Blaulicht (TV series)
Television series | |
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Original title | blue light |
Country of production | GDR |
original language | German |
Year (s) | 1959-1968 |
Episodes | 29 |
genre | Detective film |
music | Diverse Henry Mancini (cover story) |
First broadcast | August 20, 1959 on DFF |
occupation | |
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Blaulicht was a crime production of the German TV radio broadcasted between 1959 and 1968 , the 29 episodes of which were based on realistic criminal cases on record. The idea for this series came from Günter Prodöhl . Because the crime film series Stahlnetz had started successfully in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1958 , Prodöhl's blue light concept was implemented quickly, so that the first episode ran on the screens on August 20, 1959.
General
The genre of crime films in the GDR in the 1950s and 1960s was shaped by the idea that after the capitalist mode of production had been overcome and a just social formation had been established, the causes for the commission of criminal offenses ceased to exist and these acts themselves no longer ceased with the development of socialism occurred. Accordingly, every project for the representation of criminal cases on television had to be geared towards not undermining this socio-political theory. On the other hand, an exciting television program should also be offered in the GDR so as not to lose viewers to television from the Federal Republic of Germany.
Günter Prodöhl developed a crime series that tried to present the work of the German People's Police in a natural and factual narrative using simulated cases . The viewer should get an informative insight into the activities of the criminal investigation department .
Thematically, blue light was not focused on homicides. Rather, numerous offenses such as theft, robbery, bodily harm, damage to property, arson and fraud were taken up. Most of the cases had a direct or indirect connection to West Germany: perpetrators came from the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin , some crimes were committed there, but the perpetrators fled to East Germany , or stolen property from crimes committed in the GDR was supposed to be transferred to the German German border to be made. Cases of espionage and the planned escape of a former concentration camp guard were also on the program. The location of the cases was mainly Berlin.
With the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, it became increasingly problematic to credibly represent the relationship between the criminal offenses or offenders to the FRG and West Berlin, as shown in the blue light cases. Not least for this reason, the series was discontinued in 1968.
The Blaulicht authors did not do without exciting car chases, spectacular and breathtaking scenes, searches and arrests. The theme music was just as catchy as that of the steel network: the melody used was that of the US television series Peter Gunn (1958–1961), which came from the pen of Henry Mancini .
Investigator
In contrast to Stahlnetz, the cases were solved by a group of investigators who returned in each episode: Captain Wernicke, First Lieutenant Thomas and Lieutenant Timm. Bruno Carstens alias Wernicke was - four years before Commissioner Freytag from the Hessischer Rundfunk - the first serial investigator on German television. The figure of Wernicke reappears after the end of the blue light series in the 41st episode of the GDR crime series Polizeiruf 110 with the title An unusual assignment from 1976: Here Wernicke, who has meanwhile been promoted to colonel, is the head of one Technical school for the training of criminal police officers.
The individual consequences
introduction
With a few exceptions, the blue light episodes were produced as live broadcasts . Of the 29 episodes, 2 of which are in two parts, only 23 have survived in the Babelsberg German Broadcasting Archive . However, the scripts of the episodes with missing footage are still preserved.
