Löwengrube – Die Grandauers und ihre Zeit is a German television series first aired between 1989 and 1992, created by Willy Purucker and directed by Rainer Wolffhardt. It is set in Munich and follows the lives of Ludwig Grandauer and his son Karl, both policemen, covering the years from 1897 to 1954. The TV show is based on Purucker's radio play series Die Grandauers und ihre Zeit (‘The Grandauers and their time’). The series’ main title Löwengrube, meaning ‘Lions’ Den’, refers to the address of the Munich Police Headquarters inaugurated in 1913.
Cast Jörg Hube as Ludwig Grandauer (episodes 1–4) and as Karl Grandauer (episodes 5—32) Sandra White as Agnes Grandauer (episodes 1–3) and as Luise Kreitmeier, born Grandauer (episodes 4–15) Christian Mader as young Karl Grandauer (episodes 1–3) Julia Gaßner as young Luise Grandauer (episodes 1–3) Thomas Klietsch as young Adolf Grandauer (episodes 1–3) Gundi Ellert as Franzi Gassner, born Reschreiter, widowed Fuchs (episodes 1–3) Gerd Fitz as Rudolf Grüner (episodes 1—22) Fred Stillkrauth as Lederer (episodes 1–10) Marie Bardischewski as Frau Gschmeißner (episodes 1–5, 8–9, 11, 13, 15–16) Gerhart Lippert as Herr Gassner (episodes 1–2) Andreas Gepfert as Lichtl-Biwi (episodes 2–3) Andreas Zappe as young Mezger-Willy (episode 2) Jonas Vischer as Holzinger (episodes 4–14) Georg Einerdinger as janitor at the Munich police headquarters (episodes 4–32) Andreas Hufnagl as young Adolf Grandauer (episode 4) Peter Weiß as Lichtl-Biwi (episode 4) Werner Rom as Max Kreitmeier (episodes 5–32) Christoph Krix as Toni Schöpf (episodes 5–11) Christine Neubauer as Traudl Grandauer, born Soleder (episodes 5—32) Walter Fitz as August Soleder (episodes 5–7) Sepp Schauer as a butcher (episodes 5, 8) Alexander Duda as Adolf Grandauer (episodes 6—21, 26–32) Franziska Stömmer as Adelgunde Soleder (episodes 6—32) Michael Lerchenberg as Kurt Soleder (episodes 6—29, 32) Gisela Freudenberg as Sara Soleder, born Kampensi (episodes 7—29, 32) Erich Hallhuber as Metzger-Willy (episodes 7, 13, 17, 28) Florian Reinheimer as Max Grandauer (episodes 10–21) Florian Büse-Böhm as Rudi Grandauer (episodes 10–21) Stefan Reck as Hampel (episodes 10–13, 16) Gerd Anthoff as Walter Deinlein (episodes 11–32) Hansi Kraus as Kargus (episodes 11–32) Peter Pius Irl as Block Warden Uhl (episodes 11–13, 15) Volker Prechtel as Waldhauser (episodes 11–12) Mona Freiberg as Kathi Kreitmeier, widowed Lipp (episodes 16–32) Thomas Darchinger as Max Grandauer (episodes 24–32)
Sandra White, who had been playing Luise Kreitmeier, born Grandauer since episode 4, died unexpectedly at age 26 during the production of the second season. Mona Freiberg was then cast as a substitute, playing the new but similar role of Kathi Lipp.
Music The opening and end theme was composed by Peter Sandloff and played by the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, recording numerous variations to match the tone of the individual episodes.
Episodes Season 1 (1989/90) Charivari (‘Charivari’) Spring 1897: In a village near Munich, local policeman Ludwig Grandauer marries Agnes, with whom he already has a three-year-old son. During the wedding reception, Mr. Gantner, the overbearing leaseholder of a hunting ground in the woods nearby, is annoyed by pedlar Eccell’s singing and yells at him. When Gantner is reported missing the next morning, and a farmer interviewed by the police tells them that his daughter saw Eccell going after Gantner the night before, Eccell is arrested, holding a considerable amount of money as well as Gantner’s Charivari in his possession, but keeps insisting that he found it lying on the ground at the edge of the forest. One of the policemen unsuccessfully tries to make him confess by punching him in the mouth hard; afterwards, Ludwig Grandauer has to take Eccell to the Munich police department, where he is held in custody for further investigation. Only years later, Grandauer learns that Eccell hanged himself in his cell after being kept prisoner for almost nine months despite the apparent lack of sufficient evidence against him. 1907: Grandauer, now a constable in the city of Munich, is called to the site of a murder, where he finds a precious pocket watch, that looks exactly like the one Gantner was showing him right before the quarrel at his wedding ten years earlier. After some initial backlash, his superiors follow the trail, and are able to backtrack the watch to a pawnshop, where it was hocked in April 1898 by a man presumably using a false name, having emended his signature to match the initials F. G. engraved into the lid, after first writing an S. Agnes then points out to her husband that the legal family name of the farmer having testified against Eccell, though commonly known by their house name Tannhauser, is actually Schober, and that his son emigrated to America in 1898, not long after the watch was brought to the pawnshop. When the police come to investigate the farm, the daughter admits that Gantner is buried right next to their stable, and accuses her father of the killing, who in turn blames her and her brother, whom they would not find anyway now, eventually revealing that it had been all about his daughter's supposed pregnancy after her having an affair with Gantner.summary of episode 1 on the BR’s website. Abgründe (‘Chasms’) May 1909: One evening while out watching a match of women’s wrestling with two friends of his, Metzger-Willy and Lichtl-Biwi, young Karl Grandauer’s bicycle is stolen, but he dare not tell the police nor his father Ludwig. Willy and Biwi convince him to try and win the money for a new bike at the horse race; when