''A case for two'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Ein Fall für zwei'') is a German television series, which premiered on 11 September 1981 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 ( ...

. The series, set in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, features two main characters who solve crimes: a defense attorney and a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

Plot

Josef Matula ''A case for two'' (German language, German: ''Ein Fall für zwei'') is a German television series, which premiered on 11 September 1981 on ZDF. The series, set in Frankfurt, features two main characters who solve crimes: a Criminal defense lawye ...

(played by Claus Theo Gärtner), a former German police officer, has gone into private business. His method of investigation is very effective and direct, and he sometimes even resorts to dirty tricks. Claus Theo Gärtner portrayed the role until 2013. The series' original opening theme sequence showed the viewer that Matula had been fired from the police and tried or convicted. Dr. Renz has defended him and Matula is seen walking out of the jail accompanied by Renz. Before closing we see that Renz has hired Matula as a private detective. In contrast, the attorney character has changed several times. The first attorney was Dr. Dieter Renz (played by

Günter Strack Günter Strack (4 June 1929 – 18 January 1999) was a German film and television actor. Career In English language films, he played Professor Karl Manfred in the Hitchcock thriller '' Torn Curtain'' (1966) and appeared as Kunik in '' The O ...

). Dr. Renz retired in episode #60 and was replaced by Dr. Rainer Franck (played by Rainer Hunold). In episode #149, Dr. Franck took a job as a law school teacher, and was replaced by Dr. Johannes Voss (played by Mathias Herrmann). In episode #182, Dr. Voss was shot dead by an escaping criminal, and was in turn replaced by Dr. Markus Lessing (played by

Paul Frielinghaus Paul Erich Frielinghaus (born 14 December 1959 in Darmstadt, West Germany) is a German television actor. Since 2000 he plays a leading role on the German TV series ''Ein Fall für Zwei''. He has played in several German TV series, eg. ''Alarm fü ...

). Most of the episodes follow a simple pattern. Someone is murdered, and the police arrest the most likely suspect. The suspect, claiming to be innocent, hires the attorney in the series (Renz, Franck, Voss or Lessing) as his lawyer. The attorney does all the paperwork, talks with the police and attends court. Meanwhile, Matula does all the actual research and detective work – "gets his hands dirty", so to speak. Matula often gets into fights, and even though he is in his early sixties, he often knocks out the bad guys. In the end, the original suspect usually (but not always) turns out to be innocent after all, and the real culprit is found. In late 2006 through early 2007, most episodes included scenes of Matula visiting a

strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...

, to interrogate the owner or one of the customers, with very brief footage of topless female dancers. Very few, if any, other German detective shows feature similar scenes. Current episodes no longer show such scenes. The show's structure is very similar to that of the American legal drama '' Perry Mason'', though not many scenes in ''Ein Fall für zwei'' take place in a courtroom.

Josef Matula

Hermann Josef Matula (played by Claus Theo Gärtner) is one of the two main characters on the show, and the only character to have appeared in every episode so far. Matula is a former

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

officer who has become a

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...

instead. He always works in co-operation with a defense attorney, who is the other main character on the show. In the beginning of the first episode in 1981 he mentioned his birthplace to be

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

and his age to be 31 years. So he was going to celebrate his 60th birthday in 2010. Despite this advanced age, Matula is in good physical condition and can put up quite a fight when challenged. According to research done by a German fan of the show, Matula has been beaten up 37 times and knocked unconscious 7 times. Still he somehow manages to stay healthy and fit for his duty. Matula's method of detective work is very direct and hands-down. While the attorney he works with handles the juridistical part of the current case, Matula gets his hands dirty and tracks down the people he suspects of being involved in the crimes. This frequently involves him posing as a

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

or other similar profession to avoid discovery. Matula's direct, action-oriented way of work often gets him into trouble with the police. He has been arrested 12 times, and the entire plot of one episode centered on Matula being suspected of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

and having to escape the police into

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Despite his toughness, Matula is a skilled

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

and has a great deal of charm with women. However, he has never been married.

Cast

In October 2011, Gärtner and Frielinghaus announced that they would be leaving the series after the 300th episode, which was aired on 29 March 2013. The series was relaunched with new characters and actors in 2014. Antoine Monot Jr. has since been playing attorney Benjamin "Benni" Hornberg alongside Wanja Mues who portrays investigator Leo Oswald.

References

External links

Series homepage on ZDF.de

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Case For Two German drama television series German crime television series 1981 German television series debuts Television shows set in Frankfurt 1980s German television series 1990s German television series 2000s German television series 2010s German television series German-language television shows ZDF original programming German legal television series