The individual consequences
- 1 tunnel at the border (first broadcast on August 20, 1959), director: Hans Joachim Hildebrandt
- 2 Died Twice (first broadcast on October 15, 1959), directed by Hans Joachim Hildebrandt, Werner Noack
- 3 Girls in Cell 7 (first broadcast on December 10, 1959), directed by Hans Joachim Hildebrandt
- 4 Kippentütchen (first broadcast on January 14, 1960), directed by Werner Noack
- 5 The Perfect Alibi (first broadcast on March 10, 1960), directed by Hans Joachim Hildebrandt
- 6 A certain Mr. Huegi (first broadcast on April 21, 1960), directed by Norbert Buechner
- 7 Waggon 27 - 14 44 G (first broadcast on May 24, 1960), directed by Manfred Mosblech
- 8 Die Butterhexe (first broadcast on July 28, 1960), directed by Hans Joachim Hildebrandt, Manfred Mosblech
- 9 The child killer
- The Child Murderer (Part 1) (first broadcast on October 15, 1960), directed by Hans Joachim Hildebrandt, Manfred Mosblech
- The Child Murderer (Part 2) (first broadcast on October 16, 1960), directed by Hans Joachim Hildebrandt, Manfred Mosblech
- 10 Splitter (first broadcast on December 8, 1960), directed by Hans Joachim Hildebrandt, Manfred Mosblech, Monika Maron
- 11 Gardez! (First broadcast on January 22, 1961), directed by Hans Joachim Hildebrandt
- 12 Brandnacht (first broadcast on March 19, 1961), director: Hans Joachim Hildebrandt
- 13 antiques (first broadcast on November 12, 1961), directed by Hans Joachim Hildebrandt, Manfred Mosblech, Eberhard Erdmann
- 14 Die Meute (first broadcast on December 10, 1961), directed by Hans Joachim Hildebrandt
- 15 The Grid (first broadcast on February 15, 1962), directed by Otto Holub, Eberhard Erdmann
- 16 Request for mitigating circumstances (first broadcast on April 15, 1962), directed by Otto Holub, Eberhard Erdmann
- 17 Black Gasoline (first broadcast on June 14, 1962), directed by Otto Holub
- 18 hot money
- Hot Money (Part 1) (first broadcast on March 23, 1963), directed by Otto Holub
- Hot Money (Part 2) (first broadcast on March 24, 1963), directed by Petra Steuer
- 19 In twenty-four hours (first broadcast on May 15, 1963), directed by Otto Holub, Eberhard Erdmann
- 20 miracles do not repeat themselves (first broadcast on October 27, 1963), directed by Helmut Krätzig , Eberhard Erdmann
- 21 Kümmelblättchen (first broadcast on December 29, 1963), directed by Otto Holub, Gert Kudelka, Eberhard Erdmann
- 22 Jutta H. trial (first broadcast on May 28, 1964), directed by Otto Holub, Eberhard Erdmann
- 23 Freedom of movement (first broadcast on October 18, 1964), directed by Otto Holub, Eberhard Erdmann
- 24 Order Mord (first broadcast on July 1, 1965), directed by Otto Holub, Eberhard Erdmann
- 25 One Man Too Many (first broadcast on June 25, 1966), directed by Otto Holub, Anita Francke, Eberhard Erdmann
- 26 Masked Ball (first broadcast on November 13, 1966), directed by Manfred Mosblech, Marga Hanke
- 27 The fourth man (first broadcast on March 27, 1967), directed by Manfred Mosblech, Ursula Koschke
- 28 Nachtstreife (first broadcast on December 2, 1967), directed by Manfred Mosblech, Marga Hanke
- 29 Corpses found in Jagen 14 (first broadcast on October 27, 1968), directed by Manfred Mosblech
Broadcasts
After 1990, only a few episodes of the series could be seen as part of a television evening on ORB / RBB . The surviving episodes have now been published in five DVD boxes.
See also
literature
- Nora Helmli: entertainment, but safe! Media representations of security and order in the GDR television crime series “Blaulicht” (1959–1968). In: Zeithistorische Forschungen / Studies in Contemporary History . 7 (2010), No. 2, pp 296-303 ( zeithistorische-forschungen.de ).
Web links
- Blaulicht (1959) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Hartmut Goege: 60 years ago. Start of the crime series “Blaulicht” in the GDR. The first West German crime film series "Stahlnetz" could also be received in the GDR. The East German program makers had to bring a similar “street sweeper” if they didn't want to lose their own viewers to “Westfernsehen”. In: Deutschlandfunk . August 20, 2019, accessed on August 20, 2019 ( Calendar sheet series ).