75 Best German Thrillers and Crime
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- DirectorChristian AlvartStarsNorman ReedusChristian von AsterAndré HennickeWanted for a long time, serial killer Gabriel Engel gets arrested in a spectacular police raid. Small town cop Michael Martens travels to the big city to interrogate him and finds out more than he is looking for.
- StarsKlaus J. BehrendtMiroslav NemecUdo WachtveitlAn anthology series that follows the work of homicide detectives in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
- CreatorClaus Cornelius FischerStarsPeter BorgeltJürgen FrohriepWolfgang WinklerAlexander Bukow is a cop who doesn't mind working at the edge of the law to get results. His straight-laced partner Katrin Koenig is a control freak whose life is the job. Together, they're a great crime-fighting team--when they're not fighting each other.
- DirectorMatti GeschonneckStarsHeino FerchNadja UhlBirge SchadeHans Jacoby is found in his house, tied to a chair and shot to death, near Husum. Anton Faithberg from the local police takes over the first investigations
- DirectorThomas BohnStarsDennis HopperHeino FerchKatja FlintAfter his daughter died of cancer, former French foreign legionnaire "Straight Shooter" alias Volker Bretz threatens those who financed, built, favoured and now work the nuclear power plant Atar II to kill one of them each day until the plant is shut down. His former drill sergeant, Frank Hector, who now owns several night clubs and brothels, is the only one who might be able to stop the maniac killing specialist. Frank is flown in instantly, but soon has to find out that his former comrade's actions might be a result from an event long ago.
- DirectorTom TykwerStarsBen WhishawDustin HoffmanAlan RickmanJean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.
- DirectorMatti GeschonneckStarsHeino FerchNina KunzendorfFriedrich von ThunA girl is kidnapped and a family falls apart. But the kidnappers don't just want money; they want to destroy an empire
- DirectorDennis GanselStarsJürgen VogelNadeshda BrennickeMathias HerrmannAfter the partner of a policeman is killed he is drawn into a mysterious plot of conspiracy and terrorists.
- DirectorMatti GeschonneckStarsChristiane PaulMartin WuttkeMarcus MittermeierLona Vogt is a target investigator at the BKA and, together with her friend and colleague Simonkatzer, has been on the trail of the murderer Manuel for some time
- DirectorRobert SchwentkeStarsAugust DiehlChristian RedlNadeshda BrennickeTwo police detectives, a grizzled veteran and one fresh-faced rookie, hunt a ritualistic serial killer murdering people with tattoos and skinning them.
- DirectorMennan YapoStarsJoachim KrólNadja UhlChristian BerkelViktor, a methodical hit man, probably on his last job, has no plan for his retirement. He does not kill Nina, a woman sleeping beside his latest mark; then he follows her and rescues her from an attempted suicide. Nina is attracted to him, but also wants to know who he is. Her pursuit of his identity crosses the investigation of Lang, a brilliant police investigator who tries to inhabit the minds of the victims and the killer. Viktor's employer also wants to kill Viktor and his contact, an aging arms dealer and family friend. Does Viktor have a future?
- StarsArmin RohdeMinh-Khai Phan-ThiBarbara AuerNight shift thriller story.
- DirectorJohannes GrieserStarsMaria SimonChristian RedlJacob MatschenzA money transporter is ambushed near the small Eifel village of Eschbach. The young LKA chief inspector Lona Schanz then determined in the village and its surroundings.
- StarsUlrike KrienerMichael RollTilo PrücknerA crime series based in Regensburg, Bavaria.
- CreatorAlexander AdolphStarsSenta BergerRudolf KrauseGerd AnthoffUnder suspicion crime series.
- StarsLeonard LansinkRita RussekRoland JankowskyWilsberg: the thriller from Münster.
- CreatorOrkun ErtenerKathrin BreiningerStarsGötz SchubertManfred ZapatkaSaskia VesterBig and small stories surrounding a police station in Berlin-Kreuzberg.
- StarsMax RiemeltRonald ZehrfeldMarie BäumerThe worlds of a young Russo-German cop who investigates within the Berlin Russian mafia milieu and a young Russian woman who is forced into prostitution, intertwine when they meet and fall in love.
