The Best TV Shows on DFF 1

Every DFF 1 Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Showcasing over 20 shows from 1959 up until 1987, DFF 1 stands as a beacon of television excellence. Leading the pack on DFF 1 are Blaulicht and Der schwarze Kanal, with their initial broadcasts in 1959 and 1960. As of April 2026, we’ve curated over 20 of DFF 1’s premier shows for your viewing pleasure.

  • Trzecia granica
    Trzecia granica (1976)8.5

  • Johann Sebastian Bach
    Johann Sebastian Bach (1985)8.5

    Episodes from the life of the great musician, whose 300th birthday is being celebrated worldwide this year. The series begins with a story from 1717, which has been passed down in quite varied versions. At the court of Augustus the Strong in Dresden, the French organ virtuoso Louis Marchand was said to have passed away. Convinced of his “unique” abilities, he—according to the film—announced a music competition. Bach was the only competitor to enter.

  • Gewissen in Aufruhr
    Gewissen in Aufruhr (1961)8.0

    As a German soldier in the 6th Army, Colonel Joachim Ebershagen is trapped in the Stalingrad cauldron. His experiences cause him to begin to doubt the meaning of the war. He is flown out as a wounded soldier on one of the last planes. Back home, he becomes commander of Greifswald. Towards the end of the war, he surrendered the city to the Soviet army without a fight on April 30, 1945. The death sentence pronounced by a court martial is not carried out.

  • Das Mädchen Krümel
    Das Mädchen Krümel (1976)8.0

    Germany in the 1920s. Martha Dehnert is a petite young girl nicknamed Krümel and grows up in a working-class family in Potsdam. Despite difficult times, she is passionate about her ideals.

  • Archives of Death
    Archives of Death (1980)8.0

    Archiv des Todes is a 1980 13-part television series German war television film series set during World War II.

  • Zahn um Zahn
    Zahn um Zahn (1985)8.0

    A man who has just become unemployed kills his closest relatives before he judges himself. Commissioner Schimanski determined.

  • Rottenknechte
    Rottenknechte (1971)7.5

    The film concentrates on the last days of the German navy during World War II.

  • Front Without Mercy
    Front Without Mercy (1984)7.5

    A story about German resistance group fighting SS units during WWII.

  • The Green Monster
    The Green Monster (1962)7.0

    On the run from police in America, Antonio Morena, a former World War II aviator and black-marketeer, finds himself in South America working for the all-powerful United Fruit Company, known to the natives as "the Green Monster".

  • Spuk im Hochhaus
    Spuk im Hochhaus (1982)7.0

    200 years ago, innkeepers Jette and August Deibelschmidt led a rapacious life. Out of greed, they repeatedly got their guests drunk in order to steal from them. When police commissioner Friedrich Wilhelm Licht tried to put them out of action, the house caught fire and all three died. In his last words, he curses the pair of thieves, saying that they will not find peace until they have done seven good deeds after 200 years.

  • Märkische Chronik
    Märkische Chronik (1983)7.0

  • Ghosts from Outside
    Ghosts from Outside (1987)7.0

    An adventures of a Berlin family spending summer in haunted house.

  • Polizeiruf 110
    Polizeiruf 110 (1971)6.2

    Polizeiruf 110 is a long-running German language detective television series. The first episode was broadcast 27 June 1971 in the German Democratic Republic, and after the dissolution of Fernsehen der DDR the series was picked up by ARD. It was originally created as a counterpart to the West German series Tatort, and quickly became a public favorite.

  • Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria
    Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria (1987)6.0

    Love, intrigue, favouritism and corruption at the Dresdner Hof.

  • Ein Kessel Buntes
    Ein Kessel Buntes (1972)4.2

    The show was meant to compete with those on West German television. To this end it was fairly successful even attracting a following in parts of West Germany which could receive Eastern TV. Its production values were high. Apart from song and dance numbers and appearances from East German celebrities, almost every broadcast featured well-known stars from the west, often after their popularity had peaked in their home countries.

  • Der Staatsanwalt hat das Wort
    Der Staatsanwalt hat das Wort (1965)3.8

    Der Staatsanwalt hat das Wort was an East German television series.

  • Blaulicht
    Blaulicht (1959)N/A

    Blaulicht is a German crime television drama series, whose 29 episodes were based on crime case files.

  • Der schwarze Kanal
    Der schwarze Kanal (1960)N/A

    Der schwarze Kanal was a series of political propaganda programmes broadcast weekly between 1960 and 1989 by East German television. Each edition was made up of recorded extracts from recent West German television programmes re-edited to include a Communist commentary.

  • Schauspielereien
    Schauspielereien (1978)N/A

    The film is set in the 1930s in Germany. Maria Rheine and Mark Löwenthal, two young actors working in a small theater, are in love with each other. Their love affair is interrupted by Nazi racial policies; Mark is no longer allowed to perform in German theaters because he is a Jew. In order to continue acting, he joins the newly formed Jewish Theater in Berlin. Maria, who is not Jewish, faces no restrictions on her career, and she becomes a successful actress at a big theater in Munich. But her love for Mark eventually leads her to decide to sacrifice both career and security to remain close to him. She fakes a suicide, assumes a Jewish identity and, as Manja Löwenthal, joins the Jewish Theater.

  • Entry to Paradise
    Entry to Paradise (1987)N/A

    A story about life and everyday problems of a few families from East Germany.