"Crime scene" check How many Swiss people drop out of university?
Bremen "Tatort" detective Liv Moormann (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) and guest investigator Patrice Schipper (Tijan Njie) investigate a shared flat of horror.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Detective Linda Selb (Luise Wolfram) investigates the body of a student who died in the immediate vicinity of a nightclub.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Student Annalena Höpken (Annika Gräslund) experiences a lot of rejection in the first scenes of the new Bremen "Tatort". Shortly afterwards she is dead.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Forensic scientist Edda Bingley (Helen Schneider) and Patrice Schipper (Tijan Njie) from the KDD take a look at the crime scene.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
The victim's former flatmates, Laslo Wolf (Joyce Sanhá, left), Karima Al-Sharquawi (Shirin Eissa) and Hannes Butenbeker (Michael Schweisser), discuss the case.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Betty (Mathilda Smidt, left) is the little sister of the dead woman. She and her mother Gabriele Höpken (Catrin Striebeck) receive a visit from the police.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Karima Al-Sharquawi (Shirin Eissa) is considered a model student.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Poetry slammer Colin Trenkner (Mitja Over) was the only one who cared for and looked after her now deceased roommate.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Bremen "Tatort" detective Liv Moormann (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) and guest investigator Patrice Schipper (Tijan Njie) investigate a shared flat of horror.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Detective Linda Selb (Luise Wolfram) investigates the body of a student who died in the immediate vicinity of a nightclub.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Student Annalena Höpken (Annika Gräslund) experiences a lot of rejection in the first scenes of the new Bremen "Tatort". Shortly afterwards she is dead.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Forensic scientist Edda Bingley (Helen Schneider) and Patrice Schipper (Tijan Njie) from the KDD take a look at the crime scene.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
The victim's former flatmates, Laslo Wolf (Joyce Sanhá, left), Karima Al-Sharquawi (Shirin Eissa) and Hannes Butenbeker (Michael Schweisser), discuss the case.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Betty (Mathilda Smidt, left) is the little sister of the dead woman. She and her mother Gabriele Höpken (Catrin Striebeck) receive a visit from the police.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Karima Al-Sharquawi (Shirin Eissa) is considered a model student.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Poetry slammer Colin Trenkner (Mitja Over) was the only one who cared for and looked after her now deceased roommate.
Image: Radio Bremen/Magdalena Stengel
Bremen's "Tatort" with Moormann (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) and Selb (Luise Wolfram) paints a horror picture of the current student scene: precarious living conditions, fundamental fears, drugs, hidden dropouts - and very little solidarity. Is it really that bad?
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The death of a student called the detectives Moormann (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) and Selb (Luise Wolfram) onto the scene in Bremen's "Tatort".
- The duo's investigations paint a picture of a desperate generation of students.
- The drop-out rate of Swiss students depends largely on the field of study. It is particularly high in the exact and technical sciences and natural sciences.
The student years used to be seen as an era of great experimentation and discovery: personal development, parties, community - and of course a bit of pressure before exams.
In their "Tatort: Wenn man nur einen retten könnte" (Crime Scene: If Only One Could Be Saved), the three makers now paint a true horror scenario of contemporary student life: detectives Moormann (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) and Selb (Luise Wolfram) - supported by guest investigator Patrice Schipper (Tijan Njie) - have to solve the death of a student. She was obviously not doing well even before her violent death.
The film delves deep into a (fictional) student's life. Does it exemplify the - often hidden - suffering of many young people today?
What was it about?
In a compact two minutes at the beginning of "Crime Scene", the suffering of student Annalena Höpken (Annika Gräslund) is portrayed in collage form: The young woman has existential money worries. There wasn't even enough money for food. She could be seen knocking on various people's doors to a sad hip-hop song. But no one could or wanted to help her.
A few minutes later, Annalena lay dead at the foot of the backyard stairs of a nightclub. Because someone had probably pushed her. The investigation focused on Annalena's toxic flat share and her surviving relatives: her mother (Catrin Striebeck) and her 15-year-old sister (Mathilda Smidt).
What was it really about?
Screenwriter Elisabeth Herrmann (67), bestselling author and responsible for the Joachim Vernau series filmed with Jan Josef Liefers, comes from the student town of Marburg. She and her partner Dr. Christine Otto (born in 1961) may have studied at university a little while ago.
But perhaps it was precisely the perceived discrepancy between their own memories of their youth and current statistics that showed them that students today apparently feel far more under pressure than they used to.
Herrmann and Otto say about their screenplay: "The starting point for 'Wenn man nur einen retten könnte' is a real experience that shook us: a young woman who pretends to study law for years and doesn't find the courage to confess to her parents that she simply can't manage her studies. This is an example of the emotional pressure young adults are under."
How high is the dropout rate among Swiss students?
Depending on the university, subject and definition, the drop-out rate in Switzerland is around 20 to 30 percent of students. Historical and more recent evaluations show that the rates tend to be in the middle range in an international comparison and have fallen slightly over time.
In Switzerland, the highest drop-out rates are found in the exact and technical sciences as well as the natural sciences. Medicine/pharmacy is also in the upper range. The humanities and social sciences have historically had very high rates, but these have fallen significantly, while technical subjects show a rising or stable high dropout risk in some cases.
What is brain doping?
In a survey of around 8,000 students published by "Focus", around five percent stated that they occasionally use prescription drugs such as painkillers and tranquillizers, ADHD medication, antidepressants or beta blockers to improve performance or cope with stress.
Studies on "neuro-enhancement" (brain doping) show that around one in five respondents (students, pupils, professionals) have tried illegal or prescription drugs at least once to improve their performance. Regular use is significantly lower.
What's next for Bremen's "Tatort"?
At the beginning of December 2025, Radio Bremen announced that savings had to be made and that only one new "Tatort" would be filmed in 2026. This will probably not appear in the ARD program until 2027. Shooting of the film, which does not yet have a name, is scheduled to start in June 2026.
The script will be written by Daniela Baumgärtl and Kim Zimmermann - as was the case with "Tatort: Stille Nacht" in 2024.
