“Polizeiruf 110: Funkensommer”
“Eberhofer” fan favorite shines in crime thriller
Security guard Busch (Gerhard Wittmann) in “Polizeiruf 110: Funkensommer”.
© BR/Sappralot Productions GmbH/Alexander Fischerkoesen
In “Polizeiruf 110” Gerhard Wittmann plays the unstable security guard Andreas Busch. The actor is no stranger to the crime genre.
The unfortunate security guard Andreas Busch brings the topic to life in a very drastic way in the first few minutes of the new “Polizeiruf 110: Funkensommer” (May 26th at 8:15 p.m. on Das Erste): He watches in panic as a house burns down. His glasses reflect not only the blazing flames of the burning building, but above all the helplessness and fear in his eyes. As the crime thriller progresses, the Busch actor also Gerhard Wittmann, 60, impressively demonstrated his acting talent.
Wittmann succeeds in portraying the unstable security guard perfectly. With his secretive and timid manner, he creates tension from the first minute and thus carries the thriller through. His portrayal of loneliness arouses sympathy in the viewer without begging for it – his tragic end, which touches the characters in the film and the recipients alike, represents the turning point in the investigation.
Leopold Eberhofer from Niederkaltenkirchen
Die-hard crime and Bavaria fans will surely recognize Mr. Busch immediately: Since 2013, he has played Leopold Eberhofer in the “Eberhofer” crime novels based on the books by Rita Falk, 59. The snooty bookseller is hated by his brother, the Niederkaltenkirchen village policeman Franz Eberhofer (Sebastian Bezzel, 52), but Gerhard Wittmann was able to win over the audience all the more with this role.
Wittmann, born in 1964 in Aindling, Bavaria, began his acting career on the stage. Since the end of the 1990s, he has been a regular on television, including in “Rosenheim-Cops” and “SOKO Munich”. He has a lot of Bavarian Sunday crime dramas in his filmography: in 2000, he was in front of the camera in Munich’s “Tatort: Kleine Diebe” alongside investigators Ivo Batic (Miroslav Nemec, 69) and Franz Leitmayr (Udo Wachtveitl, 65). Wittmann most recently played alongside them in “Tatort: Schau mich an” in April. Here, too, he impressed in his role as a curious caretaker with a block warden mentality.
More “Eberhofer” stars in “Funkensommer”
Gerhard Wittmann meets several “Eberhofer” colleagues in the latest “Polizeiruf 110”. Stephan Zinner, 49, who plays Inspector Dennis Eden, is also part of the regular cast in the Bavarian wilderness. He has been seen since the first film adaptation as Niederkaltenkirchen village butcher Simmerl, Franz Eberhofer’s closest friend. Frederic Linkemann, 43, the choleric junior boss of the Hechtle company in “Funkensommer”, played the loyal policeman Franz Stopfer in several films.