Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei

Alarm für Cobra 11 – ; Die Autobahnpolizei
Genre	Action, crime drama, police procedural
Starring	Johannes Brandrup ; Rainer Strecker ; Almut Eggert ; Erdoğan Atalay ; Mark Keller ; René Steinke ; Christian Oliver ; Gedeon Burkhard ; Tom Beck ; Vinzenz Kiefer ; Daniel Roesner ; Katja Woywood ; Katrin Heß ; Niels Kurvin ; Daniela Wutte
Composers	Reinhard Scheuregger ; Klaus Garternicht ; Nik Reich & Jaro Messerschmidt ; Kay Skerra ; Daniel Freundlieb ; Frederik Wiedmann ; Justin Burnett ; Maximilian Nieberle
Country of origin	Germany
Original languages	German; English
No. of seasons	25
No. of episodes	360 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	c. 45 minutes; c. 90 minutes (pilot movies)
Release
Original network	RTL Television
Original release	12 March 1996 –; present
External links
	Website

Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei (German pronunciation: [aˈlaʁm fyːɐ̯ ˌkoːbʁaː ˈʔɛlf diː ˈʔaʊ̯tobaːnpoliˌtsaɪ̯]; "Alarm for Cobra 11 – The Highway Police") is a long-running, popular German television series about a two-man team of highway police (Autobahnpolizei), originally set in Berlin and since 1999 in the area of Cologne. The series has been broadcast in 120 countries worldwide.

Plot

The tasks of the Cobra 11 team consist primarily in solving crimes and catching the perpetrators. Typical elements of the action genre are mixed, so that there are regular car crashes, shootouts, explosions and fistfights. These action scenes are elaborately produced in most cases, and appropriately presented in a spectacular way. The high number of unrealistic scenes is a common criticism of the series; for example, large explosions often happen after small collisions while people emerge unharmed out of cars which have sustained catastrophic damage.

Stunts

The series is known for its extremely well performed stuntwork, which features the destruction of various vehicles in every episode. Almost every episode has a distinct structure, with at least one daring action sequence and the pre-title sequence usually consisting of the main event (i.e. a devastating crash on the Autobahn). The stuntwork is often so spectacular that it would not look out of place in a full-fledged movie, with cars commonly reaching implausible heights as they vault through the air.

Production locations

From 1996 to 1998, the series was produced jointly by Polyphon Film- und Fernsehgesellschaft GmbH (responsible for all other production aspects such as filming/postproduction/location scouting etc.) and ActionConcept (stunts). Those episodes were shot in Berlin, notably in the site of the former Checkpoint Bravo and in the surrounding state of Brandenburg.[1][2] In 1998, Action Concept took over as the sole production company and shifted all filming/production work to its headquarters in Hürth just south of Cologne. Since then, episodes have been shot in and around Cologne and Düsseldorf as well as on several major Autobahnen (A540/A44 and now mainly on the Filmautobahn Aldenhoven near Düren – [3]) between Cologne and Düsseldorf in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).

Cast

Character	Actor	Position	Seasons
Character	Actor	Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Frank Stolte	Johannes Brandrup	Detective	Main																					Guest
Ingo Fischer	Rainer Strecker	Detective	Main †
Semir Gerkhan	Erdoğan Atalay	Detective chief	Main
Katharina Lamprecht	Almut Eggert	Detective chief	Main	Recurring
André Fux	Mark Keller	Detective		Main																	Guest †
Tom Kranich	René Steinke	Detective					Main					Main †
Jan Richter	Christian Oliver	Detective									Main
Chris Ritter	Gedeon Burkhard	Detective												Main †
Ben Jäger	Tom Beck	Detective														Main											Guest
Alexander "Alex" Brandt	Vinzenz Kiefer	Detective																			Main
Paul Renner	Daniel Roesner	Detective																					Main
Vicky Reisinger	Pia Stutzenstein	Detective																									Main
Kim Krüger	Katja Woywood	Detective Chief														Recurring							Main †
Jennifer Dorn	Katrin Heß	Detective																Recurring					Main
Hartmut Freund	Niels Kurvin	CSU									Recurring												Main
Susanne König	Daniela Wutte	Secretary												Recurring									Main
Roman Kramer	Patrick Kalupa	Detective chief Department head																									Main
Marc Schaffrath	Christopher Patten	Detective																									Main
Dana Gerkhan	Gizem Emre	Officer III (Plainclothes)																			Recurring						Main
Max Tauber	Nicolas Wolf	Officer III (Plainclothes)																									Main
Andrea Gerkhan (née Schäfer)	Carina Wiese	Secretary		Recurring														Recurring
Anna Engelhardt	Charlotte Schwab	Detective chief Department head		Recurring																					Recurring
Horst Herzberger	Dietmar Huhn	Officer III		Recurring †
Dieter Bonrath	Gottfried Vollmer	Officer III			Recurring †

