)
Under the impression that it was his intention, the press and his fellow officers laud Gereon as a hero for arranging the deaths of Berlin's criminal element. Nyssen and Helga learn that Frau Nyssen's will requires the burial of her body. They search the wreck of the barge, but find no body. Without it, they cannot inherit her fortune for ten years. Wendt questions MaLu about his would-be assassin; she names Kulanin rather than Völcker. Wendt warns General Seegers that his daughter may be punished for treason, and they determine that Kulanin likely sought information on Nyssen's rocket program. Wegener approaches Grün, asking him to set up a meeting with Gold. There, Wegener confesses that Frau Nyssen stole the gem in Odessa in 1915 and then had him sink the ship carrying Gold's father and Herr Nyssen, a bon vivant whose business incompetence endangered their fortune. He returns the Blue Rothschild to Gold. Esther visits her husband's grave before preparing to leave for Hollywood; he appears and castigates her for being with Weintraub after his supposed death, then leaves her, vowing to take their children. Gereon and Stennes make plans to seize leadership of the Nazi party, but Moritz, released from jail, later overhears Gereon and Grzesinski discussing their plan to outlaw the party. Moritz realizes Rath is a double agent within the NSDAP and informs on him to Stennes.
12
"Episode 40"
12 November 2022 (2022-11-12)
The Stennes revolt commences with the seizure of Berlin's Nazi party headquarters. Forewarned of Gereon's infiltration by Moritz, Stennes demands that Gereon execute a party official who attempts to call Wendt. Gereon refuses, and is imprisoned, though Moritz has a change of heart and helps his uncle fight off his captors to escape. Wendt mobilizes a company of SS troops, armed with guns supplied by the police, and they regain control of the building. Nyssen and Helga hold a funeral for his mother. Gold gives the Blue Rothschild to Jacob Grün, for the use of the Berlin Jewish community. Disillusioned with life in Berlin and bonded by shared trauma, Moritz and Toni run away together, hitchhiking westwards. Preparing to leave Berlin on the Graf Zeppelin, Kulanin is detained on behalf of Wendt. Wendt arrives to interrogate Kulanin, only to find that he has diplomatic immunity from the United States. Kulanin, Gold, and Esther depart for New York, along with MaLu, who has stowed away. MaLu steals the Reichswehr documents and drops them via parachute to Völcker, who plans to bring them to Moscow. Charlotte is reunited with her long-lost half-brother, Johann "Rukeli" Trollmann, a half-Sinti boxer, and attends a title fight with Rath. Despite the jeers of a brigade of SA men in the crowd, Trollman beats his local Berliner opponent. Alongside Gräf, Gräf's lover Jacoby, and Trollman, Charlotte and Gereon celebrate, and Lotte is reinstated to the Berlin homicide department. The Armenian fulfills his half of the bargain with Rath, and goes with him to kill Dr. Schmidt, but at the last minute, Gereon insists on going into the clinic alone. Gereon tells Dr. Schmidt that he no longer wants him dead, because he no longer fears him. Dr. Schmidt is pleased by this and reveals that he has been assembling an army of patients, cryptically telling Gereon that he is now "ready to lead them."
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the first season holds approval rating of 100% based on 30 reviews, with the critics consensus reading: "Babylon Berlin's humor and humanity pair nicely with its hypnotic visuals, resulting in a show that dazzles within its oversaturated genre."[59] As of April 2019, Babylon Berlin was the highest rated non-English language show on Sky TV.[18]
Carolin Ströbele of Die Zeit praised the pilot, saying that it "is highly dynamic and unites sex, crime and history in a pleasantly unobtrusive manner."[60] Christian Buss, cultural critic from Der Spiegel, praised the series for staying true to the tradition of "typically German angst cinema", in the vein of 1920s silent movies such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis or Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. "It could be that Babylon Berlin is the first big German TV production since Das Boot which enjoys really relevant success abroad. Let's not be shy to say it: we [Germans] are big again – as the world champions of angst."[42]
Accolades
The series itself received several awards in 2018. These included a Bambi in the category Beste Serie des Jahres (Best series of the year),[61] four awards at the Deutscher Fernsehpreis (best dramatical series; best cinematography for Frank Griebe, Bernd Fischer and Philip Haberlandt; best musical score for Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer; and best production design for Pierre-Yves Gayraud and Uli Hanisch),[62] a special Bavarian TV Award[63] and a Romy for TV event of the year.[64] In the same year, everyone majorly involved with the production of the series won a Grimme-Preis, including Volker Bruch, Liv Lisa Fries, Peter Kurth, the three directors and several members of the technical team.[65] Bruch also won a Goldene Kamera in the category Best German actor for his portrayal of Gereon Rath.[66]
^The character of Kessler is based on Horst Wessel. His name is slightly changed, but his biography and manner of death are entirely unchanged, as are the names of his girlfriend Erna and his murderer, Ali[10]
^Pietzcker appears in more episodes of season 3 than seasons 2 or 4, however is credited as a guest star.
References
^Babylon Berlin (DVD booklet credits). Tywker, Tom (director). Kino Lorber. 2017. OCLC 1202150890. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Berghausen, Nadine (February 2019). "A fascination with the past". goethe.de. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
^"Babylon Berlin". rottentomatoes.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
^Ströbele, Carolin (29 September 2017). "Die bebende Stadt". Die Zeit (in German). Archived from the original on 1 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017. Die Handlung ist hoch dynamisch erzählt und vereint sex, crime and history auf angenehm unaufdringliche Weise.
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