Viktor "Viggerl" Marek, played by the giant Fritz Eckhardt (1907-1995), was without doubt one of the most charismatic criminal police character in the whole history of "Tatort". Settled in Vienna, the 20 episodes also reflect the specialties of this country that belongs much more to Eastern than to Mittle Europe. The Habsburgian heritage is always present; the public world is divided in persons with clearly defined functions that are mirrored by their titles. The Habsburgian double monarchy (that crosses the "spiritual" border between East and West) was a world in which the baker was greeted as Herr Bäckermeister, the owner of a newspaper and candy store as Herr Traffikbesitzer, and even the luggage-carrier was Herr Dienstmann (contradictory only in non-Viennese context). Unlike the all-modern structure of criminal stories, Oberinspektor (General Super-Intendent) Marek has no "side-kick". He is the leader of the "Mordkommission" (Homicide Department), together with a Bezirksinspektor (according to the Austrian schema "lower rank = broader sphere of influence), a (simple) inspector and a secretary. If a crime calls, Marek or the Bezirksinspektor or the Inspektor go on-site - depending of the gravity of the case (i.e. the correlation of rank and crime). In the "Marek"-Series, the individual is not yet split into two halves and thus abolished as in practically all modern series. One sees hardly blood, Marek uses the weapon two or three times in the whole series, and no single time he actually shoots. Fritz Eckhardt had also a criminal series with the same title-character which also played in Vienna, from 1693-1970, before going into air with "Tatort", episode 12. Since in the U.S., "Colombo" started not before 1971, "Viktor Marek" was internationally one of the first criminal series.
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