- DirectorUli EdelStarsMartina GedeckMoritz BleibtreuJohanna WokalekA look at Germany's terrorist group, The Red Army Faction (RAF), which organized bombings, robberies, kidnappings, and assassinations in the late 1960s and '70s.
- DirectorMarkus ImbodenStarsHeino FerchJulia JägerJürgen SchornagelMichael Mühlhausen, crafty manager of a big food company, dreams of being promoted. While he plans the contested takeover of a main competitor, he doesn't notice the estrangement from his wife Charlotte and his daughter Hannah. Meanwhile, dubious things happen behind Mühlhausen's back, which he doesn't see through until the company's leading chemist is murdered and he becomes the prime suspect...
- DirectorTom TykwerStarsFranka PotenteMoritz BleibtreuHerbert KnaupAfter a botched money delivery, Lola has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 Deutschmarks.
- DirectorJosh BroeckerStarsRobert AtzornJulia BrendlerOliver WnukAfter a Chicago profiler training, young commissioner Hinnerk Feldmann accepts the deputy post in Theo Clüver's tiny, singular precinct covering German Frisian North Sea Island Sylt. A tourist lover couple accidentally drugs up in the dunes a 20 years old corpse, soon identified as equally long missing local then-teenager Maria, but her death could have been accidental. Shortly after, a local man is executed in cruel feudal-age fashion, tied onto a steering wheel in the dunes, but first drugged. The syringe is used again during the investigation, which closes in on has-been rock band Coast Pirates. Meanwhile Feldmann has a hard time dealing with the locals.
- StarsSamuel FinziClaudia MichelsenOliver BröckerPolice psychologist Flemming and his detective ex-wife live next door to each other and work together to solve crimes.
- StarsUlrich MüheGesine CukrowskiJörg Gudzuhn"The Last Witness" is a crime series that was aired by the ZDF. This crime drama is about medical examiner Dr. Robert Kolmaar (Ulrich Mühe), who is helping the Berlin PD with his extensive medical knowledge to solve murder cases.
- StarsHannelore HogerHansjürgen HürrigRudolf KowalskiFor more than 20 years, determined Hannelore Hoger ruled on ZDF as Bella Block, Hamburg police-chief commissioner against criminals.
- DirectorFlorian Henckel von DonnersmarckStarsUlrich MüheMartina GedeckSebastian KochIn 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
- DirectorDominik GrafStarsGötz GeorgeGudrun LandgrebeJoachim KemmerTwo bank robbers hold the clerks hostage and demand 3 million German marks as ransom. What the police do not realise is that the true criminal mastermind watches them from outside the bank, anticipating every move.
- DirectorDominik GrafStarsHerbert KnaupKatja FlintHansa CzypionkaThe members of a special police task force uncover a conspiracy involving leading politicians, organized crime masterminds and an ex-colleague who was believed dead. When they are to be silenced, they investigate on their own initiative.
- DirectorPeter ThorwarthStarsOliver KorittkeMarkus KnüfkenRalf RichterA violent chain of events ensues as a jailed criminal arranges to buy a car from a shady car dealer, unaware that his partner in freedom has squandered most of the money from their last bank robbery on horse race betting.
- DirectorDominik GrafStarsUwe KockischMisel MaticevicJulia BlankenburgStrangers are blackmailing the city of Leipzig. An attack and further threats underline their demands.
- DirectorLars BeckerStarsKen DukenKatharina BöhmHenriette Heinze
- CreatorMarkus StromiedelStarsRainer HunoldFiona CoorsAstrid PosnerCases and complicated lives of a public prosecutor and a police unit, a member of whom is the prosecutor's son, who work in Wiesbaden.
- StarsChristian BerkelAntonia Cäcilia HolfelderNils NelleßenCrime series about a police unit in Berlin's Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district.
- StarsStefan KurtMario AdorfHeinz HoenigUndercover cop Charly Held sneaks into the organization of Jan Herzog, the head of organised crime in Frankfurt. Slowly, he gains the Herzog's trust and is pulled deeper and deeper into the business. Overwhelmed by his new jet-set lifestyle he thinks of changing the sides. Will he, or will he not?
