Inventor of well-known “crime scene” inspectors
Screenwriter Felix Huby has died at the age of 83
Screenwriter, writer and journalist Felix Huby 1997 in Mainz
© Erwin Elsner / Picture Alliance
Felix Huby was considered a creative all-rounder, wrote for “Spiegel” and invented characters that are still cult today. The screenwriter has died at the age of 83 after a serious illness.
He was an inventor of famous “Tatort” commissioners: The screenwriter and writer Felix Huby died at the age of 83. Film producer Zoran Solomun of the German Press Agency confirmed reports from the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten” on Saturday, citing Huby’s son. According to information from the newspapers, he died on Friday in Berlin – his place of residence – after a serious illness.
Huby was best known as co-inventor of the Duisburg “Tatort” inspector Horst Schimanski and inventor of the Stuttgart television inspector Ernst Bienzle and the Saarbrücken investigator Max Palu. In addition to crime novels, he also wrote non-fiction and children’s books.
He was born on December 21, 1938 as Eberhard Hungerbühler in Baden-Württemberg in Dettenhausen (Tübingen district). Born in Swabia, he initially worked as a journalist. In the seventies he reported as a correspondent for the news magazine “Spiegel”. The RAF trial and the resignation of Baden-Württemberg Prime Minister Hans Filbinger (CDU) took place during this period.
Felix Huby created figures “for eternity”
Huby was a creative all-rounder who left his mark on the cultural landscape of Baden-Württemberg, said Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) on Saturday. In all tasks, he was accompanied by his deep connection to his homeland and a loving, empathetic, often humorous view of Swabian peculiarities. With Commissioner Bienzle he created “a character for eternity”.
Huby’s work has received many awards. In recognition of his services to Baden-Württemberg, he received the state’s Order of Merit in 2019. According to SWR 2007 in Vienna, he received the “Golden Romy” for the best screenplay of the year for the “crime scene: Bienzle and the dead man in the vineyard”. In 2016 he was awarded the honorary prize of the Baden-Württemberg Film Show.
The director of Südwestrundfunk (SWR), Kai Gniffke, mourned the loss of Huby on Saturday, who had been closely associated with the broadcaster for many years. “With Felix Huby we have lost one of the most influential authors of German television culture,” said Gniffke according to the announcement. As a Bienzle inventor, he made an invaluable contribution to representing the Southwest on TV. Huby understood in an incomparable way how to capture people’s attitude to life in exciting and cheerful stories. The SWR not only lost one of its most productive authors, but also a critical companion.