"Tatort" in the check Can you invite a sailor over for Christmas?

Julian Weinberger

8.12.2024

Of all people, relationship skeptics Liv Moormann and Linda Selb investigate a seemingly intact family in Bremen's "Tatort: Stille Nacht". But what exactly does the Seamen's Mission actually do?

08.12.2024, 21:45

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No more festive cheer in Bremen's "Tatort": Moormann (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) and Selb (Luise Wolfram) had to solve a murder committed on Christmas Eve.
Hendrik Wilkens, a captain at sea, was killed on Christmas Eve. An investigation ensued in the best Agatha Christie tradition.
Among the suspects was a Filipino sailor who was celebrating Christmas with the Wilkens family as their guest.

It has now become a tradition for a "Tatort" to be shown in December that is set at Christmas time. However, it is rarely the case that it is hopeful and conciliatory.

Last year, the Cologne episode "Tatort: Des anderen Last" told of exploitation and inhumane working conditions in the parcel delivery industry.

Things are much more Christmassy in the Bremen episode "Tatort: Stille Nacht", which is set in a romantic Christmas farmhouse on Christmas Eve. Including various family idylls.

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The fact that a murder still takes place here is due to the format. At least you find out: The sailor's mission is a good place to live at Christmas. And did you recognize the tough, experienced forensic scientist?

What was it about?

On Christmas Eve, Hendrik Wilkens (Matthias Freihof) was caught in the romantic Christmas farmhouse. The - now dead - sea captain lived there with his husband, the doctor Bjarne Wilkens (Rainer Sellien).

Also present under the Christmas tree were Hendrik's grown-up children from a previous relationship, Fabienne (Pia Barucki) and Marco (Robert Höller), as well as Marco's wife Nahid (Rana Farahani) with two small children. The friendly Wilkens, a seafaring family through and through, had invited another guest.

The Seamen's Mission arranged for the Filipino sailor Andy (Jernih Agapito) to join them. Everyone loved the nice Captain Wilkens, the investigators Liv Moormann (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) and Linda Selb (Luise Wolfram) were told. And yet someone from the Agatha Christie-like circle of suspects must have murdered him.

What was it really about?

Daniela Baumgärtl ("Tatort: National feminin") and Kim Zimmermann ("Das Signal") co-wrote the script for the Bremen Christmas "Tatort".

One of the plot's little jokes is that the two detectives - it is no coincidence that they are on duty on Christmas Eve - reject the Christmas idyll and generally have their problems with family and close relationships.

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Now they have to investigate a house that could have been the setting for a feel-good, romantic Christmas movie. Because witnesses and suspects keep gathering in the living room in "Silent Night", the crime thriller has references to Agatha Christie's "whodunit" classics. Who in the family could have what motive? How solid are the alibis? And who is fooling whom?

What exactly does the Seamen's Mission do?

The life of seafarers is undoubtedly hard and characterized by loneliness. They are often separated from their families or partners for months at a time and - when they are not at sea - they find themselves in a foreign country. The origins of the Seamen's Mission lie in Christian pastoral care. The first seamen's mission opened in London in 1828.

The Deutsche Seemannsmission e. V. looks after seafarers abroad at 17 locations in 15 countries. In Germany, it has 16 stations in cities such as Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Kiel, Lübeck, Rostock and Emden.

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The Seamen's Mission supports seafarers in many ways. It provides pastoral care and advice, practical help with problems with the authorities or healthcare:

And - as seen in "Tatort" - it also provides leisure activities, such as organizing a Christmas party at the seamen's home. The Seamen's Mission survives on donations, membership fees and church and public funds.

Can you invite a sailor home?

"Bringing sailors into German families at Christmas, who are strangers to them, is something that used to happen. But it's not something that is still done today," says Stefanie Langos from the German Seamen's Mission in Hamburg.

In this respect, the idea of the "crime scene" to place a foreign Christmas guest in a family is not particularly realistic. Instead, Christmas Eve is usually celebrated on board in grand style. "Christmas Eve is really busy on the ships," says Langos.

"Many chefs prepare a five-course meal for the crew and are busy planning days in advance. As a seamen's mission, we can't and don't want to keep up with that," explains Langos. "If the mood on board is good, there is honestly no reason for the seafarers to spend Christmas Eve at the seafarers' mission and no reason for us to take them away."

What do sailors do at Christmas?

What happens on Christmas Eve in the ports of Bremen? The day before Christmas Eve, the Bremen Seamen's Mission team brings Christmas trees on board the ships, distributes chocolate, wishes them a Merry Christmas and then leaves the port again.

On Christmas Day and Boxing Day, there are around 20 seafarers on average in the Bremen club. "That's really manageable," says Stefanie Langos.

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"There's no competition for Christmas dinner with what's on offer on the ships. In other seamen's missions, however, there is roast goose on Christmas Day, such as in Emden. In our experience, there aren't many ships in port at Christmas," she continues.

She continues: "The background to this is that it also helps to avoid berthing fees. That's why many ships lie in the roads over the holidays. This makes sense insofar as no cargo is unloaded on Christmas Day and Boxing Day."

What's next for the Bremen "Tatort"?

Filming for the next "Tatort" with Jasna Fritzi Bauer and Luise Wolfram continued in Bremen until May 2024, although the title has not yet been decided.

The detectives are searching for the murderer of a young man (Jonathan Berlin) who was washed up dead on the Weser beach. The trail leads to Rani Ewers (Via Jikeli). A relationship between her and the dead man failed.

As a result, the single mother and her daughter Mia (Pola Friedrichs) felt threatened by the victim. The screenplay was written by Judith Westermann and directed by Franziska Margarete Hoenisch. The episode also sees a reunion with Liv Moormann's imprisoned sister Marie (Luisa Böse), who played a leading role in the episode "Donuts".