Die Tat is a deed or an act, and if it’s done by der Täter, it’s probably a criminal act. Der Ort is a city, locality, place, or site. Put them together, and you have der Tatort, the scene of the crime. You also have Tatort, surely the longest-running fictional crime show in the history of television because it started in 1970 and is still going strong. Maybe that’s because Tatort is uniquely German even in the way it’s filmed. The regional television stations each contribute Tatort episodes from their own parts of Germany, so there’s a pair of local fictional detectives solving crimes in Berlin, in Leipzig, in Hamburg, etc. Tatort is a show that celebrates Germany’s cultural differences and its unity at the same time. And Tatort detectives always find a way to put the clues together–from der Tatort, the crime scene.
Clare B. Dunkle
As a big fan of TATORT for many years, I think that one of the American TV stations should buy some shows :-).