German Drama TV Shows
The 40 most popular german drama TV shows, ranked. Click any show for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.
TMDB3.0
Sturm der Liebe
2005 · DE
These are the stories of relationships taking place in the fictional five-star hotel Fürstenhof, located in Feldkirchen-Westerham near Rosenheim with the plot revolving around members of the family room area, the hotel owners, and employees.
TMDB3.1
Scene of the Crime
1970 · DE
Tatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland.
TMDB2.7
Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten
1992 · DE
Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten is a long-running German television soap opera, first broadcast on RTL in 1992. The programme concerns the lives of a fictional neighborhood in Germany's capital city Berlin. Over the years the soap opera tends to have an overhaul of young people in their late teens and early twenties; targeting a young viewership.
TMDB3.1
The Old Fox
1977 · DE
A police department, lead by an older, experienced detective solve crimes together.
TMDB1.5
Rote Rosen
2006 · DE
Rote Rosen is a German telenovela produced by Studio Hamburg Serienwerft Lüneburg and broadcast by Das Erste since November 6, 2006. The show is a complex telenovela, who tells one love story every season about women in their forties.
TMDB3.3
Alarm for Cobra 11: The Motorway Police
1996 · DE
A long-running German television series about a two-man team of highway police, originally set in Berlin and later in North Rhine-Westphalia.
TMDB2.5
Alles was zählt
2006 · DE
Alles was zählt is a German television soap opera first broadcast on RTL on September 4, 2006. The original plot revolved around Diana Sommer's dream to become a world class ice skater. She fell in love with Julian Herzog, who signed her at the prestigious Steinkamp Sport and Wellness Center, run by the unscrupulous Steinkamp dynasty. Diana and Julian eventually became a couple, but in November 2007, Julian suffered a brain hemorrhage and died during their wedding. Diana remained in Essen until January 2009, when she left to join a skating centre in Halle. The story continues to revolve around the Steinkamp Sport and Wellness Centre and its quest to become a sporting powerhouse, as well as the lives of the characters who work at and around the Centre.
TMDB3.0
Leipzig Homicide
2001 · DE
SOKO Leipzig is a German police procedural television programme, a spin-off of the earlier German police programme SOKO 5113. It was first broadcast on 31 January 2001, on German television channel ZDF. On 12 November 2008, the first part of a two-part crossover between SOKO Leipzig and British police procedural The Bill was aired, with the same version being shown on both ZDF and British television channel ITV1.
TMDB3.0
Großstadtrevier
1986 · DE
Follow the everyday work of a fictional police station on the Kiez of Hamburg.
TMDB3.5
Young Doctors
2015 · DE
The spin-off to the original series 'In aller Freundschaft' focuses on the young doctors in a fictional clinic in Erfurt. In this emotional drama series, hospital staffers and patients navigate life's challenges.
TMDB3.0
Derrick
1974 · DE
Derrick was a German TV series produced by Telenova Film und Fernsehproduktion in association with ZDF, ORF and SRG between 1974 and 1998 about Detective Chief Inspector Stephan Derrick and his loyal assistant Inspector Harry Klein, who solve murder cases in Munich and surroundings.
TMDB4.1
Friends Sex and Games
2026 · DE
A group of friends starts a daring game. Everyone throws their keys into a bowl—whoever picks one spends the night with the owner of that key.
TMDB2.9
A Case For Two
1981 · DE
Ein Fall für zwei is a German television series, which premiered on September 11, 1981 on ZDF. The series, located in Frankfurt am Main, features two main characters who solve crimes: a defense attorney and a private investigator. Josef Matula, 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 has portrayed the role since the start of the series.
TMDB2.9
Hamburg Dockland
2007 · DE
Shows the interaction between Hamburg police officers and paramedics.
TMDB2.9
Küstenwache
1997 · DE
Küstenwache is a German television series that tells the fictionalized adventures of a unit of Federal Coast Guard officers off the German coast of the Baltic Sea.
TMDB3.4
Schloss Einstein
1998 · DE
No overview available
TMDB4.2
Dark
2017 · DE
A missing child sets four families on a frantic hunt for answers as they unearth a mind-bending mystery that spans three generations.
TMDB2.8
Wetten, dass..?
1981 · DE
A long-running German-language entertainment television show based on the format of the British show You Bet! and the American show Wanna Bet?.
TMDB3.1
Die Fallers – Eine Schwarzwaldfamilie
1994 · DE
No overview available
TMDB2.6
Verbotene Liebe
1995 · DE
Verbotene Liebe is a German television soap opera Verbotene Liebe was initially based on original story and character outlines from the Australian soap opera Sons and Daughters, before evolving into a show of its own as the series progressed. The show originally focused on two core families: the wealthy Anstetten family and the middle-class Brandner family. More specifically, it dealt with the story of Jan Brandner and Julia von Anstetten, two strangers whose fascination for each other leads them to fall in love, neither of them cognizant of the fact that they are twins separated by their parents. It is this story of forbidden love that gave the series its title.
TMDB3.1
Der Landarzt
1987 · DE
No overview available
TMDB3.0
Forsthaus Falkenau
1989 · DE
Forsthaus Falkenau is a German television series.
TMDB1.3
Für alle Fälle Stefanie
1995 · DE
Für alle Fälle Stefanie is an German medical drama television series created by Werner Krämer that aired on Sat.1 from May 15, 2005 to August 29, 2005. It was produced by Novafilm Fernsehproduktion. Für alle Fälle Stefanie follows the professional and personal life of nurse Stefanie Engel, then Stephanie Wilde and for a short time Fanny 'Stephanie' Stephan. The show was a giant success for the network and had around seven, in later years, five million viewers on a weekly basis. It won the Goldene Kamera award in 1997 and the Bavarian TV Award in 1996.
