Crime scene: cold heart

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Episode of the series Tatort
Original title Cold heart
Country of production Germany
original language German
Production
company		 WDR
length 88 minutes
classification Episode 759 ( List )
First broadcast March 21, 2010 on Das Erste
Rod
Director Thomas Jauch
script Peter Dommaschk ,
Ralf Leuther
production Sonja Goslicki
music Stephan Massimo
camera Clemens Messow
cut Dagmar Lichius
occupation

Cold Heart is a television film from the crime series Tatort . The film, produced by Westdeutscher Rundfunk and directed by Thomas Jauch , was broadcast on March 21, 2010 on ARD's first program. It is the 46th case of the Cologne team of investigators Ballauf and Schenk and the 759th crime scene episode.

action

Mario Steinbrück, an employee of the youth welfare office, is found dead in a private apartment. He was killed with several knife wounds and neither the tenant, Stefanie Karstmann, nor her four-year-old daughter can be found in the apartment. Ballauf phoned the youth welfare office and found out that Steinbrück was supposed to pick up the child the night before to take him to a home. Stefanie Karstmann appears while still in the process of securing evidence and asks excitedly about her daughter. Schenk learns that she locked her child in and left her alone to have fun for half the night. She admits that she knows Steinbrück and that he regularly looks after him. She immediately suspects her daughter's father, Michael Donker, who had previously kidnapped Clara. Ballauf and Schenk look for him, but the child is not with him. He can have an alibi for the evening before. As a precaution, they have Donker monitored.

Ballauf speaks to the head of the youth welfare office, who referred him to Steinbrück's former colleague Matthias Hellwig. He reports that Stefanie Karstmann had already been withdrawn from custody six months ago because she was overwhelmed and neglected the child. After completing her conditions, the girl was returned to her. But since she fell back into her old behavior pattern, Clara should now be taken to a home for good. Although Stefanie Karstmann is known to be aggressive, Hellwig does not trust her to murder.

In search of Clara, Ballauf and Schenk also question the neighbors, who say that they haven't seen the child for a while. Clara has not been to the daycare for a week either. Therefore, the media are turned on to find the girl. It cannot be ruled out that Stefanie Karstmann did something to her daughter for which the investigators fortunately found no proof after a long search.

Ballauf and Schenk examine the victim's private life and find out that they had a relationship with a client a good year ago. She is a drug addict and Steinbrück tried to help her with withdrawal. When the investigators visit her, they find her unconscious. They have her taken to a clinic and question her when she can be questioned. She states that she was still in contact with Steinbrück even after their separation. They met every now and then whenever she needed money for drugs. The same thing a day or two ago, but then he hadn't given her anything. That's why she stole his cell phone and apartment key from him and then stole his laptop. She has already resold the cell phone. Ballauf found a statement from Steinbrück on the laptop that the Küppers foster family should never be entrusted with children again. Steinbrück visited this family immediately before Karstmann. The investigators go there immediately. Tanja Küppers explains that there was only one misunderstanding that they could have clarified. One of her foster children is Jenny Wande and research shows that she was in active cell phone contact with Steinbrück. When asked, the young person explains that she often sent him photos and films as MMS so that he could see how well everyone is doing here. While in the Küppers yard, the investigators received an emergency call that Clara's mother was losing her nerve. She stabbed Michael Donker because she is absolutely convinced that he wanted to take the child away from her. Ballauf manages to bring the situation under control and Schenk hopes that Donker has not hidden the child. Because if he didn't survive the attack, it would be difficult to find the girl.

Ballauf and Schenk believe it is possible that the Küppers killed Steinbrück in order to keep their foster children and thus secure their income. Their financial situation is strained and without the care allowance they would not be able to keep their farm. Jenny Wande would also have a motif. After all, she was happy to finally have come into a family that loves and accepts her for who she is. If Steinbrück had given the report, she would have lost all of it.

Franziska was able to find Steinbrück's cell phone again and when she looked through the SIM card, she discovered Ballauf and Schenk on the films that Jenny had sent to Steinbrück to show how well everyone is doing, that six children are playing there and not just three, as officially intended. Schenk thinks that Steinbrück will also have noticed this, which is why he should have written the letter. In order to clarify how the Küppers came to the additional foster children, the investigators researched in the archive of the youth welfare office. Here you will find indications that children were billed as cared for in the home, but in reality received the cheaper private care. Only Matthias Hellwig, who works in the finance department of the youth welfare office, can be considered as mediator and beneficiary of the difference for these foster children. When they arrest him, he says: He just wanted to get out because he could no longer see the misery that he encountered every day and which in the end he couldn't do anything about it. He only wanted to talk to Steinbriick, but he only insulted him because he stabbed. When Schenk asks about Clara, he denies having kidnapped the child. So only Clara's father comes into question, who then finally reveals where he has hidden the child. Ballauf and Schenk find the girl unscathed with an old lady whom Michael Donker has known since childhood and whom he asked to take care of his daughter.

background

Kaltes Herz was produced by Colonia Media on behalf of WDR . The shooting took place in Cologne and the area around Cologne.

Parts of the film were shot in the historical city archive of Cologne, which collapsed a few days later. So this crime scene actually got a historical character.

In an inconsequential secondary scene, Schenk meets the criminal assistant Karlsen , who has come from Bremen to Cologne for further training, in the presidium .

reception

Audience ratings

When it was first broadcast on March 21, 2010, the episode Kaltes Herz was seen by 9.88 million viewers in Germany, corresponding to a market share of 26.60 percent.

criticism

Rainer Tittelbach from tittelbach.tv rated this crime scene as a complete catastrophe and wrote: “Just as the commissioners stumble through the case, so do the authors stumble through the story. [...] The script moves on the verge of the dramatic abuse of social emergencies. In order to boost the viewer's hormonal balance, the children are taken away from the foster family. They don't have much to do with the plot, but it's definitely an emotional kick. "

Jürgen Kaube also said of the Frankfurter Allgemeine that this crime scene would be: “A single tragedy. [...] The question of whether there is hope for children in neglected milieus overwhelms history. "

Tilmann P. Gangloff from Kino.de , on the other hand, praises the crime scene and writes: “The crime-versed Thomas Jauch stages the 'crime scene' with almost provocative restraint. Image composition and music are extremely economical. The director turns out to be just as long-suffering as his protagonists. 'Cold Heart' is a game of patience in every way. [...] Nevertheless, the film is by no means boring. In addition to looking for the murderer, he naturally also lives from the anxious question of what has become of the missing child. "

The critics of the TV magazine TV Spielfilm judge: “WDR crime thriller with typical dismay attitude, unfortunately with flat figures. [Conclusion:] Committed as usual, but hardly exciting. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Location and audience rating at fundus.de, accessed on October 12, 2014.
  2. ^ Rainer Tittelbach: Film review on tittelbach.tv, accessed on October 12, 2014.
  3. ↑ Jürgen Kaube: A single tragedy at FAZ.net , accessed on October 12, 2014.
  4. ^ Tilmann P. Gangloff : Film review at tittelbach.tv, accessed October 12, 2014.
  5. ↑ Short review at tvspielfilm.de, accessed on October 12, 2014.
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