Horst Schimanski is a fictional homicide detective with a leading role in the German crime television series Tatort, as well as the spin-off Schimanski. Portrayed by Götz George, the character made his debut in the 1981 episode "Duisburg-Ruhrort" [de] and appeared in 29 episodes until 1991. Two episodes, On the Killer's Track [de] (1985) and The Crack Connection [de] (1987), were released in cinemas before they were aired on television. Also notable is the episode "Unter Brüdern" [de] from 1990, which was produced as a crossover with the East German Polizeiruf 110 crime series, in which Schimanski collaborated with two colleagues from the East German Volkspolizei. In 1997, the character got his own show, the loose spin-off Schimanski. In this series, Schimanski is a retired police officer living in Belgium with his longtime girlfriend Marie Claire.