Which two poles of offender motivation appear in crime fiction like Tatort, and what explains the series' success?

Personal motives, such as revenge for past wrongs or jealousy, versus political and economic motives, such as keeping power or financial gain. Its success comes from combining timeless human motives with a mirror of current social problems.

Even though the profiles of offenders and investigators have changed over the decades, two poles remain:

• personal motives: revenge for injustice suffered in the past, jealousy,
• political and economic motives: keeping power, financial gain.

Looking back over time, the offender profiles show a field of tension between constant human motives (jealousy, revenge) and time-bound profiles, such as capitalist greed in global companies or securing human experiments for leukaemia or Alzheimer's research. Since the 1990s, with a general trend towards psychological explanations, family-motivated crimes have also blurred the line between offenders and investigators.

The formula for success: closeness to real human life combined with a reflection of society's problem areas. Television thereby makes it easier for viewers to come to an understanding about their own norms and values.

Go deeper:

• Wikipedia: Tatort — the series' history and its changing themes.