Leipzig Homicide (SOKO Leipzig) is a German crime drama television series first broadcast on 31 January 2001 on ZDF. More than 400 episodes have been screened since. On 12 November 2008, the first of a two-part crossover between SOKO Leipzig and British police procedural The Bill, titled "Proof of Life", was aired, with the same version being shown on both ZDF and British television network ITV. Soko Leipzig is the second offshoot of SOKO München, launched in 1978 under the name SOKO 5113. "SOKO" is an abbreviation of the German word Sonderkommission, which means "special investigative team".

Synopsis The series follows the investigative work of a special commission of the Leipzig police, focused on serious crimes such as murder. The show's original team consists of Hajo Trautzschke, Jan Maybach, Ina Zimmermann, and Miguel Alvarez. Alvarez is killed and replaced by Patrick Grimm, until his departure for Africa, when his father dies. Detective inspector-candidate Vincent Becker is Patrick's replacement. He lives with his superior, Hajo Trautzschke, and her daughter, Leni, a journalist who marries Jan Maybach and with whom she has a daughter, Charlotte. Maybach has a son named "Benni" with his first wife. A child at the beginning of the series, Benni later becomes an emergency physician. Leni and Jan later divorce. Zimmermann gives birth to a son, Paul. She gets involved with several men during the series, including Maybach, who dies in season 26.

After Becker moves to Costa Rica, Tom Kowalski joins the team for nearly ten years. He breaks the rules and creates conflict with Hajo and is demoted. Hajo eventually retires, making occasional appearances as Charlotte's grandfather. Zimmermann becomes the team's new leader.

Meanwhile, team assistant Olivia Fareedi becomes a permanent member, until her move to Berlin. Kim Nowak leaves after Kowalski's departure. Moritz Brenner joins the team. Maybach is nearly killed multiple times during the series. He is fatally shot while investigating the man who killed Alvarez and dies in the arms of his boss and lover, Zimmermann. Zimmermann later avenges Maybach's murder, fatally shooting the killer while saving Nowak's life.

The team is supported by coroners Sabine Rossi and Mara Stein as well as laboratory assistant Lorenz Rettig and prosecutor Alexander Binz. Dagmar Schnee assists the team in cases concerning sexual offenses.

Crossovers On 3 April 2013, five SOKO teams were brought together for a five-part special titled SOKO – Der Prozess. In it, the teams from Munich, Cologne, Leipzig, Stuttgart, and Wismar have to solve the murder of a police officer. The five episodes were shown across Germany from 30 September to 4 October 2013.

A crossover episode with SOKO Donau, titled "Der vierte Mann", was broadcast on ORF on 2 November 2019 and ZDF on 8 November 2019. The screenplay was based on a true story related to the Viennese political activist Rudolfine Steindling.

Cast and characters Current Actor RoleFunctionSeasonsYears Melanie Marschke Ina Zimmermann chief inspector 1– 2001– Amy Mußul Kim Nowak detective inspector 19 – 2019– Johannes Hendrik Langer Moritz Brenner detective inspector 22– 2022– Simon Böer Dirk Trebbe senior inspector 26- 2026- Anna Stieblich Prof. Dr. Sabine Rossi coroner 10– 2009– Michael Rotschopf Dr. Alexander Binz prosecutor 11– 2011– Judith Sehrbrock Dr. Mara Stein coroner 11– 2011– Daniel Steiner Lorenz Rettig laboratory assistant 12– 2012– Petra Kleinert Dagmar Schnee chief inspector (vice squad) 13– 2013– Caroline Scholze Leni Trautzschke (formerly Maybach) daughter of Hajo, ex-wife of Jan 1– 2001– Maximilian Klas Benni Maybach emergency physician, son of Jan 1– 2001–

Former Actor RoleFunctionSeasonsYears Andreas Schmidt-Schaller Hajo Trautzschke chief inspector 1–23 2001–2023 Marco Girnth Jan Maybach † chief inspector 1–26 2001–2026 Gabriel Merz Miguel Alvarez † detective inspector 1–7 2001–2006 Tyron Ricketts Patrick Diego Grimm detective inspector 7–10 2006–2009 Pablo Sprungala Vincent Becker detective inspector-candidate 10–12 2009–2012 Anne Arzenbacher Meike Schwarz police master 5–6, 8, 13 2005–2006, 2008, 2012 Nilam Farooq Olivia Fareedi detective inspector 13–19 2013–2019 Steffen Schroeder Tom Kowalski detective inspector 12–22 2012–2022 Silke Heise Dr. Sandra Schönfeld coroner 1–3 2001–2003 Margrit Sartorius Dr. Kathrin Conradi coroner 3–11 2003–2010 Michael Brandner Dr. Manfred Woernle police senior councillor 11–13, 16 2010–2012, 2015

Episodes

Season Episodes Originally aired (Germany) Season premiere Season finale 1 12 31 January 2001 18 April 2001 2 10 23 January 2002 27 March 2002 3 18 25 September 2002 28 March 2003 4 20 17 October 2003 2 April 2004 5 11 17 December 2004 18 March 2005 6 21 16 September 2005 19 May 2006 7 15 29 September 2006 19 January 2007 8 16 24 October 2007 11 April 2008 9 31 3 October 2008 5 June 2009 10 18 4 September 2009 26 March 2010 11 23 24 September 2010 11 March 2011 12 23 14 October 2011 30 March 2012 13 22 16 November 2012 22 March 2013 SOKO – Der Prozess 5 30 September 2013 4 Oktober 2013 14 20 25 October 2013 21 February 2014 15 21 19 September 2014 13 February 2015 16 20 2 October 2015 19 February 2016 17 26 16 September 2016 24 February 2017 18 16 13 October 2017 16 February 2018 19 22 14 September 2018 22 February 2019 20 14 18 October 2019 14 February 2020 SOKO – Der vierte Mann 1 8 November 2019 21 22 28 August 2020 5 March 2021 22 24 27 August 2021 18 February 2022 23 27 9 September 2022 17 March 2023 24 23 1 September 2023 23 February 2024 Special: Goldenes Blut 116 August 2024 25 25 27 September 2024 25 April 2025 26 26 3 October 2025 2026

Gallery Shooting locations and sets

Special

In April 2013, a five-part crossover between five ZDF SOKO series, titled SOKO – Der Prozess, began filming. The teams included in the show are 5113, Cologne, Leipzig, Stuttgart, and Wismar.

See also List of German television series

References

External links Leipzig Homicide at ZDF Leipzig Homicide at UFA Leipzig Homicide at fernsehserien.de