Horst Schimanski
Encyclopedia
Horst Schimanski is a fictional policeman who appears in the German Tatort
(i. e. "crime scene") crime series. Portrayed by Götz George
, he made his debut in the 1981 episode "Duisburg-Ruhrort" and appeared in 29 episodes until 1991. In 1997 his own Schimanski crime series was started. Schimanski now was a retired policeman living in Belgium with his long-time girlfriend Marie Claire. In the early episodes he often did some semi-legal work for the German police. Production slowed down over the years, there is one new episode per year at most. The latest episode was aired on Jan 30th 2011. All the Schimanski episodes were produced by the German television station
WDR.
Schimanski was consistently written as the prototypical proletarian. Coming from the (now former) mining city of Duisburg
in the Ruhr Area
, George portrayed him as a rugged, often unkempt simpleton (uneducated, but not unintelligent) who often swore, but never backed out of a fight and kept a sense of honour for minorities. In the majority of episodes he wore a slightly modified Alpha Industries
jacket that became famous as the Schimanski Jacket.
In the original Tatort episodes he was perennially accompanied by "Christian Thanner", a smart, well-dressed policeman who often served as a foil for the proletarian Schimanski. In the first episode of the follow-up series Schimanski Thanner was killed by policemen gone vigilante. This was necessary as Eberhard Feik who played Thanner had died in the hiatus of the series.
Tatort
Tatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss , crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF 2 in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland...
(i. e. "crime scene") crime series. Portrayed by Götz George
Götz George
Götz George is a German actor, son of actor couple Berta Drews and Heinrich George. His arguably best-known role is that of Duisburg commissar Horst Schimanski in the TV crime series Tatort.-Early years:...
, he made his debut in the 1981 episode "Duisburg-Ruhrort" and appeared in 29 episodes until 1991. In 1997 his own Schimanski crime series was started. Schimanski now was a retired policeman living in Belgium with his long-time girlfriend Marie Claire. In the early episodes he often did some semi-legal work for the German police. Production slowed down over the years, there is one new episode per year at most. The latest episode was aired on Jan 30th 2011. All the Schimanski episodes were produced by the German television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
WDR.
Schimanski was consistently written as the prototypical proletarian. Coming from the (now former) mining city of Duisburg
Duisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
in the Ruhr Area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
, George portrayed him as a rugged, often unkempt simpleton (uneducated, but not unintelligent) who often swore, but never backed out of a fight and kept a sense of honour for minorities. In the majority of episodes he wore a slightly modified Alpha Industries
Alpha Industries
Alpha Industries is an American clothing manufacturer founded in 1959 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Initially as a contractor to the United States military, the company grew into an international commercial seller of American military style and fashion apparel...
jacket that became famous as the Schimanski Jacket.
In the original Tatort episodes he was perennially accompanied by "Christian Thanner", a smart, well-dressed policeman who often served as a foil for the proletarian Schimanski. In the first episode of the follow-up series Schimanski Thanner was killed by policemen gone vigilante. This was necessary as Eberhard Feik who played Thanner had died in the hiatus of the series.