04/12/2025 - The feature-length adaptation of Jörg Maurer’s bestselling Alpine crime novels brings inspector Hubertus Jennerwein to the big screen for the first time

l-r: Producer Kerstin Nommsen, actor Helmfried von Lüttichau, actress Sarah Thonig, director Hannu Salonen, actor Florian Brückner, DoP Felix Cramer and actor Frederic Linkemann on the set of Jennerwein – Hochsaison (© W&B Television/RTL/Marc Reimann)

Principal photography is under way on Jennerwein – Hochsaison, marking the first theatrical adaptation of Jörg Maurer’s hugely popular crime series centred on the sharp-witted inspector Hubertus Jennerwein. The darkly humorous Alpine thriller, rich in twists and set against a striking mountain backdrop, is being directed by German-based Finnish filmmaker Hannu Salonen.

The plot follows Jennerwein, who has barely settled into his winter posting in an Alpine ski resort when the quiet town is abruptly thrust into turmoil. A Danish ski jumper falls to his death, an attack narrowly misses the president of the Winter Games Committee, and anonymous letters warn of more crimes to come. Negotiating a tight-knit community, local suspicions and petty political rivalries, Jennerwein must track down a perpetrator hungry for attention and ready to play a deadly game.

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The cast is led by Florian Brückner (The Dark Valley [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) as Jennerwein. Joining him are Sarah Thonig, Frederic Linkemann (Wackersdorf [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Eva-Maria Reichert, Helmfried von Lüttichau, Florian Thongsap Welsch and Cornelius Obonya (How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Pochlatko
film profile]), among others.

The screenplay is written by Maximilian Brückner, Linus Herbig-Matten and Dinah Marte Golch. The film is adapted from Maurer’s novel of the same name and marks the first big-screen version of the author’s long-running and highly successful book franchise. Since the publication of Föhnlage in 2009, 16 instalments have been released, selling over three million copies and consistently topping German-language bestseller lists, establishing Maurer as one of the most successful crime writers in the region.

Filming began in mid-November in the Bavarian ski resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and in the Austrian Tyrolean Alpine town of Seefeld. Felix Cramer (I Am Scrooge), a regular collaborator of Salonen’s, serves as director of photography. Salonen is best known for commercially successful series such as the Netflix original Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood and Turmschatten, among others.

Producer and W&B Television managing director Benjamin Benedict commented: “Jörg Maurer’s novels about the wonderful inspector Jennerwein absolutely thrilled us. Hochsaison offers fantastic original characters and a highly sophisticated plot.”

Jennerwein – Hochsaison is being produced by Benjamin Benedict, Kerstin Nommsen, Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann for W&B Television, with Nico Grein acting as executive producer for fiction under the leadership of Hauke Bartel, head of Fiction at RTL Deutschland. The project is backed by the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (FFF Bayern), FISA+, Film in Austria (ABA) and the Cine Tirol Film Commission. Leonine Studios will handle theatrical distribution, with a German cinema release slated for 5 November 2026. RTL Deutschland will oversee streaming and free-TV rights.