Leipzig Homicide

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.^[1] 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".

Leipzig Homicide
Series logo
Also known as	SOKO Leipzig
Genre	Police procedural
Written by	Frank Koopmann Roland Heep Jeanet Pfitzer Axel Hildebrand Eva Zahn Volker A. Zahn Markus Hoffmann Uwe Kossmann
Directed by	Oren Schmuckler Patrick Winczewski Michel Bielawa Jörg Mielich Robert del Maestro Christoph Eichhorn Herwig Fischer
Starring	Andreas Schmidt-Schaller (2001–) Marco Ginrth (2001–) Melanie Marschke (2001–) Gabriel Merz (2001–2006) Tyron Ricketts (2006–2009) Pablo Sprungala (2009–2012) Steffen Schroeder (2012–2022) Nilam Farooq (2013–2019) Amy Mußul (2019–) Johannes Hendrik Langer (2022–)
Theme music composer	Georg Kleinebreil
Composers	Andreas Hoge George Kochbeck Philipp E. Kümpel Andreas Moisa
Country of origin	Germany
Original language	German
No. of seasons	25
No. of episodes	500
Production
Executive producers	Henriette Lippold Katharina Rietz
Producer	Tanya Momella Mallory
Production locations	Leipzig (Reclam-Carrée, Inselstraße)
Cinematography	Henning Jessel Constantin Kesting Matthias Papenmeier
Editor	Matthias Pfeifer
Camera setup	Film; multiple-camera
Running time	44 minutes
Production companies	UFA Fernsehproduktion (2001–2013) UFA Fiction (2014–)
Original release
Network	ZDF
Release	31 January 2001 (2001-01-31) – present
Related
SOKO – Der Prozess, "Proof of Life"

Synopsis

The series details the investigative work done by the special commission of the Leipzig police. The team, consisting of Hajo Trautzschke, Jan Maybach, Ina Zimmermann, and Tom Kowalski, mostly investigates crimes such as murder and manslaughter. They are supported by team assistant Olivia Fareedi, coroners Sabine Rossi and Mara Stein, as well as laboratory assistant Lorenz Rettig and prosecutor Alexander Binz. In cases concerning sexual offenses, Dagmar Schnee is also on the team.

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.^[2][3]

Cast and characters

Current

Actor	Role	Function	Seasons	Years
Andreas Schmidt-Schaller	Hajo Trautzschke	chief inspector	1–	2001–
Marco Girnth	Jan Maybach	chief inspector	1–	2001–
Melanie Marschke	Ina Zimmermann	chief inspector	1–	2001–
Steffen Schroeder	Tom Kowalski	detective inspector	12–22	2012–2022
Johannes Hendrik Langer	Moritz Brenner	detective inspector	22–	2022–
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 Maybach born: Trautzschke	daughter of Hajo, wife of Jan	1–	2001–
Maximilian Klas	Benni Maybach	son of Jan	1–	2001–

Former

Actor	Role	Function	Seasons	Years
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
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

Main cast of SOKO Leipzig (2006–2009)

Main cast of SOKO Leipzig (2012–)

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

Gallery

Shooting locations and sets

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Special

SOKO Leipzig headquarters

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