Main

Johannes Brandrup as Detective Chief Inspector Frank Stolte (main: season 1; guest: season 22)
Rainer Strecker as Detective Chief Inspector Ingo Fischer (season 1)
Erdogan Atalay as Detective Chief Superintendent Semir Gerkhan (season 1-present)
Almut Eggert as Police Chief Katharina Lamprecht (season 1; recurring season 2)
Mark Keller as Detective Chief Inspector André Fux (main: seasons 2-4; guest: season 19)
René Steinke as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Kranich (seasons 5-8, 10-12)
Christian Oliver as Detective Inspector Jan Richter (seasons 9-10)
Gedeon Burkhard as Detective Chief Inspector Chris Ritter (seasons 12-13)
Tom Beck as Detective Chief Inspector Ben Jäger (seasons 14-19; guest: season 25)
Vinzenz Kiefer as Detective Chief Inspector Alex Brandt (seasons 19-21)
Daniel Roesner as Detective Chief Inspector Paul Renner (season 21-25)
Pia Stutzenstein as Detective Inspector Vicky Reisinger (season 25-present)
Katja Woywood as Police Chief Kim Krüger (season 21-25; recurring seasons 14-25)
Katrin Heß as Detective Sergeant Jenny Dorn (season 21-25; recurring seasons 16-21)
Niels Kurvin as CSU Hartmud Freund (season 21-present; recurring seasons 9-21)
Daniela Wutte as Secretary Susanne König (season 21-25; recurring seasons 12-21)

Recurring

Dietmar Huhn as Officer III Horst Herzberger (season 2-16). An older police officer and good friend of Semir's, until he was killed in the line of duty.
Gottfried Vollmer as Officer III Dieter Bonrath (season 3-17). Horst's partner with a teenage son. Also killed in the line of duty.
Carina Wiese as Andrea Gerkhan (née Schäfer). She was the precinct's secretary before becoming Semir's wife and the mother of his two younger daughters (season 2-14, 16-present).
Gizem Emre as Dana Gerkhan (née Wegener), a police officer and Semir's illegitimate daughter (season 19-present). Tesha Moon Krieg played her as a child in season 16.

Episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
Season		Episodes	First aired	Last aired
	1	9	March 12, 1996 (1996-03-12)	May 7, 1996 (1996-05-07)
	2	6	March 11, 1997 (1997-03-11)	April 15, 1997 (1997-04-15)
	3	16	October 14, 1997 (1997-10-14)	June 18, 1998 (1998-06-18)
	4	16	October 1, 1998 (1998-10-01)	May 6, 1999 (1999-05-06)
	5	16	December 16, 1999 (1999-12-16)	March 24, 2000 (2000-03-24)
	6	11	November 9, 2000 (2000-11-09)	May 31, 2001 (2001-05-31)
	7	14	November 8, 2001 (2001-11-08)	May 2, 2002 (2002-05-02)
	8	14	September 5, 2002 (2002-09-05)	April 10, 2003 (2003-04-10)
	9	18	September 11, 2003 (2003-09-11)	May 13, 2004 (2004-05-13)
	10	18	September 9, 2004 (2004-09-09)	March 31, 2004 (2004-03-31)
	11	12	September 15, 2005 (2005-09-15)	May 28, 2006 (2006-05-28)
	12	20	September 7, 2006 (2006-09-07)	May 10, 2007 (2007-05-10)
	13	14	September 20, 2007 (2007-09-20)	April 24, 2008 (2008-04-24)
	14	15	September 4, 2008 (2008-09-04)	April 9, 2009 (2009-04-09)
	15	15	September 3, 2009 (2009-09-03)	April 22, 2010 (2010-04-22)
	16	13	September 2, 2010 (2010-09-02)	April 14, 2011 (2011-04-14)
	17	16	September 15, 2011 (2011-09-15)	April 19, 2012 (2012-04-19)
	18	15	September 6, 2012 (2012-09-06)	April 18, 2013 (2013-04-18)
	19	14	October 17, 2013 (2013-10-17)	May 15, 2014 (2014-05-15)
	20	15	October 9, 2014 (2014-10-09)	April 30, 2015 (2015-04-30)
	21	16	September 10, 2015 (2015-09-10)	May 26, 2016 (2016-05-26)
	22	20	September 1, 2016 (2016-09-01)	May 18, 2017 (2017-05-18)
	23	19	September 14, 2017 (2017-09-14)	May 3, 2018 (2018-05-03)
	24	18	September 13, 2018 (2018-09-13)	June 6, 2019 (2019-06-06)
	25	16	September 12, 2019 (2019-09-12)	TBA

Preamble

The opening titles of the first 158 episodes (1996-2006) had the following preamble:

Ihr Revier ist die Autobahn (Their precinct is the autobahn)
Ihr Tempo ist mörderisch (They work at break-neck speed)
Ihre Gegner: Autoschieber, Mörder und Erpresser (They're up against car thieves, killers, and extortionists)
Einsatz rund um die Uhr für die Männer von Cobra 11 (They're on call around the clock: the men of Cobra 11)
Unsere Sicherheit ist ihr Job (Our safety is their job).

