8 Series Recommendations for Learning German

In a fictional but extremely ordinary small German town, two children disappear without a trace. As expected, this completely turns the lives of some families upside down. But as time goes by, it becomes clear that there is more to it than that, the families are mysteriously connected and their members have dark secrets - some of which they are not even aware of themselves. Behind the idyllic façade, frightening chasms open up.

The first German Netflix production celebrated its premiere in 2017 and impresses above all with its mystical aesthetics and intricate narrative style. There are currently two seasons with a total of 26 episodes. A third season is scheduled for the end of June this year. The series can be watched on Netflix with English subtitles as well.

When Lena's mother Doris, who is an esoteric psychotherapist in the manner of an the German student movement from 1968, moves in with her new boyfriend, the Turkish detective Metin, worlds collide: Suddenly the headstrong and politically highly incorrectly arguing 16-year-old has to share her room with Yagmur, who lives a strictly Muslim life. Also moving into the house is Cem, who fulfils every cliché of a macho southerner in an exemplary manner. Of course this leads to a lot of cultural frictions, disputes and chaos. Nevertheless, the patchwork family gets to know and love each other more and more.

Türkisch für Anfänger is a production of the German public television station ARD and shows in a funny and provocative way clichés and problems of Germany's multicultural immigrant society, only to break with them again later. The series, which was first released in 2006, consists of three seasons with a total of 52 episodes and is used in Sweden, for example, to teach German in schools. The family comedy can also be seen with English subtitles on Netflix and MHZChoice, among others.

Berlin Neukölln has long been in the hands of the Lebanese clan Hamady. Four blocks are controlled by the family around leader Ali "Toni" Hamady - mainly through drug deals, gambling and protection money. Besides his brutal business life, Toni is also a loving father and husband, who suffers from the work restrictions for him as a tolerated resident and wishes to lead a legal and relaxed life. For this, he needs help. Yet it is difficult to trust someone when the police is constantly breathing down your neck.

The series premiered in 2017 and was completed in 2019 with the third season. It takes a relentless and multifaceted look at clan crime in the German capital. If you like exciting mafia series and have no problem with brutal scenes, you have found the series of your choice with 4 Blocks. You can watch the series on amazon video. In the english version of amazon video also with English subtitles.

A woman's body, shockingly mutilated, is found on the Lower Rhine. Pretty soon the team around investigator Nadja Simon comes across a group of former boarding school students who seem to have not only strange relationships with each other, but also a crazy story: Inspired by Patrick Süßkind's novel Perfume, they experimented with human scents at school. As the investigators take a closer look at the group's past, another corpse with the same mutilations appears. Even Nadja Simon cannot entirely escape the fascination of the effects of certain scents though.

In 2018, the series of the German public broadcaster ZDFneo premiered. In a season of six episodes, it tells a gripping and shocking crime story that is easy to look away from in one piece - provided, of course, that you don't have too weak nerves. You can watch the whole thing on Netflix.

In the constant mutual distrust between NATO and the USSR during the Cold War, the Ministry for State Security of the GDR, i.e. the part of Germany occupied by the Soviet Union, sent a spy to the West in 1983. Not necessarily enthusiastic about his mission, Martin Rauch therefore switched sides and tried to spy out NATO plans under a false identity as a Bundeswehr lieutenant.

The series, which was published in 2015, paints a picture of German history: The tense relationship between East and West and the effects of the division of Germany after World War II. The whole thing is combined with a good portion of spy film suspense. In the second season, the story is continued in 1986. A third season, which is scheduled to take place in 1989, has also been announced. You can watch the series at amazon video. In the German version unfortunately only some episodes are available with English subtitles, in the English version all of them are.

The daily office routine of an insurance company is accompanied by a camera team, first and foremost the claims department M-Z, headed by Bernd Stromberg. Of course, he always tries to put his team and especially his abilities as a manager in a good light. However, he rarely succeeds in this. With comical characters and the obvious incompetence of the protagonist, situations of alien shame and funny mishaps arise again and again making fun of everyday life in a German office.

As the German adaptation of the British series The Office, from 2004 to 2012 there were 46 episodes in 5 seasons published, which all score as shallow entertainment with funny punch lines and hilarious sayings. In 2014, a feature film was additionally released. You can watch the whole thing on Netflix.

We hope you have received one or two ideas as to what you could watch to improve your German. Of course, there are many more German series and films which you will certainly find more information about online. It should also be mentioned that the Netflix offer can vary slightly from country to country. It is therefore possible that some of the series listed here are not available in your home country. If so, you need to do some research where you can watch them. As a last resort, you can buy most of them from amazon.