10 great German TV shows you shouldn't miss

1. Freud

Freud

• Austria, Germany, 2020.
• Detective, crime.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 6.5.

A series of murders takes place in Vienna in 1886. First, prostitutes become victims, then children, and then the maniac turns to aristocrats. Inspector Alfred Kiss is taken to investigate the case, and the young doctor Sigmund Freud and the clairvoyant Fleur help him. The task is complicated by the fact that the criminal is fluent in a little-studied method - hypnosis.

The series cannot be called a biopic: the creators did not seek to convey the exact details of the biography of the father of psychoanalysis. On the contrary, they made Freud amateur detective like Sherlock Holmes.

2. Saint Mike

Sankt Maik

• Germany, 2018 - present.
• Comedy, crime.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 7.0.

Criminal Mike Schaefer, escaping from the police, disguises himself as a Catholic priest. Circumstances develop in such a way that the hero ends up in the town of Leiterberg, where people take him for a real minister of the church. And Mike is in no hurry to dissuade them. And he, as it turned out, copes with the duties of a pastor quite well.

The main role in the series was played by the actor of Russian origin Daniel Donskoy. Thanks to his bright appearance and charm, he perfectly fit into the image of a villain with a heart of gold. In general, the series turned out to be very sweet and kind.

3. Turkish for beginners

Türkisch für Anfänger

• Germany, 2006-2008.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 7.4.

Young Lena and Nils Schneider learn that their mother Doris has decided to move in with her lover, a Turkish policeman named Metin. The problem is that he also has children - and now the heroes will have to get used to strangers in the house. And this task turns out to be much more difficult than the adults expected.

This popular German sitcom became a real hit and won many prizes. He not only makes you laugh, but also teaches important things. For example, the fact that cultural differences are not an obstacle to friendship and love.

4. Berlin cops

Dogs of Berlin

• Germany, 2018.
• Detective, thriller, crime, action movie.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 7.6.

On the eve of an important qualifying match, the best player of the national team, a Turk by origin, was killed. The investigation is entrusted to experienced detective Kurt Grimmer and his colleague Erol Birkan. The two police officers have different methods of work, but for the sake of a common cause, they will have to get along with each other and seek a compromise.

After a successful experience with the first season of Darkness, Netflix decided to further develop its German division. Then they came out very cruel and gloomy "Berlin Pointers". The project looks a breeze and boldly criticizes the country's immigration policy, as well as raises the acute problem of interethnic strife.

5. Don't try it again

How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast)

• Germany, 2019 - present.
• Drama, melodrama, comedy, crime.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 7.9.

High school student Moritz is having a hard time breaking up with a girl who exchanged him for a school dealer. To return the attention of his beloved, the hero decides to start his own drug business. Together with best friend Lenny, they create an online store where anyone can buy illegal substances.

Another German project for Netflix combines a growing up story and black comedy. Its authors have cleverly used the streaming service to add interactivity to the show. So, from time to time, the narration is interrupted by an educational insert.

At the same time, the heroes can break the wall and speak directly to the audience, suggesting to press a button and skip this part if the topic raised in it does not need an explanation.

6. Unorthodox

Unorthodox

• Germany, 2020.
• Drama.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 8.0.

A young woman, Esther Shapiro, decides to flee a closed Hasidic community in Brooklyn. She travels to Berlin, where she hopes to meet her mother, and meets young music students there. But her husband and cousin are sent after her.

The creators were inspired by the autobiography of Deborah Feldman, who told about her escape in the book of the same name. But the part describing the heroine's wanderings in Berlin is completely invented. And the story only benefited from this, becoming even more touching.

7. Germany 83

Deutschland 83

• Germany, 2015.
• Drama, history.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 8.1.

In 1983, Martin Roch, a young and handsome frontier guard from the GDR, went under cover to West Germany to convey information about the actions of NATO troops to the Stasi. In carrying out his mission, the hero first experiences a powerful cultural shock, after which he gets the opportunity to take a fresh look at the political conflict within the country.

The creators accurately conveyed the historical atmosphere of Germany at that time: literally everything, from music to the costumes of actors, takes the viewer back to 1983. Moreover, far from a typical one unfolds before us. spy history. The main character is not James Bond at all, but the most ordinary guy. Therefore, not everything goes smoothly for him.

8. Submarine

Das Boot

• Germany, Czech Republic, 2018.
• War drama.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 8.3.

Autumn 1942. On a military campaign from the Nazi-occupied city of La Rochelle should go submarine under the command of the young captain Klaus Hoffman. At the last moment, Frank Strasser joins the team as a radio operator. Meanwhile, his sister Simone remains on the beach and meets members of the local resistance cell.

Formally, the series continues the plot of the eponymous film drama by Wolfgang Petersen, filmed in 1981. But at the same time, a completely new story with other heroes awaits the audience. Moreover, if in the original the characters were locked inside a submarine, then here the action is constantly moving between water and land.

9. Babylon-Berlin

Babylon berlin

• Germany, 2017 - present.
• Thriller, drama, crime.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 8.4.

1929, Berlin. Inspector Gideon Rath is transferred from provincial Cologne to the capital. He has to find a photograph that compromises an important official. The matter is too delicate to initiate anyone into it, so the hero's relationship with his partner, an experienced investigator Bruno, did not go well from the very beginning.

This series was invented by the outstanding director Tom Tykver and the talented filmmakers of Good Bye Lenin! Achim von Borris and Hendrik Handlegten. The project has become the most ambitious and expensive in the history of German television, and literally every frame demonstrates this: the authors simply perfectly recreated the era of the Weimar Republic on the screen.

10. Darkness

Dark

• Germany, USA, 2017-2020.
• Thriller, fantasy, drama, crime, detective.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 8.8.

In the small German town of Wieden, located not far from the nuclear power plant, two teenagers disappear. The tragedy is somehow connected with a strange note that one of the heroes must read at a certain moment.

"Darkness" has firmly settled in all kinds of lists the best science fiction series. A non-linear narrative, a truly puzzling plot, a lot of religious and philosophical references - the audience clearly has something to think about.

The series is often compared to "Stranger Things", but the German project is much more difficult to perceive: even the most attentive run the risk of getting lost in the scenario twists and turns. The authors even had to launch a special website for a while to help fans connect all the key events and main characters. Now, however, he no longer works.