Agricultural “crime scenes”: Here’s what Berg’s investigators and his actors had in common

“Tatort: ​​​​Der Reini”, Black Forest case number 15, is once again a true crime thriller after a long time. It was made by the same team as the first film with Inspector Berg (Hans-Jochen Wagner) and Tobler (Eva Löbau) from 1 October 2017, “Tatort: ​​​​Goldbach”. Past and present, an old and remote farmhouse serves as the setting. Eight years ago, about a missing child.

In 2025, the inspector will now be threatened in his own home – and his previously unknown family history will be revealed. We explain what a dilapidated farm really is, where the farm is actually located, and what similarities there are between Commissioner Berg and actor Hans-Jochen Wagner.

Inspector Friedemann Berg has time to rest and take care of his farm. Meanwhile his colleague Tobler (Eva Löbau) is undergoing further training. Junior detective Micha Paulus (Luise Aschenbrenner) has to deal with the murder of a pharmacist who was shot in his bed. The trio now stake out Berg’s palace.

The guests are Friedemann’s younger brother, Reini (Felician Hohnloser), who is accompanied by his taciturn girlfriend Mika (Mareike Beykirch) and the menacing Luke (Karsten Antonio Mielke). The three apparently escaped from a mental hospital and used the yard as a shelter. Did it also kill the pharmacist? What goals did the “madmen” pursue in this situation of widespread threat, for Berg?

Writer Bernd Lange and director Robert Thalheim created a home invasion thriller with “Tatort: ​​​​Der Reini.” This is the name of a subgenre of thrillers in which the protagonist is attacked or threatened by scary visitors in his own home. A very scary idea for most viewers!

The film’s tension also comes from the family drama surrounding the seemingly difficult father and the relationship between the Berg brothers. While Friedemann, the elder, leads a solid life and is at least professionally successful as an inspector, his unstable younger brother, Reini, has to eke out a living in a psychiatric ward. What effect does this have on the siblings’ feelings for each other? An interesting question that always resonates in the subtext of the 90-minute thriller.

Much of “Tatort: ​​​​Der Reini” takes place on the Friedemann Berg family farm, which has been used as a motif since “Tatort: ​​​​Sonnenwende” (2018). In some episodes of “Tatort” from the Black Forest, you can already see the irritated inspector making emergency repairs on the farm.

Nevertheless, the family farm was completely destroyed under his hands – which may be symbolic of the family’s seemingly difficult past. This farm was actually used outside of filming and was called “Weißtannenhof”. Located near Breitnau, about half way between Freiburg and Feldberg in the Black Forest.

Actor Hans-Jochen Wagner (56) Wagner actually lives with his wife, director Nana Neul (51), and their son in Berlin. However, like Commissioner Berg, the family had a house in the countryside, more precisely in Brandenburg. In an interview with teleschau, the actor said in 2024: “I have a dacha in the area around Berlin and often attend local council meetings there.”

However, in the actual land assignment, the actor was more involved politically than technically: “In the countryside, where I am only registered as a secondary residence, I tried to think in the local association 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 make something happen there as a team.”

The next “TKP” from Black Forest will arrive in early January and is entitled “TKP: Youngest Goat”. According to the SWR press office, the film plays with elements of Grimms’ fairy tales and mysteries: Friedemann finds a non-speaking but frightened little girl, alone in a house at the edge of the forest. This child’s favorite fairy tale is “The Wolf and the Seven Little Children”.

The girl’s father was found dead in the forest, her mother is still missing. The family history is strange. We promise a very atmospheric ‘crime scene’ directed by Rudi Gaul (“Tatort: ​​​​Ad Acta”), who also wrote the script with Ulrike Schölles.