TMDB2.5
Bettys Diagnose
2015 · DE
No overview available
TMDB3.9
Babylon Berlin
2017 · DE
Beneath the decadence of 1929 Berlin, lies an underworld city of sin. Police investigator Gereon Rath has been transferred from Cologne to the epicenter of political and social changes in the Golden Twenties.
TMDB2.9
Der Bergdoktor
2008 · AT
A medic lives with his small and strange family between the mountains and every episode he comes across a situation with not only his patients but also his family and friends.
TMDB2.5
Das Traumschiff
1981 · DE
The series is about a cruise ship that travels to places around the world.
TMDB3.0
Alphateam – Die Lebensretter im OP
1997 · DE
Alphateam – Die Lebensretter im OP was a German hospital drama television series which aired on Sat.1 between 1996 and 2005. The series covered the work of a team of doctors, nurses and caregivers in the fictional Hamburg Hansa Clinic, located in the Altona district.
TMDB2.5
Inga Lindström
2004 · DE
Series written by Christiane Sadlo about writer and journalist under the pseudonym "Inga Lindström" and her family. Characterized by impressive landscapes, all of which are shot on location in Sweden. Series has no continuous storyline, and each episode is filled with new characters.
TMDB2.1
Anna und die Liebe
2008 · DE
Anna und die Liebe is the eleventh Telenovela made in Germany. It has aired since August 25, 2008 on German channel Sat.1 and Austrian Channel ORF 1.
TMDB2.0
Marienhof
1992 · DE
Marienhof is a German soap opera, first shown on October 1, 1992 on German TV channel, Das Erste. It started as a weekly series, before becoming a daily program on January 2, 1995. The show was canceled in February 2011 and aired its last episode on June 15, 2011. In the 90s, the Marienhof became a huge success in Finland and remained a fan favorite until it was canceled to license problems. Over the years, the show became known for tackling several social issues, such as homosexuality, homelessness, private bankruptcy, rape, drug abuse, AIDS, child abuse, suicide, cancer, adultery and murder. The show focuses on the everyday life of the residents of the Marienhof, a fictional suburb in Cologne.
TMDB2.9
Unser Charly
1995 · DE
The exciting stories about the cheeky chimpanzee Charly, who finds a new home with a Berlin vet family.
TMDB2.7
Murder in the North
2012 · DE
Morden im Norden is a German Police that has been broadcast by Das Erste. The show is set in Lübeck, Germany Morden im Norden is part of a series of commonly branded shows with similar themes called "Heiter bis tödlich".
TMDB2.4
Hinter Gittern - Der Frauenknast
1997 · DE
Drama set in a women's prison in Germany. Susanne Teubner, a sympathetic young woman who has killed her husband in an affect, is poorly advised by her lawyer and sentenced to life imprisonment for willful murder. The arrival in prison is a shock to her. Resigned and exhausted, she endures the degrading admission procedure. She doesn't notice that the young doctor Dr. Beck immediately felt more than professional interest for her.
Im Namen des Gesetzes
TMDB3.6
Im Namen des Gesetzes
1994 · DE
No overview available
TMDB3.1
Die Bergretter
2009 · DE
Die Bergwacht is a German mountain rescue television series, broadcast since 26 November, 2009 on ZDF.
Jede Menge Leben
TMDB4.0
Jede Menge Leben
1995 · DE
Jede Menge Leben is a German television series.
TMDB3.9
Wilsberg
1995 · DE
Georg Wilsberg is an antiquarian in Münster. He used to be a lawyer but lost his license. Since then he has been working as a private detective. The always clammy Wilsberg urgently needs this income. In addition, he depends on the support of his friends, especially because of the car.
TMDB3.9
For Heaven's Sake
2002 · DE
Sister Hanna is a spirited, witty, resolute, warm-hearted, and - attractive nun. With her wit and street cred, she takes charge of Kaltenthal Cloister, transforming it into a popular refuge for all those seeking help of one kind or another. She also brings new life to the sleepy provincial community, proving herself quite a match for her great rival and opponent, the mayor Wolfgang Wöller.
TMDB2.7
Letzte Spur Berlin
2012 · DE
No overview available
About German Drama TV Shows
German television
German television has found an international audience through high-concept genre serials and historical drama, backed by some of the largest production budgets in continental Europe.
Drama
Television drama is where the medium made its case as film's equal, from the cable era's antihero epics to the current streaming wave. Long-form gives character change room to actually happen.
In this list
- Years covered
- 1970–2026
- Best reviewed
- Dark (8.4)
- Often also
- Crime, Soap, Comedy
- Longest run
- 57 seasons
Common questions
- What are the best German drama TV shows?
- By popularity across Flickfolio and TMDB, the top picks right now are Sturm der Liebe, Scene of the Crime, and Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten. The full ranked list of 40 sits above — open any show for ratings, reviews, and streaming availability.
- How is this list ranked?
- German drama TV shows are ordered by overall popularity, which blends how often a title is viewed, searched, and logged. It updates as viewing habits shift, so the list reflects what people are actually watching rather than a fixed critical canon.
- Where can I watch these TV shows?
- Every show page lists current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region, alongside community ratings and reviews from Flickfolio members.