- StarsDietrich MattauschDieter PfaffNorbert WarthaDer Fahnder was an evening crime series of the ARD.
- DirectorIsabel KleefeldStarsCaroline PetersJörg SchüttaufEnno HesseIsabel Kleefeld's crime drama deals with a little boy whose life is in danger after he had watched a road accident. In a small village, the young police officer Marc Fischer celebrates promotion with his colleague Horst Bäumer. Shortly after, he drives under the influence and dies in an accident, whose only witness is seven-year-old Arnie. Bäumer's wife Hannah gets to know the child and tries to reveal the hidden truth. When Arnie suddenly disappears, she starts searching the boy together with the local mailman Enno, fearing someone wants to silence him...
- DirectorOliver StorzStarsKaroline EichhornStefan KurtMatthias BrandtGermany, mid 1950s. One night, the wife of the mayor, Dr. Gerd without a trace. That same night, a detonation is reported in nearby 'Bone Forest'.
- DirectorPeter FratzscherStarsSilke BodenbenderCamille DombrowskyBenjamin SadlerA female police officer is charged with protecting the son of a rich industrialist.
- DirectorHans-Christian SchmidStarsAugust DiehlFabian BuschDieter LandurisWhen the orphaned Karl Koch and his friend David start breaking into government and military computers, an acquaintance senses that there is money in computer cracking - and travels to east Berlin to try to contact the KGB.
- DirectorEdward BergerStarsJoachim KrólAnna SchudtMichael SchenkOskar lives with his ill father in a quiet village. Twenty years ago, his brother Theo was caught with an underage girl and has since left their lives. Then the village is startled: Theo reappears when eight-year-old girl is murdered
- DirectorThomas JahnStarsTil SchweigerJan Josef LiefersThierry van WervekeTwo terminally ill patients escape from a hospital, steal a car and rush towards the sea.
- DirectorRalf HuettnerStarsJürgen TarrachOliver KorittkeEllen Ten DammeAnticipating a major drug deal the Düsseldorf LKA (state police) conducts an observation of a flat in Cologne. The night shift in the camera-equipped camper is assigned to local police losers Docker and Dretzke. Taking breaks from the boring job Docker starts flirting with bartender Wanda and all too soon he boasts about their investigations. Conceivably, Docker and Dretzke are stunned when they hear Wanda's voice through the wiretap, as she confides the story of the funny policeman to the answering machine in the surveilled apartment. When the buddies decide to break into the flat to erase Wanda's message, they discover something that sheds a different light on the whole affair.
- DirectorPeter KeglevicStarsMelika ForoutanMisel MaticevicJanek RiekeAfter the greengrocer Mehmet Üsker was murdered, the police officer Inspector Menemenci is put on the case.
- DirectorBernd SchadewaldStarsChristian RedlUlrike KrienerSilvan OesterleThis TV-Movie is based on real events that took place in southern Germany in the mid 80's. A policeman tries to build a house for his family while he experiences financial troubles; everything goes tragically wrong from then on.
- DirectorThomas StillerStarsJürgen VogelAxel PrahlMatthias KoeberlinTwo Robbers - several banks - and why not leave some traces for the cops, but the wrong?
- DirectorRomuald KarmakarStarsGötz GeorgeJürgen HentschPierre FranckhFritz Haarmann, who has killed at least 27 boys, is questioned by a psychology professor in order to find out whether he is sane and can be held responsible for his crimes. During this interrogation Haarmann reveals his motives and his killing methods.
- DirectorRoland Suso RichterStarsKai WiesingerMichael MendlKatharina MeineckeKonrad von Seidlitz is a young yuppie lawyer currently celebrating his engagement with Cornelia, daughter of minister of justice Volkerts.
- DirectorOliver HirschbiegelStarsMoritz BleibtreuChristian BerkelOliver StokowskiFor two weeks, 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards in a prison. The "prisoners" have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the "guards" are told to retain order without using physical violence.
- DirectorBaran bo OdarStarsUlrich ThomsenClaudia MichelsenWotan Wilke Möhring13-year-old Sinikka vanishes on a hot summer night. Her bicycle is found in the exact place where a girl was killed 23 years ago. The dramatic present forces those involved in the original case to face their past.