Karl loses, Willy persuades him to take some equipment from the photographer he works for as an apprentice, and use it to produce erotic images of a young woman he will bring in. Following a minor accident with Biwi’s bicycle, a policeman discovers and confiscates the pictures, leaving Karl frightened that his father will know. When he confesses to his mother, she first goes with him to the police and successfully asks for the photographs to be given to her without informing her husband; then she takes her son to the photographer’s shop to make him apologize to his master, who turns out to be rather amused by the whole matter. Meanwhile, Ludwig Grandauer and his colleague Mr. Lederer are busy investigating the suicide of a finishing school’s headmaster, Dr. von Mandel, who had allegedly been caught up in a love affair, but is defended by one of the teachers, who accuses the headmaster’s wife of being responsible for his death. Grandauer subsequently finds out that she actually did set a trap in order to get rid of her husband by hiring a former prostitute to enter his bedroom, and a private detective to document the incriminating scene. Agnes Grandauer shows symptoms of a persistent lung disease, and is urged by Ludwig to go to a doctor.summary of episode 2 on the BR’s website. Herrenfahrer (‘Gentleman Driver’) December 1910: A dead man found on a road has apparently been killed by a collision with a car, that lost a metal ring from one of its head lamps at the scene. When examining the house of the deceased man, who worked as a taxidermist, Constable Ludwig Grandauer and Inspector Rudolf Grüner find traces of blood beside his bed, and a hammer lying on the floor. When Grandauer interrogates the taxidermist's journeyman, who is living in miserable circumstances with his wife and children, he admits that he got into a fight with his master over some unpaid wages, and hit him in the head with a hammer, then taking his money before escaping. The metal ring from the car eventually leads to retired Major General von Hagen from Berlin, who acts very dismissive when Grandauer tries to interrogate him, and denies having anything to do with the accident. Agnes Grandauer suffers form tuberculosis, and her daughter Luise has to take care of her and do most of the housework. One day, a friend of Agnes’ son Karl, Lichtl-Biwi, brings in a gramophone to play some music for her, and she takes great delight in listening to it; the same evening, Ludwig announces to his children that their mother needs to enter a sanatory soon, likely before Christmas.summary of episode 3 on the BR’s website. Wachablösung (‘Changing of the Guard’) March 1914: The Munich police has moved into its new headquarters. Adolf Hitler, a young painter from Austria, comes in to have his permit of residence extended. Lederer and novice Dannenberger are detached to monitor a speech held by socialist Rosa Luxemburg. June 28, 1914: Ludwig Grandauer goes to visit his late wife's grave on the first anniversary of her death with his daughter Luise and his younger son Adolf, while his elder son Karl is doing military duty; at the cemetery they meet Inspector Rudolf Grüner and his wife, who have lost their seven-year-old daughter a few years earlier; Grüner invites the Grandauers to a beer garden in the evening. Lichtl-Biwi, a friend of Karl's also serving in the army, comes to see the Grandauers while on his leave, and goes along with them and the Grüners. When he asks for a dance with Luise, Ludwig very reluctantly gives permission, but after only a few moments on the dancing-floor, the music stops for the announcement of the message that Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie have been assassinated at Sarajevo. In August, after the beginning of the war, the Grandauers receive a letter from Karl, reporting that he is alive and well, even though it is scary when the bullets fly around one's ears. When they go out afterwards for another visit at Agnes’ grave, they have a short talk with one of their neighbors, Mrs. Gschmeißner; just as they are about to proceed, she asks how they feel about Lichtl-Biwi's death on the very first day of combat, leaving Luise heart-broken about the news.summary of episode 4 on the BR’s website. Heimkehr (‘Coming Home’) December 1918: Germany has lost the First World War, food is running short, and the Spanish flu keeps killing large numbers of people. When Karl Grandauer comes back to Munich, he finds his family's old apartment inhabited by strangers; his father Ludwig has died from stomach ulcers, his brother Adolf has joined a free corps, and his sister Luise is married to baker Max Kreitmeier, who lost a leg in combat. The couple gives Karl a warm welcome, Max opens a bottle of wine, and they invite him to stay with them as long as necessary. Late Ludwig Grandauer's superior, Chief Inspector Rudolf Grüner, who is a regular customer of the Kreitmeiers’, offers Karl a job in the police force. Karl meets a young woman, who seems to be a saleslady in a music store, but turns out to be the owner's daughter; when her father tells him she is engaged, Karl stops wooing her. The tumults in Bavaria keep going on: Minister-president Kurt Eisner is assassinated on February 21, 1919; on April 6 the Bavarian Soviet Republic is proclaimed. A few weeks later, the police headquarters is seized by troops of the Bavarian Red Army, and the whole class of police cadets taught by Grüner is taken prisoner; they fear to be shot against the wall, but are set free when the Reds flee from the advancing free corps.summary of episode 5 on the BR’s website. Konsequenzen (‘Conclusions’)