The fifth and final season of “Babylon Berlin” depicts the rapid ascent of the Nazi Party in Germany, beginning with Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor on January 30, 1933, and culminating after the March 5 elections. The series, a neo-noir blending history and fiction, marks the end of a 13-year creative journey for writer-directors Henk Handlogten, Achim von Borries, and Tom Tykwer, and features returning leads Volker Bruch and Liv Lisa Fries.
According to von Borries, it’s “incredible to realize it took so little time to change the system completely.” The creative team initially planned to end the story on January 30th, but realized the subsequent weeks were equally crucial to understanding the shift in power. They intentionally avoided portraying the events as predetermined, believing “there were alternatives also. In every moment of time, there are alternatives.”
Tykwer drew a parallel to the tragedy of the Titanic, noting that focusing on characters “fighting for something else to happen” transforms the narrative. He emphasized the power of fictionalized historical events to allow viewers to experience the past with contemporary knowledge and understand its relevance to present circumstances.
The creators also noted how Europe’s changing political landscape during the series’ development informed their writing. Tykwer explained that viewers began to reflect on their own political realities and feelings of insecurity, which further influenced the storyline. “As viewers, people started asking themselves: ‘Where am I? Where were these people? How did they experience it?’ And that also infused our writing over the years.” The final season, they hope, will touch on universal themes.
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