The eight-part, fifth and final season releases on German ARD platform on Sept. 10, before a 2027 U.S. release on MhZ It only took five weeks to change everything. Following Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor on Jan. 30, 1933, the fifth and final season of hit German neo-noir series “Babylon Berlin” blends history and fiction one last time as its characters witness the rise of the Nazi Party and its unhinged violence, until Hitler’s full ascension to power after the infamous elections of March 5. A dark conclusion for the 13-year-long creative journey that has been this show, but one that had been envisioned from the start by writer-directors Henk Handlogten, Achim von Borries and Tom Tykwer.
Returning for the series’ final season along with leads Volker Bruch and Liv Lisa Fries (“Freud’s Last Season”) to work together on one final investigation, Tykwer and von Borries shared their thoughts and emotions ahead of the German release. But as we took a closer look at this period of time, it became clear that the few weeks following were as important to this major shift.” Yet ahead of this impending doom, the trio refused to succumb to gloom. In every moment of time, there are alternatives.” In terms of story-telling, this approach connects somehow to the tragedy of the Titanic, adds Tykwer.
Which is amazing about, of course, fictionalized historical events. You can enter the zone again from while it was happening with a different whole knowledge, and make visible what it means for people nowadays living in this kind of circumstances.” In fact, Europe’s political landscape has changed completely over the course of the serie’s development. And that shift also informed the writers.
Tykwer adds: “As viewers, people started asking themselves: ‘Where am I? How did they experience it?’ And that also infused our writing over the years. We hope that this touches basic universal subjects, yet we had no idea how the political world would change.
And this was constantly on our minds.” The duo emphasized how much this five-seasons journey was truly a trio effort, with the power of three different voices in the writing room, equally important and very different. Voices that, after separate shootings, would meet again in the editing room, where the German wurst was made. Not something that was designed as strategically perfect, but something built out of our collective instincts and influence on one another.
I’m telling you,” jokes Tykwer, “They always say writing is re-writing. But editing is definitely re-editing as well, and we kept moving part of episodes again and again!” Yet for all this organic, somewhat unplanned process, there was always a moment where the show would come full circle. What did happen during this journey is that we learned to understand our characters better.” “It’s not just about where the series is going,” adds Tykwer, “It’s about characters that grow throughout 48 hours of narrative, and take us with them along the way.” In its first four seasons, “Babylon Berlin” sold to more than 140 territories and was watched more than 94 million times on Germany’s ARD online platform alone.
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