Thiel and Boerne lose their boss
Regularly, the "Tatort" cases from Münster featuring Commissioner Thiel and forensic doctor Boerne are among the most popular episodes of the ARD crime series. However, fans must now say goodbye to a central figure: actress Mechthild Großmann, alias Wilhelmine Klemm, is leaving the ARD crime series.
The woman with a cigarette in her hand and a distinctive deep voice says "Goodbye": Mechthild Großmann, who has been a state prosecutor in the Münster "Tatort" for over 22 years, is leaving the ARD crime series in 2025. The West German Broadcasting Corporation (WDR) announced this.
As the boss of Commissioner Thiel and forensic doctor Professor Boerne, the actress will still appear in three new episodes, after which she wants to dedicate herself to new tasks, the station quotes Großmann. In the ARD ratings success, she plays the state prosecutor Wilhelmine Klemm.
"If the last Münster 'Tatort' with me is broadcast at the end of 2025, I will be 77 years old, and I have no intention of stopping working. I will continue to act in theater and give readings, preferably with music - and if the WDR is ever looking for someone to play a villainous murderer, I would be there immediately," says Großmann, according to the WDR statement.
The actress, born in Münster in 1948, has been part of the "Tatort" cast from the first episode in 2002. Before her, only Friederike Kempter had left the long-standing ensemble, in the role of Boerne's assistant Nadesha Krusenstern.
Thanks to her colleagues
Großmann's career began in 1963 at the Theater Bremen. For the first time, she worked with the dancer and choreographer Pina Pausch in 1976. From 1977 to 1979, she was engaged at the Schauspielhaus Bochum, before she celebrated worldwide successes with the Tanztheater Pina Bausch from Wuppertal for many years. However, not as a dancer, as she emphasizes on her own homepage. She has also acted in films with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Caroline Link. At the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, she taught dance history and acting.
"It was an honor and a pleasure to play with Christine Urspruch and Björn Meyer, many years with Friederike Kempter and the wonderful Vadder - Claus D. Clausnitzer - and of course with Axel Prahl and Jan Josef Liefers for so long - 23 years," says the actress, according to the statement.
The 46th Münster "Tatort", titled "Man stirbt nur zweimal" - still with Großmann - is scheduled to be broadcast in the fourth quarter of 2024. The cases around Thiehl, Boerne, Grossmann and Co have been among the most popular episodes of the crime series for years, despite or because of their high level of slapstick.
Despite her departure from the ARD crime series in 2025, Mechthild Großmann, widely known for her role as state prosecutor Wilhelmine Klemm in the "Tatort" episodes from Münster, will continue to act in theater and give readings. The television screen will continue to beam her presence in three more upcoming episodes of the series before she delves into new tasks.