During Episodes 159-243 (2007-2012), the preamble was:

Ihr Revier ist die Autobahn (Their precinct is the autobahn)
Ihr Einsatz heißt: volles Tempo (Their mission: full speed)
Ihre Gegner von heute: extrem schnell und gefährlich (Their enemies today: extremely fast and dangerous)
Verbrechen ohne Limit – Jeder Einsatz volles Risiko (Crimes without limit – every job at full risk)
für die Männer von Cobra 11 (for the men of Cobra 11).

Since Episode 244 (2013), the preamble has been:

Ihr Revier ist die Autobahn. (Their precinct is the autobahn)
Ihre Gegner: extrem schnell und gefährlich. (Their enemies: Extremely quick and dangerous)
Verbrechen ohne Limit. (Crimes without limit)
Jeder Einsatz - volles Risiko (Every job: at full risk)
für die Männer von Cobra 11. (for the men of Cobra 11)

Since 2014, the preamble has been:

Ihr Revier ist die Autobahn. (Their precinct is the autobahn)
Ihre Gegner: extrem schnell und gefährlich. (Their enemies: Extremely quick and dangerous)
Volles Risiko (Extremely risky)
für die Männer von Cobra 11. (for the men of Cobra 11)

International broadcasters

Afghanistan: 1TV (Yak TV)
Australia: SBS2
Austria: ORF
Belgium: AB3
Bulgaria: Diema, Nova
Canada: Séries+
Chile: La Red
China: CCTV
Croatia: RTL Televizija
Czech Republic: TV Nova, Nova Action
Ecuador: RedTeleSistema
Estonia: TV6, TV3
France: TF1, Télé Monte Carlo
Germany: RTL Television, RTL Crime, RTL Nitro
Hungary: RTL Klub, Cool TV, Sorozat Plusz
India: BIG RTL Thrill
Iran: Tehran TV, IRIB Tamasha
Italy: Rai 2, AXN
Japan: AAB, ATV, Fox Classics, KBS, BS11, Sun TV, TeNY, Tokyo MX, TV Asahi
Latvia: TV3, TV6
Lithuania: LRT televizija, TV3, TV6, BTV
Mexico: The Film Zone
Mongolia: SBN TV
Netherlands: RTL 7, RTL 4
North Macedonia: Телевизија Телма, Сител Телевизија
Poland: TVN 7, TELE 5, Stopklatka, TV Puls
Portugal: RTP1, AXN
Romania: Pro Cinema, AXN
Russia: СТС, Рен ТВ
Singapore: TLC
Serbia: Prva Srpska Televizija
Slovakia: Markíza
Slovenia: Kanal A
South Africa: KykNET (Dubbed in Afrikaans)
South Korea: CNTV (2003-2005), SCREEN (2012)
Spain: Cuatro, AXN, Energy
Turkey: Kanal A, Kanal D, TV8, tv2, Olay TV, Beyaz TV, Ege TV, Abant TV, TV41
Ukraine: Новий канал, 2+2, Уніан
United Kingdom: Drama
United States: V-me (dubbed in Spanish)[4]
Vietnam: ANTV
Brazil: Bandeirantes

Legacy

Game adaptations

The series has also spawned numerous game releases in Europe, primarily for PC, but they have generally met with mixed receptions. The latest title is Crash Time 5: Undercover. Crash Time was also dubbed into English and sold in many other markets worldwide.

Spin-off

In 2002, a spin-off named Alarm für Cobra 11 – Einsatz für Team 2 (Alarm for Cobra 11 – Team Mission 2) was started. Because of its limited success, only two seasons were produced.

Parodies

Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei was regularly parodied as "Alarm für Kebap 11 – Die Dönerpölizei" by Freitag Nacht News, a German comedy sketch program. The segments feature the team talking in exaggerated Turkish accents and many references to Döner Kebab. Erdoğan Atalay and René Steinke themselves have made cameo appearances in some.
The series has also been parodied on Switch TV and Switch reloaded.
Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei was also parodied in the Latvian comedy show Savādi gan.

References

"Der Tagesspiegel: Berliner Grenzkontrollpunkt Dreilinden wird versteigert - fair-NEWS.de". www.fair-news.de. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012.
"Google Maps". Google Maps.
"FTL Filmautobahn und Teststrecke" (PDF). www.ftl-germany.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
https://www.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20110519-911031.html Coverage of announced 2011-2012 programming highlights for United States Spanish language broadcaster V-me, documenting intent to broadcast Alerta Cobra (Spanish title).

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Der Tagesspiegel: Berliner Grenzkontrollpunkt Dreilinden wird versteigert - fair-NEWS.de". www.fair-news.de. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012.

[2] "Google Maps". Google Maps.

[3] "FTL Filmautobahn und Teststrecke" (PDF). www.ftl-germany.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.

[4] ttps://www.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20110519-911031.html Coverage of announced 2011-2012 programming highlights for United States Spanish language broadcaster V-me, documenting intent to broadcast Alerta Cobra (Spanish title).