The best German TV shows to watch during the Christmas break 🎄

Settling down for a TV marathon over the Christmas break? Why not give one of these German language shows a try, simultaneously improving your German while gorging on mince pies!

No more distractions

Holiday Secrets

This 3-part seasonal mini-series set during a family’s Christmas reunion explores the complexities that arise when three generations of women begin to reveal their long-held secrets and come to terms with their past in order to move forward.

➡️Watch on Netflix

Deutschland 83 + 86

‘4… 3… 2… 1… Earth belooooow us’

A spy drama set at the height of the Cold War, Deutschland 83’s scintillating story was widely praised and drew rave reviews. The series became the highest-rating subtitled drama in television history. Since March, the much-anticipated second season Deutschland 86 is available on All 4 as well.

➡️Watch on All 4

Bad Banks

The award-winning German-Louxembourg thriller series is set in the world of global finance. The young and rising investment banker Jana Liekam finds herself trapped in a vortex of corruption, greed and blackmail during a deadly battle between two rival banks.

➡️Watch on All 4

Dark

The first Netflix original to be produced in Germany, this sci-fi time-travel thriller drew comparisons with ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Twin Peaks’ and has been renewed for a second series.

➡️Watch on Netflix

Dogs of Berlin

The Netflix production starts with the murder of a famous Turkish-German football player. Two young cops try to find the murderer whilst confronting the chaos the killing unleashes within the Berlin underworld.

➡️Watch on Netflix

Ku’damm 56

A surprise hit on release, this mini series tells the story of conflicting generations in 1950’s Berlin and one young woman’s fight for gender equality as Rock’n’Roll and the economic boom turned societal norms on their head. A sequel film, ‘Ku’damm 59', was brodcast on German TV in March.

➡️Watch on Netflix

You Are Wanted

In this twisted cyber thriller, Matthias Schweighöfer, one of Germany’s best-known actors, plays a young hotel manager from Berlin. He is made responsible for a cyber terrorist attack and tries to prove his innocence by finding out what really happened.

➡️Watch on Amazon

Beat

This Prime Original is about a young club promoter called Robert “Beat” Schlag who is addicted to drugs, sex and the Berlin nightlife. Because of his connections, he is recruited by the European Security Intelligence to help find those responsible for drug, weapon and organ trafficking in the clubs of the capital.

➡️Watch on Amazon

Perfume

In this series, Patrick Süskind’s best-selling novel “Das Parfum” about scent and serial killing is given a new spin: At boarding school, a group of friends bond over their passion for scents. Years later, one is brutally murdered and disturbing secrets are revealed when the police try to find out who the killer is.

➡️Watch on Netflix

Charité

The six-part miniseries was a big hit in Germany. Set in Berlin during 1988, it tells the story of the orphan Ida, who starts working as a nurse at the famous Charité hospital where she finds romance as well as an inside look in to the cures for tuberculosis.

➡️Watch on Netflix

The Same Sky

This miniseries from 2017 is set in Cold War Germany and tells the story of the relationship between an East German “Romeo” agent, a spy who uses seduction as a way to find out information, and his female target in the West.

➡️Watch on Netflix

Helen Dorn

This crime drama following the cases investigated by Detective Inspector Helen Dorn and her partner Gregor Georgi as they conduct interrogations, track down suspects and unearth secrets in Düsseldorf and around.

➡️Watch on All 4

Point Blank

Thrilling crime drama telling the story of a friendship between an undercover cop and a small-time crook that is both deep and treacherous, pitting loyalty and truth against one another

➡️Watch on All 4

Deadly Money

When a top banker falls from a roof at the pinnacle of his career, a bitter battle erupts between his employer and his widow in this slick German thriller exploring tensions in the financial industry

➡️Watch on All 4

Shades of Guilt

Haunting German legal thriller in which defence lawyer Friedrich Kronberg aims to tip the scales of justice in favour of those he represents as he probes complex cases that span various timelines.

➡️Watch on All 4

Tempel

Described by German weekly WELT as ‘breathtakingly good’ and ‘Germany’s best TV series’, this six-parter is centered around a former boxer who returns to Berlin’s underworld in attempt to halt the forced gentrification of his neighbourhood.

➡️Watch on Netflix

TATORT

Long-running German crime series ‘Tatort’ (crime scene) has been a weekly mainstay on German TV screens since the 1970s, with each episode following detectives in a different German city or town.

There are several to choose from if you’re based in the UK:

• ‘Inspector Borowski’ (featuring Sibel Kekilli who starred as Shae in Game of Thrones) is set in Kiel. ➡️Watch on All 4
• ‘The Mind of a Murderer’ is set in Dortmund. ➡️Watch on All 4
• ‘Inspector Falke’ is set in Hamburg. ➡️Watch on All 4
• ‘Nick’s Law’, also set in Hamburg, starring Til Schweiger. ➡️Watch on All 4

Generation War

This acclaimed series following the fates of five young friends during the Second World War was watched by more than 7m people when first broadcast in Germany

➡️Watch on Netflix

Hotel Adlon

Dubbed the German answer to Downton Abbey, this lavish three-part historical drama set in the prestigious and tradition-steeped hotel in central Berlin. spans a 90 year period from 1904–97 gives viewers an an insight into Berlin’s turbulent history; from the end of the German Empire, the World Wars and golden twenties to the Cold War and the city’s separation.

➡️Watch on All 4

Do get in touch and let us know if we’ve missed out your favourite show or if you have a recommendation our readers might be interested in watching and we’ll add it to our list!