Horst Schimanski
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Horst Schimanski is a fictional policeman who appears in the German Tatort crime series. Portrayed by Götz George, he made his debut in the 1981 episode "Duisburg-Ruhrort" and appeared in 29 episodes until 1997. All the Schimanski episodes were produced by the WDR.
Schimanski was consistently written as the prototypical proletarian. Coming from the mining city of Duisburg in the so-called "Ruhrpott"-Area, George portrayed him as a rugged, often unkempt simpleton who often swore, but never backed out of a fight and kept a sense of honour for minorities. He was perennially accompanied by "Thanner" (portrayed by the late Eberhard Feik), a smart, well-dressed policeman who often served as a foil for the proletarian Schimanski.
[edit] Reception
From the beginning, Schimanski's character polarised the public: the WDR stated that his opponents saw him as a disgrace for the police and for German TV, his admirers as a new breed of more realistic, streetwise characters ("für die einen war er der Kämpfer für Gerechtigkeit und wurde schließlich zur Kultfigur, für die anderen war er eher ein Gesetzesbrecher, dem etwas Schmuddeliges anhaftete");[1] but in time, he became a cult figure in German culture and the most popular Tatort character.[1]
