Cologne crime scene: bomb disposal, prepper group and secret nuclear bunker

A bomb disposal operation, a prepper group, and a secret nuclear bunker – a dark and threatening atmosphere hangs over the new “Tatort” from Cologne. This is not solely due to the actual murder case that detectives Max Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt) and Freddy Schenk (Dietmar Bär) have to solve – the case itself is almost forgotten at times amidst all the surrounding events.

Das Erste will broadcast the WDR episode “Die letzten Menschen von Köln” (The Last People of Cologne) on Sunday (September 20, 8:25 PM), with the episode already available for streaming in the Mediathek on Friday (September 18). It is already the 96th case for the Cologne team.

Elara Schmidtke (Katharina Schüttler) wanders around the street in the dark, frantically trying to reach her brother Linus, but he does not answer his phone. “They are there, I’m so scared,” Elara tells him on his voicemail. “I’m going through with this now.” Then she gets into a van with her backpack, where several men are sitting, and drives off with them.

The location of the bunker is unknown

Meanwhile, her brother’s body is found in a park – an unknown person has killed him with a hunting knife. When Ballauf and Schenk try to contact Elara, she is unreachable. In her apartment, the detectives find indications that she is attending a prepper workshop led by survival trainer Moritz Zechmann (Florian Stetter).

The location of the workshop is secret. Zechmann’s wife Nina (Katrin Wichmann) refuses to name the place. All that is known is that it is an old bunker. But there are quite a few of those in Cologne. A buddy of his, for example, has a bunker under his house, Schenk says – “he uses it as a wine cellar.”

The atmosphere in the group is tense

Scene change. Elara is indeed in a bunker, together with Zechmann and three workshop participants from the prepper community who want to prepare for survival in a catastrophe. Among them is also Zechmann’s son Mats (Paul Ahrens), who has been drilled by his father for years “for the emergency case.” As is the case now. Zechmann sets the fictional scenario: “The Russians have dropped an atomic bomb on Düsseldorf, we are the last people of Cologne.”

The atmosphere in the group is tense from the start; distrust, fear, and hinted-at secrets create a suffocating dynamic. Elara dares to question Zechmann’s instructions, thereby turning the others against her. Before long, the situation in the claustrophobic cellar labyrinth threatens to escalate. Added to this is the fact that Zechmann has visions of an apparently dead woman in between.

Evacuation due to the defusing of a dud

Meanwhile, Ballauf and Schenk, with the help of their assistant Norbert Jütte (Roland Riebeling), continue their investigation into where the bunker might be located. The search is complicated by the fact that an entire district has been cordoned off for the defusing of a World War II bomb—a situation that occurs very frequently in Cologne but, in the context of the plot, feels almost apocalyptic. “Attention, attention, please leave the evacuation zone,” booms from the loudspeakers of police cars driving through empty streets.

In their search for witnesses, the detectives also encounter the murdered victim’s cousin, Birgit Heitkamp (Ann-Kathrin Kramer). The owner of a horse farm had only recently met Lukas and Elara at a funeral, after having had no contact with them for a long time. Initially, she refuses to reveal what she discussed with the siblings. When Heitkamp finally does speak, Ballauf and Schenk learn some interesting details from the past.

Cologne’s only fully preserved civil defense facility

The script for the new episode was written by Eva and Volker A. Zahn (directed by Marcus Weiler). The writing duo has previously penned several Cologne “Tatort” episodes set in distinctive locations—such as a large brothel, a lignite mining area, or the “Colonius” television tower.

This time, the focus is on the former civil defense bunker in Cologne-Kalk. Built in 1979 alongside a subway station, the facility was designed to protect approximately 2,400 people from radiation following a nuclear attack and to ensure their survival for two weeks. The bunker was decommissioned only in 2005. It is the only fully preserved civil defense facility in Cologne. Once a month, an association offers free guided tours.

“It was very oppressive, very cold, and dark,” actor Behrendt recounts about the filming. “A Cold War-era atomic shelter with space for more than 2,000 people. The food and water would have been sufficient for 14 days. And then? Honestly, I don’t even want to end up in a place like that.”