The fifth column (TV series)

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Television series
Original title The fifth column
The fifth column Logo 001.svg
Country of production BR Germany
original language German
Year (s) 1963-1968
length 60-75 minutes
Episodes 23 in 6 seasons
genre Espionage , crime thriller
production Helmut Ringelmann
music Herbert Jarczyk , Erwin Halletz and others
occupation

The fifth column was a German television series of the ZDF , broadcast by the 23 episodes at irregular intervals from 6 June 1963 to 11 October 1968th

With reference to the term Fifth Column , it was the first spy series on German television. Against the backdrop of the Cold War , in addition to entertainment, it had a political content - which was somewhat unusual for a television series - because its subject was the activities of Eastern secret services on the soil of the Federal Republic of Germany. The western counter-espionage or the police and military always had the upper hand. Each of the episodes was self-contained; there were no constant main characters.

The basis for all episodes of the “Fifth Column” were real cases that were only slightly edited and changed for the feature film format. In episode 15 (“Murder on Orders ”), for example, the murder of the Ukrainian politician in exile Stepan Bandera by KGB agent Bogdan Staschinski is the subject of discussion.

Directed by Jürgen Goslar , Wolfgang Becker , Helmuth Ashley , Rudolf Jugert and Erich Neureuther . The scripts were written by Herbert Reinecker (as Alex Berg ), Maria Matray and Helmuth Ashley , among others . All episodes were produced by Helmut Ringelmann .

consequences

No.
( total ) 		No.
( St. ) 		Original title First broadcast D
1 1 There is no going back June 6, 1963
2 2 The yellow package June 18, 1963
3 3 Zero o'clock central station 26 Sep 1963
4th 1 Shadow play Feb. 27, 1964
5 2 Two guns July 16, 1964
6th 3 A doll for little Helga Sep 24 1964
7th 4th Meeting point Vienna Oct 22, 1964
8th 5 The guest Dec 17, 1964
9 1 Tivoli Jan. 26, 1965
10 2 twilight 16. Mar. 1965
11 3 Dragonfly, please come June 1, 1965
12 4th Flowers for room 19 Aug 3, 1965
13 5 A man named Pavlov Aug 31, 1965
14th 6th Visit from over there Nov 2, 1965
15th 1 Murder on command Jan. 21, 1966
16 2 The Egyptian cat 25th Mar 1966
17th 3 The telltale light Apr 29, 1966
18th 4th An order for ... May 20, 1966
19th 5 Steel cabinet SG III July 15, 1966
20th 1 The Schurzheim case June 23, 1967
21st 2 A call from the zone Dec 15, 1967
22nd 1 Sunflower Path 7 May 19, 1968
23 2 One million on a numbered account Oct 11, 1968

criticism

Martin Compart found in his book Crime TV , published in October 2000 . Encyclopedia of crime series : "This series, which propagated the ideology of the Cold War, had nothing in common with James Bond, of course, but is nonetheless a very interesting piece of time (intellectual) history."

DVD release

All 23 episodes of “Fifth Column” were published on DVD in 2009 in the “Street Sweep” series. Box 13 contains episodes 1-12, box 14 contains episodes 13-23. As a bonus, Box 13 contains an approx. 75-minute interview with Jürgen Goslar , who directed eight episodes, especially for the Straßenfeger-Collection . Box 14 includes the 45-minute ARD documentary "The Spider's Web - Stasi Agents in the West" from 2005.

Web links