It happened in Berlin

This article describes the radio play series It happened in Berlin . For the television series of the same name from 1965, see It happened in Berlin (television series) .

It happened in Berlin was a radio drama series by RIAS by Werner Brink .

history

The crime series was broadcast by RIAS Berlin from February 1951. By 1972 the RIAS had produced a total of 499 episodes in which real criminal cases were prepared for the radio according to protocols of the West Berlin police .

The series was characterized by an unusually realistic depiction of police work and the stories of the perpetrators for the time. A special feature in this regard was the episode Die Nacht im Warenhaus , which even named the perpetrators instead of changing them as usual. In some cases, the cases prepared for the radio play were so topical that the listeners were asked by the speaker to help the police if possible to clarify issues that were still unclear.

The duration of the programs varied between half an hour and episodes of just under an hour.

The distinctive voice of Kurt Waitzmann , who spoke to Commissioner Zett , contributed a lot to the success of the series. Frequent directors for Es happened in Berlin were Werner Völkel and Werner Oehlschläger . Speakers included Frank Glaubrecht , Edgar Ott , Georgia Lind , Hermann Wagner , Inge Wolffberg , Günter Vogdt, Wolfgang Neusch, Rudi Stark, Gerd Duwner , Lisl Tirsch-Kastner , Friedhelm von Petersson and Wolfgang Draeger as well as Ottokar Runze, who later became successful as a film director in the role of the criminal secretary.

Secondary use

Seven episodes of the radio series were released on a total of four records under the Topas Krimi label (one broadcast episode could be heard on the first record, two episodes each on the other three records). In 1970 a book was published by Hestia-Verlag.

Since September 2013, Deutschlandradio Kultur has been broadcasting repetitions every first Sunday of the month (since July 2014 every first Saturday) as part of the series From the archives. The radio plays were moderated by Olaf Kosert with the support of crime writer and sociology professor Horst Bosetzky . This series was discontinued in 2015 due to a lack of listeners (5 a.m.).

In the years 2017 to 2019, some episodes of It happened in Berlin were repeated in the series Midnight Crime on Deutschlandfunk Kultur . B. on October 26, 2019 the oldest surviving series (series 27 from February 1952). The tapes of episodes 1–26 and 28–302 were lost at the station, but the index cards with all the titles and broadcast dates are still there.

effect

Gunther Witte , who invented the TV crime series Tatort in 1969 as a dramaturge at WDR , says that he was inspired by Es Happened in Berlin when it came to conception .

In the opinion of radio historians, the GDR radio series I say from was also clearly inspired by It happened in Berlin .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Deutsches Theater-Lexikon, Volume 4 (Singer - Tzschoppe), founded by Wilhelm Kosch, continued by Ingrid Bigler-Marschall. KG Saur Verlag Bern and Munich, 1998, page 2279. Accessed June 26, 2020 . 
2. ^ "It happened in Berlin" - radio play series (1951 to 1972 with 499 episodes) by Werner Brink (30 minutes each episode). Retrieved August 4, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Discogs. Retrieved August 5, 2020 . 
4. ↑ It happened in Berlin . At: Deutschlandradio Kultur , January 6, 2014
5. ↑ Deutschlandfunk Deutschlandfunk Kultur. Radio play and feature. Radio play magazine. File corpses. It happened in Berlin. October 2, 2019, accessed August 3, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Mister "Tatort" . At: Stern.de , accessed on November 25, 2012.
7. ↑ Interview with the inventor of the crime scene: Gunther Witte . In: Westfälische Nachrichten , November 25, 2010.