Pfarrer Braun is a German television series. It is based on the character of Father Brown, originally created by G. K. Chesterton. The last episode of the series (Brauns Heimkehr) was produced in 2013 and aired on March 20, 2014. The reason for discontinuing the series was star Ottfried Fischer's advancing health problems, as the production company announced in May 2013.
Plot Time and time again, the Catholic priest Guido Braun succumbs to the temptation to investigate a case, which usually results in a punitive transfer to a new plot location for the next episode - his bishop Hemmelrath has forbidden him from investigating. As soon as Braun sees an injustice, he wants to put an end to it, defying the explicit prohibition of his bishop. In sometimes not quite kosher ways, he contributes to the solution of the case with the support of his sacristan Armin Knopp, his housekeeper Margot Roßhauptner and the clumsy inspector Albin Geiger.
Main characters The Roman Catholic priest Guido Braun - despite the explicit prohibition by his bishop Hemmelrath - cannot refrain from taking care of mysterious deaths in his respective parish of service. All too often, however, these turn out to be insidious murders - and because of the public attention they attract, Braun is punitively transferred by his superior to a supposedly quiet neighborhood every two or three episodes or so, but never to his beloved Bavarian fatherland. While "criminalizing" - as the bishop says - the priest more or less forcibly clashes with the respective police "authority", mostly in the person of the good-natured and slightly simple-minded chief inspector Geiger, who is also frequently transferred due to his "successes", happens to hold seminars on location, takes vacation or has to provide administrative assistance for his colleagues. In the final episode, Braun learns that he is suffering from a terminal illness. After solving the case, he dies during the service in Rome.
Margot Roßhauptner, affectionately called "the Roßhauptnerin" by Braun, is the priest's Berlinese housekeeper and always comments jauntily on Braun's goings-on (until episode 20). On the one hand, she tries to prevent Braun from criminalizing, because she fears the inevitable transfer and the resulting move, on the other hand, she often supports Braun's criminalizing through undercover activities. A kind of running gag is her risky fast way of driving.
Armin Knopp is the priest's sacristan. In the first episode, Braun, as a prison chaplain in a Hamburg prison, is able to exonerate him of unjustified charges and thus obtain his early release on parole from the penal system; from that point on, he is his companion and aide. He falls in love anew in almost every episode, but is always pursued by the misfortune of love. In prison he learned various tricks which help Braun from time to time. For example, he is capable of opening any kind of locks, has mastered sign language and is skilled in martial arts.
Chief Inspector Albin Geiger is almost always punitively transferred to the vicinity of the priest by chance. He is usually ex officio in charge of the criminal cases which Braun gets involved in. However, it soon becomes clear why he, too, must keep changing his place of duty: He acts too stupid for the task assigned to him, a "curse" for the priest. Since the third episode, one can see that Braun and Geiger effectively form an alliance of convenience. Braun uses the police capabilities such as personal information, expert opinions or DNA analysis and Geiger uses Braun's criminological capabilities, because the commissioner secretly hopes for a promotion, which he also gets from episode 13 and is promoted to the LKA.
Bishop Sebastian Hemmelrath is Braun's boss. He is God-fearing, but always looking out for the church's (and his own) advantage, though not particularly well-versed in the Bible. While he always forbids the pastor to "criminalize", he likes to bet with him, but when he loses, he tries to get out of his bet. He hopes for an early appointment to Rome, but fails several times for a variety of reasons. In the final episode, he is finally made a cardinal.
Monsignore Anselm Mühlich, the secretary of Bishop Hemmelrath, turns out to be Braun's adversary, trying to intrigue wherever he can - and often getting the short end of the stick. He is also the one who - whenever Hemmelrath and Braun bet on who knows a Bible passage - tries to reveal it to the bishop. Mühlich can also score occasionally against Braun, but ultimately loses. In the episode "Grimms Mördchen", however, Mühlich relies on Braun's criminological skills because he fears that he himself will become the victim of an assassination attempt.
Episodes +Nr. Original titleTranslated TitlePlotFirst AiredDirectorScript1Der siebte Tempel The seventh temple Pfarrer Braun is transferred to Hamburg as a prison chaplain after making the headlines through criminal investigations. As a pastor, he gets to know the imprisoned youth Armin Knopp. Braun succeeds in proving the boy's partial innocence and obtaining his early release on parole by somewhat wet blanketing the obligation in the confessional to an inmate. As a result of this new investigation, Braun's next punitive transfer promptly follows, this time to Nordersand, a fictional North Sea island. Braun, his housekeeper Margot Roßhauptner and Armin as an altar boy take over a small Catholic parish. Braun's superior Bishop Hemmelrath wants to keep him away from the crime of the big city. But even in the deepest province, Braun encounters mysterious occurrences.
