1969, Television: “Der Kommissar”

3 January 1969 "Toter Herr im Regen" ("Dead Man in the Rain"), the first episode of the German television series "Der Kommissar" (The Police Inspector), is broadcast on the German network ZDF. The series, written by Herbert Reinecker, starred Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller of the Munich Mordkommission (Murder Squad). Keller's team consisted of Kriminalhauptmeister (Police Inspector) Walter Grabert (Günther Schramm), Kriminalhauptmeister Robert Heines (Reinhard Glemnitz), and Kriminalmeister (Detective Sergeant) Harry Klein (Fritz Wepper) who, in 1974, was replaced by his younger brother (also in real life) Kriminalmeister Erwin Klein (Elmar Wepper).

Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller

Left to right: Reinhard Glemnitz as Kriminalhauptmeister Robert Heines,
Günther Schramm as Kriminalhauptmeister Walter Grabert,
Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller,
and Fritz Wepper as Kriminalmeister Harry Klein

Left to right: Reinhard Glemnitz as Kriminalhauptmeister Robert Heines,
Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller, Fritz Wepper as Kriminalmeister Harry Klein,
and Günther Schramm as Kriminalhauptmeister Walter Grabert

Left to right: Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller,
Günther Schramm as Kriminalhauptmeister Walter Grabert,
Reinhard Glemnitz as Kriminalhauptmeister Robert Heines, and
Fritz Wepper as Kriminalmeister Harry Klein

"Der Kommissar" format is a whodunnit with a murder victim, a group of suspects, and a police detective who reasons out who the murderer is. Sometimes Kommissar Keller gathers all the suspects at the scene of the crime, reconstructing the murder in a Poirot or Maigret manner. A total of 97 black-and-white episodes (55 minutes each) were filmed and broadcast between 1969 and 1976.

Günther Schramm as Kriminalhauptmeister Walter Grabert and
Emely Reuer as Kriminalassistentin Helga Lauer

Elmar Wepper as Kriminalmeister Erwin Klein and
Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller

Main Cast

• Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller
• Günther Schramm as Kriminalhauptmeister Walter Grabert
• Reinhard Glemnitz as Kriminalhauptmeister Robert Heines
• Fritz Wepper as Kriminalmeister Harry Klein
• Elmar Wepper as Kriminalmeister Erwin Klein
• Emely Reuer as Kriminalassistentin Helga Lauer
• Helma Seitz as Kriminalassistentin Käthe Rehbein
• Rosemarie Fendel as Franziska Keller 

Opening and closing credits