10 best German thriller series on Netflix, Prime Video & more

With the release of the German thriller, ‘Dark’, Netflix made a statement with regards to its German-language collection. They and other streaming platforms have strived to cater to a worldwide audience with their libraries.

In the last few years, the reliance on streaming platforms has risen considerably, leading to many of these platforms expanding their options to bring in a wider audience. The vast array of genres means there is no shortage of choice when it comes to finding something to watch. Here is a list of the 10 best German thriller series that you must watch:

1. Dark

Available on: Netflix

Cast: Louis Hofmann, Karoline Eichhorn, Lisa Vicari, Maja Schöne, Jördis Triebel, Andreas Pietschmann

When a young child goes missing from a small German town named Widen, it begins a long winding turn of events that involve four different families and a secret time travelling conspiracy. The series explores dark pasts, betrayal and so much more as they search for the missing children but discover mysteries spanning multiple generations.

Netflix’s first German-language original series garnered rave reviews upon its release for its mature tone, stunning visuals and A-grade acting and direction.

2. Bad Banks

Available on: Hulu

Cast: Paula Beer, Barry Atsma, Désirée Nosbusch, Albrecht Schuch, Mai Duong Kieu, Marc Limpach

Jana (Beer) is an investment banker who pursues a great opportunity at a prominent German investment firm, but what starts as a promising career turns out to be manipulation in the cutthroat world of finance. She’s forced to sacrifice so much of her personal life to get ahead in the game only to realise that it might all be worth nothing.

This series has a brisk pace and the acting is of high quality. This German thriller mini-series is an easy binge that will excite the audience from start to finish.

3. Freud

Available on: Netflix

Cast: Robert Finster, Ella Rumpf, Georg Friedrich, Christoph F. Krutzler, Brigitte Kren, Anja Kling

In the 1880s, Sigmund Freud (Finster) is a young psychoanalyst with a fresh perspective on experimental techniques that draw the ridicule of his colleagues and peers in the medical community. When he visits a high society party in Vienna, he gets embroiled in a murder case complete with political conspiracies and supernatural phenomena.

An interesting reimagining of the life of the most prominent figures in the world in psychology, ‘Freud’ is an Austrian German thriller series that brilliantly blends reality with fiction.

4. Biohackers

Available on: Netflix

Cast: Luna Wedler, Jessica Schwarz, Adrian Julius Tillmann, Caro Cult, Thomas Prenn, Sebastian Jakob Doppelbauer

Mia (Wedler) is an aspiring medical student keen on learning the science of genetics under famed scientist, Professor Tanja Lorenz (Schwarz) but she has a hidden agenda. She’s trying to avenge the death of her brother who was the victim of one of Prof. Lorenz’s genetic experiments many years ago.

This German thriller explores the intriguing concept of biohacking and accurately portrays many scientific techniques and dialogues in the field of molecular biology and other scientific disciplines.

5. Parfum (Perfume)

Available on: Netflix

Cast: Friederike Becht, August Diehl, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Natalia Belitski, Ken Duken, Trystan Pütter

Inspired by the novel of the same name, this series is set in the modern-day where a body of a woman is found with her sweat glands removed. This woman is connected to a group of former boarding school students who manipulated people with the help of human scents. The investigators set out to find the killer responsible for these heinous acts and get to the bottom of the mystery.

A truly spine-chilling plot that is enhanced by its current setting, this German thriller series is not an easy watch but promises to capture your attention at the same time.

6. Beat

Available on: Prime Video

Cast: Jannis Niewöhner, Karoline Herfurth, Christian Berkel, Alexander Fehling, Hanno Koffler, Svenja Jung

Beat is a well-connected promoter at a very famous techno club. He is not without his vices and the European secret service uses this fact to recruit him to work for them undercover. Soon he discovers that the world he is part of is not remotely what he expected and he is forced to accept the grim truth of what he has gotten himself into.

A Prime Video original that focuses on international organized crime and the underground scene in Berlin, ‘Beat’ is German thriller series that is not short on excitement.

7. You Are Wanted

Available on: Prime Video

Cast: Matthias Schweighöfer, Alexandra Maria Lara, Catrin Striebeck, Franz Hagn, Jörg Pintsch, Edin Hasanovic

Lukas Franke (Schweighöfer) is the victim of a cyberattack that implicates him in a terrorist plot and tarnishes his entire image in front of his family, friends and colleagues. The authorities in charge of the investigation have a hard time believing his story so it falls on him to prove his innocence with the help of another cyberattack victim.

This German thriller series is the first German-language Amazon original series and it has risen in popularity ever since its release with an engrossing storyline.

8. Dogs of Berlin

Available on: Netflix

Cast: Felix Kramer, Fahri Yardim, Deniz Orta, Katharina Schüttler, Anna Maria Mühe, Urs Rechn

When a prominent Turkish-German footballer is murdered, two detectives with opposing personalities are tasked with tracking down whoever is behind this act, but the evidence they find leads them down the rabbit hole and puts them on a collision course with the German underworld as well as high powered individuals.

A German thriller series filled with a wide variety of characters and terrific subplots intertwined into one main story, ‘Dogs of Berlin’ is a solid offering to the audiences watching.

9. Deutschland 83

Available on: Hulu

Cast: Jonas Nay, Maria Schrader, Ulrich Noethen, Sylvester Groth, Sonja Gerhardt, Ludwig Trepte

A rookie spy from East Germany is sent across the wall to West Germany during the height of the Cold War. His relative inexperience leads to several issues that have to be dealt with by the East German Secret Service. It focuses on a young enthusiastic man dropped into the middle of one of the most distressing times in the history of the earth.

This German thriller is a great exhibition of the spy genre and has got the aesthetics of 1980s Germany down to a ‘T’. It has received critical acclaim all over the world for its quality.

10. Babylon Berlin

Available on: Netflix

Cast: Volker Bruch, Liv Lisa Fries, Leonie Benesch, Lars Eidinger, Misel Maticevic, Fritzi Haberlandt

During the latter years of the Weimar Republic, Germany is caught amid gross unemployment and poverty simultaneously offset with the hustle and bustle of its thrilling nightlife. Promising inspector  Gereon Rath is sent to Berlin to investigate a rampant porn ring handled by the Berlin Mafia. However, the deeper he goes into this case, the more tangled the web seems to be, tying in corruption, drugs and weapons trafficking.

A German thriller that perfectly captures the cultural zeitgeist of Germany in the late 1920s, this series comes with stunning visuals and a background score backed with powerful performances.


Also Read: Streaming Calendar: All shows and films coming out in 2022

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