When the wealthy widow Gronewold, for whose deceased husband Braun read a Latin mass in exchange for "active charity" not quite according to church law, died unexpectedly, Braun was able to prove that, among others, a Dr. Hermann Teusch wanted to obtain the widow's inheritance by fraud.17. Apr. 2003Martin GiesWolfgang Limmer2Das Skelett in den DünenThe skeleton in the dunesThe second episode, like the first case The Seventh Temple, is set on the North Sea island. On the beach, Geiger's son - the local police chief - discovers a skeleton representing the remains of the artist Wigbert Münzing. The only strange thing is that the latter seems to be still living to the fullest. Finally, Braun is able to prove that Onno, a homeless man, has a second existence.25. Apr. 2003Martin GiesWolfgang Limmer3Ein verhexter FallA bewitched caseAfter his investigations, which are once again forbidden, Braun is now punitively transferred to the Harz Mountains. There he has to contend with the ecumenism-loving pastor Happe, whose "hip" manner steals the pastor's nerves. In addition, Bishop Hemmelrath has forced a vow on his problem pastor Braun not to "criminalize" anymore, but he soon has to break this vow again. New findings emerge in a murder case that was already thought to have been solved. A teacher named Rinke was murdered and the deaf student Antonia, who confessed to the murder, is in custody as the perpetrator, but her boyfriend Winfried claims he is the real culprit. With the help of two laid-out pig heads and their insect infestation, Pastor Braun is able to prove that, contrary to the witnesses' statements, Rinke was not murdered on the Brocken, but in his house. This evidence leads to the real murderer.15. Apr. 2004Dirk RegelWolfgang Limmer4Der Fluch der PröpstinThe curse of the provostBraun continues to be in the Harz Mountains. A restorer named Manuel Castelnuovo becomes the priest's friend when he discovers his secret feasting cellar next to the room where Castelnuovo is restoring the tomb of Friederike, the provost. When Castelnuovo's dog and the latter himself die mysteriously, Father Braun determines that his friend not only had many lovers, but that there were also some enemies of the restorer. One or another must have spread dangerous fungal spores that led to the death of the gigolo.22. Apr. 2004Dirk RegelWolfgang Limmer5Bruder MordBrother murderAfter Braun had tried in vain to lose weight in the Harz mountains, this time Hemmelrath sends Braun to a Rhenish monastery surrounded by a moat for a fasting cure. There, Armin, who supplies Braun with sausages and meat by boat, finds the dead Father Boniface. According to Abbot Nicodemus, he had killed himself. But Father Pankraz also dies, both had to do with translations of texts that prove that the papacy does not go back to Peter and thus has no basis. The abbot wanted to cover up this explosive issue. Braun has to "criminalize" in a monastery without electricity and internet - and for the first time with the permission of the bishop.31. March 2005Dirk RegelHans-Jörg Bruckner6Adel vernichtetNobility destroyedAt Falkenberg Castle on the Rhine, a falcon is robbed of its tail feathers and thus disfigured. The Baron of Falkenberg has to kill him, someone seems to have it in for the Falkenberg family. But all enemies from the Middle Ages and their descendants seem to be extinct. Between wine festivals, a noble family marked by the death of their mother and the autumnal Rhine landscape, Braun comes across gardener Karl Rabe, with whom something more than just his name seems to be wrong.14. Apr. 2005Dirk RegelHans-Jörg Bruckner7Der unsichtbare BeweisThe invisible proofMonsignor Mühlich, the bishop's secretary, recommends that Father Braun be transferred to Pfaffenberg in the Saxon province. But the coziness there is soon over when streams of tourists want to photograph the small church and the rectory several times a day. During a wedding celebration, the tour guide Rosa is murdered. Her (ex-)boyfriend Matej, under urgent suspicion of the crime, asks Pastor Braun for church asylum as the angry guests of the celebration pursue him. Inspector Geiger, who happens to be undergoing survival training in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, is finally able to help decisively in this case.14. Sep. 2006Ulrich StarkArndt Stüwe8Drei Särge und ein BabyThree coffins and a babyThe shipowner Susanna Vogelsang is said to have put her two ex-husbands in the grave, which makes Braun curious when the third husband also dies an unnatural death on the night of the first wedding anniversary. At the same time, the baby of a young Czech woman sees the light of day in Braun's bed. Bishop Hemmelrath is horrified because, during a visit to the rectory, he mistakenly assumes that Pastor Braun and his housekeeper Roßhauptner are the parents. Pastor Braun clarifies the past of the shipowner, who after the third death is subjected to a vehement gauntlet in the village (mainly starting from the mother of her first husband) and now alternately receives very personal encouragement from two honorable gentlemen, the local funeral director Graf and the pathologist Dr. Storz.21. Sep. 2006Wolfgang F. HenschelCornelia Willinger