"Tatort" in the check What's the story behind the endless renovation of the Cologne Opera House?
For detective and opera fan Freddy Schenk (Dietmar Bär, left), a dream comes true. Together with his colleague Max Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt), he investigates a murder at the Cologne Opera behind the scenes.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
Murder at the opera: Elli Zander (Ines Lutz), the stage manager, is found shot dead in the freight elevator. Max Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt) and Freddy Schenk (Dietmar Bär, left) investigate.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
The young singer Valerie Schmitt (Hannah Schiller) seems to be under pressure. She is currently singing in the choir - although she is actually employed as a soloist.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
Multi-tradeswoman Eva Krüger (Katja Bürkle) is the go-to girl at the Cologne Opera.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
Director Darius Henning (Stephan Grossmann) is horrified by a murder at his opera house.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
The eccentric singer - and man - David Deycks (Marcel Jacqueline Gisdol) and Valerie Schmitt (Hannah Schiller) are rehearsing for a metal opera.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
Make-up artist Britt Maier (Bettina Engelhardt) is considered "the ear" of the ensemble. Inspector Freddy Schenk (Dietmar Bär) makes an appointment with the employee.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
For detective and opera fan Freddy Schenk (Dietmar Bär, left), a dream comes true. Together with his colleague Max Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt), he investigates a murder at the Cologne Opera behind the scenes.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
Murder at the opera: Elli Zander (Ines Lutz), the stage manager, is found shot dead in the freight elevator. Max Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt) and Freddy Schenk (Dietmar Bär, left) investigate.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
The young singer Valerie Schmitt (Hannah Schiller) seems to be under pressure. She is currently singing in the choir - although she is actually employed as a soloist.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
Multi-tradeswoman Eva Krüger (Katja Bürkle) is the go-to girl at the Cologne Opera.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
Director Darius Henning (Stephan Grossmann) is horrified by a murder at his opera house.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
The eccentric singer - and man - David Deycks (Marcel Jacqueline Gisdol) and Valerie Schmitt (Hannah Schiller) are rehearsing for a metal opera.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
Make-up artist Britt Maier (Bettina Engelhardt) is considered "the ear" of the ensemble. Inspector Freddy Schenk (Dietmar Bär) makes an appointment with the employee.
Image: WDR/Thomas Kost
In Cologne's "Tatort: Die Schöpfung", Schenk (Dietmar Bär) and Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt) investigate the opera house construction site. Instead of 2015, the building will not be finished until 2026. What went wrong?
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- A dead prop master leads Ballauf (played by Klaus J. Behrendt) and Schenk (Dietmar Bär) to the Cologne Opera House in the Cologne "Tatort".
- The opera house is considered a permanent construction site: the traditional opera house has been undergoing renovation for eleven years. It was actually supposed to be finished in 2015.
- The reasons for the delays include planning errors and the constant discovery of new construction defects.
Cologne's "Tatort: Die Schöpfung" is set on a construction site that has been in existence for 14 years.
Originally, the crime thriller with investigators Freddy Schenk (Dietmar Bär) and Max Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt) was to be set in the completed opera house - but due to ongoing delays, filming had to take place at various venues, on building sites and in makeshift locations.
Why did the conversion take so long? And what is "The Creation" actually about?
What was it about?
An employee of the Cologne Opera was murdered. The woman who was shot worked in the props department. Her body was draped as if for an opera production. Director Darius Henning (Stephan Grossmann) is horrified by the murder at his cultural institution.
At the same time, the manager could not lose sight of the balancing act between the endless renovation of his main theater and the alternative venues.
Eva Krüger (Katja Bürkle), the handywoman for everything at the Cologne Opera, was helpful in the investigation. She knew her way around the buildings like no other - and opened many doors for the investigators. Ballauf and Schenk noticed the young singer Valerie Schmitt (Hannah Schiller). She seemed to be under pressure.
The detectives investigated the trades of the opera house - as well as the desires, fears and quirks of its employees.
What was it really about?
Screenwriter Wolfgang Stauch, who repeatedly attracts attention with cleverly written episodes such as "Anne und der Tod" (Stuttgart) or the Cologne premium episodes "Vier Jahre" or "Diesmal ist es anders", is not really an opera connoisseur.
Which is not a bad thing in this thriller, because Stauch is interested in the things behind the scenes of the singing spectacle, such as the logistics and operation of an opera.
According to his own statement, he "didn't want to tell a 'star tenor loves star soprano' story, but the microcosm behind the stage". That's why his thriller takes place in workshops, in the costume shop or in the make-up department and tells the story of the people who keep the medium-sized opera company running.
Why is the renovation of the Cologne Opera taking so long?
The cardinal mistake of the project is the assumption that state-of-the-art stage technology and building services could be integrated relatively easily into the listed buildings from the 1950s. This turned out to be a serious mistake.
In addition, there were serious planning and management errors: repeatedly inadequate construction management, poor coordination of the trades, problems with fire protection and ever new defects that led to rework and further delays.
The conversion costs were originally supposed to be 250 million euros. Most recently, they were estimated by the taxpayers' association at around 798 million euros. If you add in the financing costs and the years of interim venues, the total volume amounts to around 1.5 billion euros.
What is "The Creation" about?
"The Creation" is an oratorio by Joseph Haydn. It was premiered in 1798/99 and tells the biblical story of the creation of the world. It is considered a key work on the threshold of the late Baroque and Viennese Classical periods, in which Haydn combined all his experience with symphonic, operatic and choral music.
It is also known for its optimistic, enlightened view of the world, which focuses less on the punishing God and more on the beauty of created nature.
What's next for Cologne's "Tatort"?
The next Cologne "Tatort: Showtime" (also airing this year) presents another interesting location: the investigation takes place behind the scenes of a children's show that has been popular for generations.
The program enjoys cult status - but then the TV show's cameraman is found murdered in the trunk of his burnt-out car. Actor and quick-change artist Max Giermann plays the TV presenter in the episode.
Also still to be seen in 2026: "Tatort: Die letzten Menschen von Köln", which is set around the discovery of a World War II bomb.
There are currently two more films with Ballauf and Schenk in the works: "Tatort: Die guten Leute" about the robbery-murder in an organic bakery and a family drama among the rich called "Tatort: Die Glücklichmacher".