- DirectorOliver HirschbiegelStarsHeino FerchTobias MorettiJulia JägerNico has just shot and killed a man by accident. The two friends cover it up but it soon turns out that the victim was a big fish in the drug world. And that he was on his way to hand over important documents to the federal police. The feds want these papers badly; the drug lord wants them even worse. And only Max and Nico can retrieve them. But with Max recruited by the feds and Nico lured by Mafia's money, the two friends are forced to cross swords in a hopeless and deadly situation...
- DirectorMartin EiglerStarsKatharina WackernagelJanek RiekeHarald SchrottMurderous persecution.
- DirectorMarkus ImbodenStarsSusanne SchäferChristoph WaltzHermann LauseAfter the attempted suicide of an alleged sex killer who has been in prison for nine years, a young public prosecutor takes up the investigation again and comes across a similar crime committed in the vicinity of the former crime scene. With the help of a criminal psychologist, she investigates and comes across other suspects in the village pub who were also present on the night of the murder.
- DirectorAndreas ProchaskaStarsRichy MüllerAnn-Kathrin KramerHary PrinzAlexandra disappears from Krems in Lower Austria on her 17th birthday. When the police seem to fail, father Walch starts his own investigation and learns unwanted details about his daughter's life .
- DirectorRoland Suso RichterStarsKai WiesingerGötz GeorgeKaroline EichhornThe infamous Dr. Josef Mengele - the "Angel of Death" of Auschwitz, who killed more than 300,000 people - comes back from his hideout in Argentina to Germany as a 87-year-old man. He must stand in front of a court for his crimes. A young solicitor named Peter Rohm has to defend him, but Rohm - himself an expert on Josef Mengele and his crimes - feels unable to do this. When he decides to take on the case he endangers not only his relationship with his wife but also their lives. A fictional story around the non-fiction person of Josef Mengele who died in 1979.
- StarsUwe FriedrichsenEdgar BessenGeorge Meyer-GollBlack Red Gold is the title of an ARD television series with Uwe Friedrichsen.
- DirectorDoris DörrieStarsHansa CzypionkaÖzay FechtMeret BeckerKemal Kayankaya, a private detective, is hired by a Turkish woman, Ilter, to search for her husband Amend, who has been missing since the death of her father, Vassif. Unbeknownst to him, he was about to unravel the secrets of his client's family, as well as their various dealings with the underworld and the police. Being a Turk raised in a German foster family, he has also begun to understand and accept his own ethnicity.
- DirectorStephan WagnerStarsRobert AtzornUwe BohmJohannes Allmayer
- DirectorPeter KeglevicStarsPierre BessonChristoph WaltzSophie von KesselA girl disappears on her way to school. The prime suspect is Hans Kortman a former teacher, who spent the last 15 years in prison for the murder of his 15 year old student Melanie Bauer. But Kortman is declaring his innocence.
- DirectorNikolai MüllerschönStarsBen BlaskovicMartin BrambachHans-Maria DarnovTough felon Harms comes out of jail and plans the next big thing with his old crew: rob the central bank.
- DirectorUrs EggerStarsHeino FerchSilke BodenbenderJohann von BülowWhen Mirco's parents check on their boy in the morning, he isn't there. The alerted police begin to search for him. At the latest when the boy's clothes are found, the fear becomes certain: the boy is dead. Ingo Thiel, the head of the special commission, promises Mirco's family to do everything to find the murderer. A grueling investigation begins.
- StarsHeino FerchGerhard LiebmannGerda DrabekCriminal psychologist Richard Brock teaches at the University of Vienna.
- StarsPetra Schmidt-SchallerSascha Alexander GersakAmer El-ErwadiThe city of Schwerin is sweltering under a heat wave never seen before. Detectives Lona Mendt and Frank Elling are on the trail of a serial murderer, who seems to choose his victims at random - but nothing is what it seems.
- CreatorMatthias GlasnerStarsJürgen VogelThomas HeinzeJördis TriebelA homicide cop with a mysterious past and a bad attitude works the seedy underbelly of Berlin in this gritty, complex thriller from the director of 'Cenk Batu Undercover Agent'.