Spectacular Series Finale of “Babylon Berlin”
A decade of German television history comes to a close: On Friday, September 11, the final fifth season of “Babylon Berlin” will be screened at the naturstorm open-air cinema in Cologne. Max Raabe and his band will provide a musical introduction. In attendance will be directors and writers Achim von Borries and Tom Tykwer, as well as lead actors Liv Lisa Fries, Volker Bruch, and Trystan Pütter. The series was produced by X Filme in co-production with ARD Degeto and Beta Film.
In 2015, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW became the first regional funding institution to award production funding to this visionary series, which was based on the novels by Cologne-based author Volker Kutscher. The Film Foundation provided 2 million euros in funding for the final season and a total of 6.7 million euros across all seasons. This funding underscores the importance and reliability of North Rhine-Westphalia as a production hub for high-quality series.
In the fifth season, not only was filming done in North Rhine-Westphalia—as in all seasons—but the plot also returns to Cologne. During an escape attempt, the protagonists experience a turbulent night at the Cologne Carnival before flying on to Paris the next morning as part of Konrad Adenauer’s entourage. The street scenes during the carnival were supplemented with original footage from the period, combining newly shot material with historical archival footage. The eight new episodes shed light on the days between the Nazi takeover and the Reichstag fire. Director Hendrik Handloegten emphasized at the Golden Hen Awards ceremony in Leipzig—where “Babylon Berlin” was honored as Best Television Event—that the world has made the series increasingly relevant over the past ten years.
“Babylon Berlin” has had a lasting impact on German television. Five seasons, 48 episodes, 533 days of filming, around 400 actors, 17,000 extras, and 2,046 crew members—these impressive figures underscore the enormous scale of production, which was also carried out in North Rhine-Westphalia over the course of ten years. The multi-award-winning series has been sold to over 140 countries and is considered the first joint project between a pay-TV provider (Sky) and the public broadcaster.
The fifth season of “Babylon Berlin” will be available in its entirety on the ARD Mediathek starting Thursday, September 10, 2026. The linear broadcast on Das Erste will take place on Saturday, September 19, starting at 8:15 p.m. (episodes 1–4) and on Friday, September 25, starting at 10:20 p.m. (episodes 5–8). A premiere of the season finale will take place in Berlin on September 10.