File number XY: All information about the broadcast on ZDF and presenter Rudi Cerne

Created: 01/12/2022, 05:25 PM

From: Lisa Siegle

TV presenter Rudi Cerne has been reporting in "Aktenzeichen XY" (ZDF) since 2002 on unsolved crimes and criminal cases.

© picture alliance / dpa

For almost 50 years, ZDF has been showing real criminal cases on TV with “Aktenzeichen XY ... unsolved”.

Read all information about the criminal cases, broadcasting and Rudi Cerne here.

Munich - "Aktenzeichen XY ... unsolved" is one of the most popular TV shows on German television.

Since 1967, apparently hopeless criminal cases have been shown in the ZDF broadcast, in which the viewers are supposed to help in the final instance in clearing up the cases.

It is not uncommon for one or the other suspect to have been caught thanks to “file number XY”.

"Aktenzeichen XY ... unsolved": ZDF broadcasts twelve episodes per year live on TV at 8:15 pm

Almost 55 years ago, on October 20, 1967, the ZDF broadcast the first program of "Aktenzeichen XY ... ungelöst" - which makes the crime show one of the longest existing formats on ZDF. The aim of the program is to clear up real crimes and criminal cases with the help of information from viewers. The first murder case with the help of viewers was solved in the first year of broadcast, on June 7, 1968, and was a real world first on TV at the time.

"Aktenzeichen XY ... ungelöst" has been broadcast twelve times a year from Bavaria Studios in Munich-Grünwald since 2009 and is broadcast live every Wednesday at 8:15 pm on ZDF.

A broadcast lasts 90 minutes.

Anyone who can provide information about one of the criminal cases shown has been able to do so since 1969 under their own "Aktenzeichen XY" phone number, which had a problem in 2021: 089/950195.

ZDF presenter Rudi Cerne in the studio for the program “Aktenzeichen XY”.

© Sina Schuldt / dpa

In each sequence of "Aktenzeichen XY" between three to six unexplained crimes are presented - sometimes in different categories (for example "Aktenzeichen XY ... update").

The criminal cases are first re-enacted on film, then the police facts and the state of the investigation are presented to the audience with, for example, phantom images or photos of striking objects.

Since 2010, ZDF has also been focusing more and more on “Aktenzeichen XY” special programs that focus on a specific topic - such as missing children.

The most common criminal cases in "Aktenzeichen XY" (ZDF): Murder cases top the list of criminal offenses

So far, 4878 cases have been dealt with in 573 broadcasts of "Aktenzeichen XY ... unsolved" (as of December 2021).

According to the ZDF, 1937 of these have since been cleared up in 1937, which corresponds to a success rate of 39.7 percent.

The most common criminal cases dealt with under "Aktenzeichen XY" are murder cases: almost every third case involves a homicide.

A total of 1582 homicides have been shown to date, of which 654 have been cleared up.

Of 1397 robberies, 432 have been resolved to date and of 275 break-ins, 107 cases have been cleared up for "Aktenzeichen XY".

In addition, thanks to the ZDF broadcast, the police have so far been able to arrest 1,363 perpetrators.

Most of the crimes in "Aktenzeichen XY" have come from North Rhine-Westphalia (817 cases), followed by Bavaria (544 cases) and Hesse (509 cases) in second and third place.

However, "Aktenzeichen XY" does not only deal with criminal cases from or related to Germany: 16 other countries were also represented in the program.

Most of the criminal cases came from Austria (478 cases), Switzerland (464 cases) and the Netherlands (16 cases).

But seven cases from Great Britain and two cases from the USA were already a topic on the ZDF show.

"Aktenzeichen XY ... unsolved": ZDF presenter Rudi Cerne used to be a figure skater German champion

"Aktenzeichen XY" has been moderated by Rudi Cerne (63) for almost 20 years.

The Wanne-Eickeler only came to ZDF via a detour: the presenter today initially aspired to a career as a figure skater and, among other things, was twice German champion and took part in the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games.

After his active figure skating career, Rudi Cerne appeared on “Holiday on Ice” and started a journalistic career at the same time, initially as an editor at WDR and HR.

From 1990 he finally became a live reporter for ARD

for figure skating, from 1992 he also presented “Sport-Extra” and the “Sportschau” (ARD).

It was not until 1996 that Rudi Cerne switched to ZDF, where he initially moderated the sports programs “ZDF Sportreportage” or “The current sports studio”.

In 2002, Rudi Cerne moved to a new area: Since January 18, 2002, he has been moderating “Aktenzeichen XY ... ungelöst”.

"Aktenzeichen XY": ZDF and the Federal Minister of the Interior award the "XY Prize" once a year

Since 2002, the "XY Prize - jointly awarded against crime" has been held in Germany once a year under the patronage of the Federal Minister of the Interior.

With the prize, each endowed with 10,000 euros, the ZDF wants to honor those who "showed themselves to be particularly courageous in helping their fellow human beings."