The fans have had to deal with some dramatic "Tatort" exits. Commissioner Nadeshda Krusenstern and Co. even died on duty.
Last weekend, Chief Detective Nora Dalay (2012-2020, Aylin Tezel, 37) resigned from the Dortmund team. That's sad. But there have been much more dramatic "Tatort" departures in the past 50 years, and some TV investigators have even died on duty.
Chief Detective Nadeshda Krusenstern
The youngest fatality among the investigators is the Münster police superintendent Nadeshda Krusenstern (2002-2020, Friederike Kempter, 41). She was murdered by the fictional "Tatort" investigator Sascha Ziesing (Friedrich Mücke, 39) from Paderborn in the improv crossover episode "Tatort: Das Team" (2020), which was broadcast on New Year's Day of this year. In "Tatort: Limbus" (November 8th) she had a short last appearance in the eponymous limbo.
Police station manager Stefan Tries
Actor Ben Becker (55) was seen in two Ludwigshafen "crime scenes" as the police officer Stefan Tries. For the first time in 1991 in "Tatort: Tod im Häcksler" and for the last time in "Tatort: Die Pfalz von oben" (November 2019). After it emerges that a young colleague had been shot with Tries' gun in order not to reveal a corruption affair in which Tries was also significantly involved, he shot himself in front of Lena Odenthal (Ulrike Folkerts, 59) eyes.
Chief Inspector Nils Stedefreund
Chief Inspector Nils Stedefreund (2001-2019, Oliver Mommsen, 51) was announced on Easter Monday 2019 in the episode "Tatort: Where did my treasure go?" shot dead by the unscrupulous BKA officer Wolfgang Kempf (Philipp Hochmair, 47), when he stood protectively in front of his colleague Inga Lürsen (Sabine Postel, 66). Stedefreund's death also marked the end of this Bremen "Tatort" team.
Police candidate Maria Magdalena Mohr
The excitement in advance was great when it became known that the Berlin actress Jella Haase (28) would be part of the new Dresden investigative team. But the "Tatort: In one fell swoop" (March 2016) was the first and last with her as Maria Magdalena Mohr. The police candidate was killed by members of the folk music band Heartbreaker.
Criminal Assistant Franziska
Franziska Lüttgenjohann (2000-2014, Tessa Mittelstedt, 46) died on film in "Tatort: Franziska", who had been the Cologne investigators' assistant and honorary probation officer for many years. She was strangled by prison inmate and hostage taker Daniel Kehl (Hinnerk Schönemann, 46) in a meeting room of the correctional facility, while a SEK commando switched him off only a few seconds too late. The episode was only broadcast on January 5, 2014 after 10 p.m. to protect minors.
Chief Inspector Felix Stark
The fans of a former "Tatort" team in Berlin, on the other hand, are still in the dark whether the chief inspector has died or not. Because investigator Felix Stark (2001-2014, Boris Aljinovic, 53) was struck down with two bullets by Martin (Beat Marti, 48) shortly before the end of the crime thriller. In the clinic, when asked if he would survive, the doctor replied "maybe". The "Tatort: Maybe" was broadcast on November 16, 2014 and marks the end of Ritter (Dominic Raacke, 61) and Stark.
Chief Detective Leo Uljanoff
Chronologically now follows the second "crime scene" investigator from the Bremen team, who blessed the time: Chief Detective Leo Uljanoff (Antoine Monot, Jr., 45), unlike Stedefreund, was granted only two episodes. After joining in February 2013, he was featured in the next episode "Tatort: He will kill" (June 2013) in the presidium toilet of Dr. Marie Schemer (Annika Kuhl, 45) stabbed to cover up another crime.
Investigator Gisbert Engelhardt
The one-off appearance by Fabian Hinrichs (46) in the Munich "Tatort: Der tiefe Schlaf" (December 2012) caused a sensation. In it, the actor, born in Hamburg in 1974, played the young, ambitious investigator Gisbert Engelhardt. But after 60 minutes he had to die a film death, which the audience regretted very much. The "We want Gisbert Engelhardt back" page was founded on Facebook. As such, Hinrichs did not make a comeback, but since April 2015 he has had his own "crime scene". In Franconia he determines Felix Voss as chief inspector.
Undercover investigator Cenk Batu
The Hamburg undercover investigator Cenk Batu (2008-2012, Mehmet Kurtulus, 48) caught it in May 2012 in "Tatort: The Ballad of Cenk and Valerie". He died from the bullet of a SEK sniper after he had taken Chancellor Grasshoff (Kai Wiesinger, 54) hostage to save his girlfriend.
Commissioner Michael Zorowski
And Berlin again: Inspector Michail "Zorro" Zorowski (1996-1998, Robinson Reichel, 54) got away from the car after twelve cases in the episode "Tatort: Berliner Weisse", which took place in the run-up to the Love Parade and was broadcast in November 1998 fatally hit by a pill dealer.
Police chief Werner Rolfs
Similar to the case of the Dresden police candidate Maria Magdalena Mohr, the Frankfurt police chief Werner Rolfs (Klaus Löwitsch, 1936-2002) was granted only one episode. In "Tatort: So ein Tag …" (1982) he died in an underground car park from a ricochet from the petty criminal "Blinki" (Pierre Franckh, 67), who actually wanted to shoot his ex-girlfriend.