6 Really Good True Crime Podcasts From Bavaria

Franconia's most hair-raising cases: Every second Friday, the two journalists Lena Wölki and Franziska Wagenknecht confront the human abyss right on their doorstep. How did the regional crimes actually happen? In conversation with the court reporters and police reporters from Verlag Nürnberger Presse, the two hosts search for answers.

An ordinary crime or an incredible mystery? It's usually just the small details that make all the difference. Mystery True Crime hosts Anne Luckmann and Patrick Strobusch discuss the biggest international cases and theories and invite their listeners to join in the puzzling. The podcast's crimes, produced by Munich-based studio Julep, are so hair-raising that you simply can't stop listening: Schwarze Akte is one of the most successful German true crime podcasts.

The police and public prosecutor's office usually investigate minor offenses quietly. But there are crimes that move entire regions. Crime editor André Baumgarten sets out on the trail of such crimes in the media group Bayern's circulation area. What do solved and unsolved cases do to people when they happen in their immediate surroundings? To find out, he travels to current and former crime scenes. On location, he talks to witnesses, investigators and experts.

Awarded the German Radio Prize: The ANTENNE BAYERN GROUP's true crime podcast opens up secret Bavarian files to its listeners that have long remained under lock and key. Have the most spectacular cases in southern Germany really been solved to the extent that the media think they have? Investigative journalist Christoph Lemmer gets to the heart of the crimes ‒ although a single episode is far from enough to cover the 1972 Olympic bombing in Munich or the fatal kidnapping of Ursula Herrmann, who was locked in a wooden box in the forest, in detail. This is why an entire season is dedicated to one major case.

What and who can you still believe? When SZ-Magazin reporter Marvin Ku comes across a disturbing video on the Internet, he has more puzzles than solutions in his head. It's about a topic that is actually only known from Hollywood films: exorcism rituals in which young women are freed from their “demons”. In the podcast Dämon ‒ Der Exorzist aus dem Internet, Ku, in collaboration with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, takes listeners on a search for clues through social networks, serious accusations and huge taboos.

First-hand regional journalism: HITRADIO RT1's true crime podcast digs deep beneath the surface. Host Leon Messerschmidt, together with RT1 news director Franziska Megerle, reconstructs the most disturbing events from the region – with exclusive sound bites, in-depth research and the work of an entire team of reporters who are on the spot when court hearings bring new details to light. The result: different perspectives on cases that get under your skin.