"Tatort" in the check What investigator Berg and his actor have in common
Inspector Friedemann Berg (Hans-Jochen Wagner) is visited by his brother, who has escaped from a psychiatric ward - and two obscure companions.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Three obscure companions stalk Friedemann Berg's court.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Franziska Tobler (Eva Löbau) intervenes late in the new Black Forest case. The investigator is actually on a training course.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Friedemann Berg (Hans-Jochen Wagner) introduces his young colleague Micha Paulus (Luise Aschenbrenner) to the crime scene analysis of an experienced police officer.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Inspector Berg (Hans-Jochen Wagner, right) embraces his brother Reini (Felician Hohnloser), who has apparently run away from the psychiatric ward.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
The concrete slab in the courtyard hides a secret. Reini (Felician Hohnloser) wants to keep it from his girlfriend Mika (Mareike Beykirch).
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Reinhard (Felician Hohnloser) and his girlfriend Mika Novak (Mareike Beykirch) make plans for the future in the old nursery.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Micha Paulus (Luise Aschenbrenner) feels abandoned by her experienced colleagues Tobler and Berg in the investigation of the dead pharmacist.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Inspector Friedemann Berg (Hans-Jochen Wagner) is visited by his brother, who has escaped from a psychiatric ward - and two obscure companions.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Three obscure companions stalk Friedemann Berg's court.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Franziska Tobler (Eva Löbau) intervenes late in the new Black Forest case. The investigator is actually on a training course.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Friedemann Berg (Hans-Jochen Wagner) introduces his young colleague Micha Paulus (Luise Aschenbrenner) to the crime scene analysis of an experienced police officer.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Inspector Berg (Hans-Jochen Wagner, right) embraces his brother Reini (Felician Hohnloser), who has apparently run away from the psychiatric ward.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
The concrete slab in the courtyard hides a secret. Reini (Felician Hohnloser) wants to keep it from his girlfriend Mika (Mareike Beykirch).
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Reinhard (Felician Hohnloser) and his girlfriend Mika Novak (Mareike Beykirch) make plans for the future in the old nursery.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Micha Paulus (Luise Aschenbrenner) feels abandoned by her experienced colleagues Tobler and Berg in the investigation of the dead pharmacist.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
"Tatort: Der Reini" tells the story of Berg's (Hans-Jochen Wagner) mentally ill brother and a complex family history. Meanwhile, colleague Tobler (Eva Löbau) is on a training course. We find out whether Berg's lonely farm really exists and what the actor gets up to on his real farm.
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- A nasty family surprise for Inspector Berg (Hans-Jochen Wagner): In the Black Forest "Tatort: Der Reini", his brother comes to visit him on a lonely farm.
- And he doesn't come alone: the titular sibling has two obscure companions with him - and plenty of family secrets.
- In fact, it is no coincidence that the plot is set on a farm. Actor Hans-Jochen Wagner also has a special relationship with farms.
"Tatort: Der Reini", Black Forest case number 15, is a genuine rural crime thriller again after a long time.
It was created by the same team as the very first film with detectives Berg (Hans-Jochen Wagner) and Tobler (Eva Löbau) from October 1, 2017, "Tatort: Goldbach". Then as now, an old remote farmhouse serves as the setting for the Black Forest crime thriller. Eight years ago, it was about a missing child.
In 2025, the detective is now threatened in his own home - and his previously unknown family history is uncovered. We explain what the dilapidated farm is really about, where the real farm is and what Commissioner Berg and actor Hans-Jochen Wagner have in common.
What was it all about?
Inspector Friedemann Berg had the day off and was looking after his farm. Meanwhile, his colleague Tobler (Eva Löbau) was on further training. Junior inspector Micha Paulus (Luise Aschenbrenner) had to deal with the murder of a pharmacist who was shot dead in his bed. A trio now stalked Berg's farm.
The guests were Friedemann's younger brother Reini (Felician Hohnloser), who was accompanied by his taciturn girlfriend Mika (Mareike Beykirch) and the menacing Luke (Karsten Antonio Mielke). The trio had apparently escaped from a psychiatric ward and were using the farm as a safe house.
Did they also have the pharmacist on their conscience? What goals were "the lunatics" pursuing in what was a vague threat situation for Berg?
What was it really about?
Author Bernd Lange and director Robert Thalheim created a home invasion thriller with "Tatort: Der Reini". This is the name given to a thriller sub-genre in which the protagonists are attacked or threatened by sinister visitors in their own home. A particularly scary idea for most viewers!
The film's suspense is also fed by a family drama about an apparently difficult father and the Berg brothers' relationship. While Friedemann, the older brother, leads a solid and at least professionally successful life as a police inspector, his unstable younger brother Reini has to eke out an existence in a psychiatric ward.
What does this do to the brothers' feelings for each other? An interesting question that constantly resonates in the subtext of the 90-minute thriller.
Does Commissioner Berg's Black Forest farm really exist?
Large parts of "Tatort: Der Reini" are set on Friedemann Berg's family farm, which has been used as a motif since "Tatort: Sonnenwende" (2018). In some "Tatort" episodes from the Black Forest, the unnerved inspector could already be seen making makeshift repairs on the farm.
Nevertheless, the family farm is literally falling apart under his hands - which is probably symbolic of an apparently difficult family past. The farm is also actually used outside of filming and is called "Weisstannenhof". It is located near Breitnau, about halfway between Freiburg and the Feldberg in the Black Forest.
What do the actor and the role have in common?
Actor Hans-Jochen Wagner (56) Wagner actually lives in Berlin with his wife, director Nana Neul (51), and their son.
However, like Commissioner Berg, the family has a house in the countryside, in Brandenburg to be precise. In an interview with teleschau in 2024, the actor said: "I have a dacha in the outskirts of Berlin and often go to local council meetings there."
However, the actor is more politically active on his real country estate than in his work: "In the countryside, where I only have a secondary residence, I try to think about how we can react to climate change. There is a lake that needs to be protected. Thank goodness there are people who want to get something going there as a team."
What's next for the Black Forest "Tatort"?
The next "Tatort" from the Black Forest will be produced at the beginning of January and is entitled "Tatort: Das jüngste Geisslein". According to the SWR press office, it plays with both Grimm's fairy tale and mystery elements.
Friedemann finds a little girl who doesn't talk but is frightened, alone in a house on the edge of a forest. This child's favorite fairy tale is "The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats".
The girl's father is found dead in the forest and her mother remains missing. The family's story is a strange one. We are promised "a very atmospheric 'Tatort'" directed by Rudi Gaul ("Tatort: Ad Acta"), who also wrote the screenplay with Ulrike Schölles.
