What's included here
Five German-language TV series for intermediate and advanced learners, including mysteries, historical dramas and comedy. Each recommendation includes a story summary, an estimated German difficulty level and an explanation of what makes the dialogue useful or challenging for learners.
Watching German TV shows is a great way to spend an evening practising your German, and German television has plenty to offer - from complicated science-fiction mysteries to historical dramas and painfully awkward office comedies.
If you're learning German, these shows give you the chance to hear how the language is used in different situations, with different accents, speaking styles and vocabulary.
The five series below are particularly interesting for intermediate and advanced German learners. We'll look at what each show is about, how difficult the German is, and what you might learn from watching it.
Note
For something a little shorter, you can also explore our recommendations for German movies for language learners.
Let's have a look at the list!
1. Dark – A German Science-Fiction Mystery
Genre: Mystery, science fiction
Suggested German level: B2–C1
Let's start with Dark, one of Germany's best-known international television successes.
The series takes place in Winden, a seemingly ordinary small German town where the disappearance of a child sets off a chain of mysterious events!
As the story unfolds, four families become entangled in a complicated mystery involving time travel, family secrets and events spanning several generations.
How Difficult Is Dark for German Learners?
Dark is sometimes recommended as an accessible German series because much of the dialogue is relatively measured and clearly spoken.
However, the story introduces abstract concepts, philosophical discussions and vocabulary relating to science and time.
Our recommendation: A good choice for confident B2 learners and above, especially if you enjoy mysteries!
If you're around B1, you can still give it a try with subtitles, but don't expect to understand everything.
2. Babylon Berlin – Crime and Politics in Weimar Germany
Genre: Historical crime drama, neo-noir
Suggested German level: B2–C1
Babylon Berlin places us in the German capital during the final years of the Weimar Republic.
The story begins in 1929, when Berlin is a city of striking social and cultural differences.
On one hand, there's a thriving cultural scene, with cabarets, dance halls, artists and a lively nightlife. On the other, the city is struggling with political extremism, poverty, corruption and organised crime.
At the centre of the story are police inspector Gereon Rath and Charlotte Ritter, whose investigations take them through Berlin's criminal underworld and the political tensions of the period, and the series follows these characters through the turbulent years leading up to the Nazi dictatorship.
With its elaborate sets, costumes and historical detail, it's also a fascinating glimpse into one of the most eventful periods in German history.
The series is based on the Gereon Rath novels by Volker Kutscher. If you're interested in exploring the books, have a look at our guide to German crime fiction books.
How Difficult Is Babylon Berlin for German Learners?
Babylon Berlin is best suited to more advanced German learners, but there's plenty to gain from watching it.
You'll encounter a rich variety of vocabulary, from everyday conversations to political discussions and police investigations. You'll also hear some old-fashioned expressions that reflect the language of the time.
The historical setting adds another interesting dimension. As you follow the story, you'll learn more about German society, politics and everyday life during the Weimar Republic.
If you enjoy history and want to improve your German while exploring a fascinating period of German culture, Babylon Berlin is well worth watching.
3. Stromberg – German Office Comedy
Genre: Mockumentary, workplace comedy
Suggested German level: C1+
If you're familiar with The Office, you'll probably recognise the premise of Stromberg.
The series follows Bernd Stromberg, an incompetent, socially awkward and frequently inappropriate manager at an insurance company.
Like The Office, it's filmed in a mockumentary style, with awkward conversations and uncomfortable silences.
How Difficult Is Stromberg for German Learners?
Of all the shows on this list, Stromberg is probably the most challenging when it comes to understanding informal spoken German.
Characters often speak quickly, use colloquial expressions and make jokes that depend on tone, wordplay or cultural references.
You'll encounter plenty of German slang, idioms and workplace expressions.
The good news is that the episodes are relatively short, usually around 20–25 minutes!
And speaking from experience, it does get easier to follow after a few episodes, particularly with the help of German subtitles.
Our recommendation: A particularly good choice for advanced learners who want to become more comfortable with informal German and understand how humour works in everyday conversations.
4. Dogs of Berlin – A Gritty Crime Thriller
Genre: Crime thriller
Suggested German level: B2–C1
Dogs of Berlin is a crime series set in the darker corners of Germany's capital.
The story follows two police officers, Kurt Grimmer and Erol Birkan, who are assigned to investigate the murder of a famous German-Turkish footballer.
The two detectives have very different backgrounds and personalities.
Grimmer has connections to far-right circles and struggles with gambling, while Birkan is a gay German-Turkish police officer.
Their uneasy partnership takes them into a world of organised crime, political tensions and competing loyalties.
It's a much grittier portrayal of Berlin than the one you'll find in most travel guides.
How Difficult Is Dogs of Berlin for German Learners?
Dogs of Berlin exposes viewers to a wide range of informal language.
You'll hear slang, and different ways of speaking depending on the characters and their backgrounds.
That makes it interesting from a language-learning perspective, but also challenging!
The vocabulary is often quite different from the carefully structured conversations found in German textbooks.
Our recommendation: Better suited to confident B2 learners and above who want exposure to informal German and different speaking styles.
5. Ku'damm 56 – Family Life in Post-War Berlin
Genre: Historical family drama
Suggested German level: B1–B2
Ku'damm 56 takes us to West Berlin in the 1950s.
The story follows Caterina Schöllack, a conservative mother who runs a dance school, and her three daughters.
The series explores the changing role of women in post-war Germany, along with the conflict between traditional social expectations and a younger generation's desire for freedom.
How Difficult Is Ku'damm 56 for German Learners?
Of the five series on this list, Ku'damm 56 is probably the most approachable for intermediate learners.
Much of the dialogue revolves around family relationships, emotions, work and everyday situations.
That makes the vocabulary more familiar than the scientific discussions in Dark or the political language in Babylon Berlin.
Our recommendation: A good starting point for confident B1–B2 learners!
It's also a particularly interesting series if you're curious about German social history.
Are German TV Shows Suitable for B1 Learners?
Yes, but it's worth choosing carefully.
Of the five shows above, Ku'damm 56 is probably the most accessible starting point.
Dark can also be interesting if you're happy to follow a complicated story with subtitle support.
But if your main goal is to build listening confidence, you might prefer to begin with content that's a little easier to understand!
For example, our recommendations for German romantic comedies include stories with familiar situations and relationships, while German documentaries can offer more structured narration.
(Of course, difficulty varies considerably between individual films and programmes.)
The important thing is finding material that's challenging enough to help you improve, without being so difficult that you find it exhausting to follow and lose interest.