''Die Chefin'' is a German

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television series starring Katharina Böhm as First Police Chief Inspector Vera Lanz, a

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

police detective who has to balance her professional and private life. The show premiered on 24 February 2012 on

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

Plot

Vera Lanz is First Police Chief Inspector of the Homicide division in Munich. After the mysterious death of her husband, a fellow inspector, Vera raises her daughter Zoe alone. Successful in her professional life, Vera struggles personally as she's having an affair with the married

state's attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

. Her co-worker, Police Chief Inspector Paul Böhmer, is the former partner of her late husband, which provides tension between the investigators. In the first episode, Jan Trompeter completes Vera's team.

Characters

Main

First Police Chief Inspector Vera Lanz ( Katharina Böhm) is working for the homicide division in Munich, having lost her husband in a mysterious death. She's a strong and respected woman in her professional life, while struggling in her personal life. Police Chief Inspector Paul Böhmer ( Jürgen Tonkel) is the former partner of Vera's husband. Even though he seems very loyal and even protective of Vera, there exists a lot of tension between them. Police Inspector Jan Trompeter (Stefan Rudolf) is the new colleague of Vera and Paul, who's very good as his job and seems to have caught the eye of his boss.

Recurring

Medical Examiner Heike Steinbeck (Nicole Marischka) works in the coroner's office; she is a friend of Vera. State Attorney Marc Berger ( Stephan Kampwirth) is involved in Vera's professional and private life. Even though he's married, Marc has an affair with Vera. Zoe Lanz (Olga von Luckwald) is Vera's teenage daughter, who's about to finish school and plans to move in together with her boyfriend. Georg Lanz (Hermann Beyer) is the father of Vera's late husband and is still investigating his son's mysterious death.

Episodes

Season 1 (2012)

Production

Filming for the first season, for which the

network ordered four episodes, started on 31 May 2011 and wrapped up on 8 August 2011. Intentionally planned for Saturday nights, ''Die Chefin'' became part of the network's famous Friday night line-up, with many crime dramas like '' Der Alte'' or '' Ein Fall für zwei''. ''Die Chefin'' is the first Friday night crime drama that revolves around a female investigator.

Reception

''Die Chefin'' was positively received by critics. ''

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' wrote that Böhm could "believably show the balance between a successful inspector and a struggling woman". The online magazine ''Quotenmeter'' gave the show 80 out of 100 and wrote that "the opposing team of investigators can claim all sympathy".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chefin, die German crime television series 2010s German police procedural television series 2020s German police procedural television series German drama television series ZDF original programming Television shows set in Munich 2012 German television series debuts German-language television shows