The actor and director Peter Sodann died at the age of 87. Many people will remember him as the quirky “crime scene” detective Ehrlicher. But Sodann was also a cultural worker – and ran for the office of Federal President.
The actor, director and theater director Peter Sodann is dead. He died on Friday at the age of 87 in Halle an der Saale, his family announced. The “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung” had previously reported, citing the works council of the Bühnen Halle. Sodann became known nationwide primarily as the somewhat grumpy Chief Inspector Bruno Ehrlicher in “Tatort,” which he played from 1992 to 2007. Ehrlicher initially investigated in Dresden before the series was moved to Leipzig after 21 cases.
Sodann came from Meißen in Saxony, where he was born on June 1, 1936 as the son of a worker. After an apprenticeship as a toolmaker and a foray into law, he studied at the Leipzig Theater University. Sodann also ran a cabaret that was closed in 1961 because of a program that was found to be counter-revolutionary. He was then arrested for anti-state agitation. He spent nine months in prison in the GDR, and later the Stasi spied on him.
He also made a name for himself on and behind the theater stage. As director, he created a unique cultural island with several venues at his home in Halle. In 1986 he received the National Prize in the GDR. In 2001 he was also awarded the Federal Cross of Merit.
Candidacy as Federal President for the Left Party
He makes no secret of his closeness to the former PDS and today’s Die Linke party. He then considered running as a member of parliament, but then he stood for the Left Party in the 2009 election for Federal President. About his candidacy he said: “It’s actually crazy. I was born in 1936, you think I would have dreamed that. I’m not stupid.”
Then he didn’t become Federal President after all. In return, he remained on the theater stage as an actor and cabaret artist. Because withdrawing completely to the retirement home – that was always the worst of all options for him. Most recently, the actor lived in Halle and in Staucha, Saxony (Meißen district), where he ran the Peter Sodann Library, where he collected all the books that were published in eastern Germany between May 8, 1945 and October 2, 1990 . In 2005, Peter Sodann was made an honorary citizen of Halle.