"Tatort" in the check How Commissioner Gorniak's farewell went in Dresden
Julian Weinberger
2.2.2025

Inspector Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) solved her last Dresden case in "Tatort: Herz der Dunkelheit".
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Leonie Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel, left), Paul Peter Schnabel (Martin Brambach) and Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) investigate together for the last time in "Tatort: Herz der Dunkelheit".
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Janusz (Louis Wagenbrenner, from left), Maya (Katharina Hirschberg), Kevin (Filip Schnack), Leander (Amon Schicke), Marlin (Max Wolter) and Khaleb (Leander Lesotho) indulge in party excess.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Michael Schnabel (Martin Brambach) tries to talk the youngsters into it.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

They had a party with heavy consequences: "hostess" Maya (Katharina Hirschberg, from left), Leander (Amon Schicke), Inge (Victoria Friedrich), Luka (Casper von Bülow) and Khaleb (Leander Lesotho).
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski, left) and Leonie Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel) search for clues at the crime scene.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

The cool Janusz Simiak (Louis Wagenbrenner) and hostess Maya Wolff (Katharina Hirschberg) are very familiar with each other at the party.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Romy (Charlotte Krause, left) and her father Paul (Hannes Wegener) are in shock over the incidents.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Peter Schnabel (Martin Brambach) doubts that Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) can still investigate this case objectively.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Inspector Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) solved her last Dresden case in "Tatort: Herz der Dunkelheit".
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Leonie Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel, left), Paul Peter Schnabel (Martin Brambach) and Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) investigate together for the last time in "Tatort: Herz der Dunkelheit".
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Janusz (Louis Wagenbrenner, from left), Maya (Katharina Hirschberg), Kevin (Filip Schnack), Leander (Amon Schicke), Marlin (Max Wolter) and Khaleb (Leander Lesotho) indulge in party excess.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Michael Schnabel (Martin Brambach) tries to talk the youngsters into it.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

They had a party with heavy consequences: "hostess" Maya (Katharina Hirschberg, from left), Leander (Amon Schicke), Inge (Victoria Friedrich), Luka (Casper von Bülow) and Khaleb (Leander Lesotho).
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski, left) and Leonie Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel) search for clues at the crime scene.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

The cool Janusz Simiak (Louis Wagenbrenner) and hostess Maya Wolff (Katharina Hirschberg) are very familiar with each other at the party.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Romy (Charlotte Krause, left) and her father Paul (Hannes Wegener) are in shock over the incidents.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans

Peter Schnabel (Martin Brambach) doubts that Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) can still investigate this case objectively.
Image: MDR/MadeFor/Steffen Junghans
At short notice, the Erste took Magdeburg's "Polizeiruf 110" out of the program - because of the Christmas market attack. The "Tatort" replacement from Dresden marks the end of Commissioner Karin Gorniak.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Farewell pain in the Dresden "Tatort": Karin Hanczewski steps down as Commissioner Gorniak in the "Herz der Dunkelheit" case.
- Together with colleague Leo Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel), she investigates a murder in the aftermath of a graduation party that got out of hand.
- Originally, the Dresden "Tatort" was not scheduled to be broadcast until later. But at short notice, ARD removed the originally planned "Polizeiruf 110" from the program.
Just a few days before the planned broadcast, ARD decided to remove Magdeburg's "Polizeiruf 110: Widerfahrnis" from the program. Because of the Christmas market attack in Magdeburg, in which six people died and almost 300 were injured.
"This also has to do with the plot," writes the producing MDR. The film is about the highly emotional story of an anonymous accident victim, about grief and the experience of loss.
"Even if the film is not about an attack, its subject matter means that it contains elements that could be perceived as stressful at the moment," ARD states. The replacement film "Tatort: Herz der Dunkelheit" is now also being produced by MDR and is set in Dresden.
It is about a derailed graduation party in which two students are killed. The film also marks Karin Hanczewski's long-announced farewell as Inspector Gorniak.
Why is she leaving "Tatort ", who will succeed her and when will the - very strong - Polizeiruf with Claudia Michelsen actually start?
What was it about?
When you're 18 or 19, parties can get a bit wild. Maya's (Katharina Hirschberg) parents were away and the chic villa and pool house were left to the young people - whether voluntarily or not. High school graduates were having a wild party in the house with alcohol and drugs.
Because Marlin (Max Wolter) wasn't feeling well after consuming them, he went to the toilet in the pool house - where he seemed to find the body of Janusz (Louis Wagenbrenner), who was quite hip in the group. Or was it just the drugs playing tricks on Marlin's mind?
The boy tried to call the police, fled the party - and was run over by a truck. Detectives Leo Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel) and Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) investigate - not only because of Marlin, but also because Janusz (who may be dead) has actually disappeared.
For Gorniak, the case became an emotional ordeal. She had a happy new love affair with psychologist Paul (Hannes Wegener). Then it came to light that Paul's 17-year-old daughter Romy (Charlotte Krause) was also part of the party excess - and could be actively involved in the dubious events there.
What was it really about?
The cruelty of youth and its tendency to shirk responsibility when bad things happen. Just as we know it from childhood, when we don't admit to a - perceived - serious offense, but instead reflexively fib, remain silent or run away.
The fact that moral maturity and the acceptance of responsibility grow with age would of course still have to be proven (on a human scale).
The teenagers in the screenplay by Claudia Garde (also director) and Ben von Rönne initially reflect the typical emotional stress and issues of adolescence:
Who liked who (not)? Who was excluded or humiliated by the group or individuals? Who was in love with whom - or used to have a relationship? All of this - combined with drug excess - can sometimes end in death, as the film boldly but not entirely unrealistically shows.
Why is Karin Hanczewski quitting "Tatort"?
Karin Hanczewski is leaving the successful MDR crime series at her own request. This has been known for some time, but now the 43-year-old's last film moment has actually come. Since 2016, she has played the dutiful yet headstrong investigator Gorniak in a total of 18 cases.
"Over the years, Karin Gorniak has often been pushed to her mental and physical limits," recalls the actress as she says goodbye to her role. "In 'The Nest' and also in 'Invisible', she became a victim herself, which made her investigations very personal and intense."
The reason for Karin Hanczewski's departure is that she wants to "break new ground, open up other spaces and thus get fresh impetus", she said on the MDR talk show "Riverboat".
It is unclear if and when there will be a successor. For the time being, according to MDR, Schnabel (Martin Brambach) and Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel) will investigate in pairs.
When will "Polizeiruf 110" from Magdeburg be made up for?
On December 20, a man drove a car through the Christmas market in Magdeburg. Six people died and almost 300 people were injured in the attack.
Nevertheless, it is a little surprising that the Erste took the - artistically very strong - film with Claudia Michelsen out of the program at such short notice, just a few days before broadcast.
The late decision may be due to the fact that those responsible only noticed certain parallels between the real events and the Magdeburg fiction at a late stage: The crime thriller "Widerfahrnis" is also about a person who has been run over, deep grief and the attempt to come to terms with it.
In terms of content, the postponement of the program is understandable, especially as it is a very moving film from Magdeburg. The new broadcast date is scheduled for May 4, 2025.
What's next for the Dresden "Tatort"?
The episode "Schwesternliebe" was filmed in April and May 2024. Leonie Winkler and Peter Michael Schnabel meet a traumatized 16-year-old who claims that her father kept her prisoner in a cellar. Her sister is also still being held there by the perpetrator.
Another episode entitled "Siebenschläfer" was filmed shortly afterwards, in the early summer of 2024.
This case is also about young people - for the third time in a row: the investigators are looking for the murderer of a teenager whose body was found in a lake near a youth home.