Creator of the “Tatort” theme tune Klaus Doldinger has died | EUROtoday

As of: October 18, 2025 7:17 p.m

Klaus Doldinger was thought of Germany’s “King of Jazz”. As the composer of the “Tatort” theme tune and the movie music of “Das Boot” and “The Neverending Story,” he immortalized himself amongst thousands and thousands of audiences. He has now died on the age of 89.

He created the sound of Sunday night – the “Tatort” melody: the composer and saxophonist Klaus Doldinger. Now the jazz legend has died on the age of 89, as his spouse informed the dpa information company. He fell asleep peacefully at dwelling on Thursday night surrounded by his household.

With his band “Passport” Doldinger wrote worldwide jazz historical past, and he remained on stage nicely into his previous age. He accomplished greater than 5,000 appearances in simply over 50 years. The Passport album “The First Fifty Years of Passport” was launched for the band’s fiftieth anniversary in 2021 and traced the group’s musical growth. One of Doldinger’s quite a few bandmates was Udo Lindenberg, who was the primary drummer for “Passport” in 1971 and honored his boss on the time as a “jazz master”.

A damaged promise

As a baby, Doldinger as soon as stated, he needed to promise his grandmother that he would by no means grow to be a musician. But even then it turned clear that Doldinger may hardly assist however break the promise: he had proven nice musical expertise at an early age, drumming with spoons at each alternative or “improvising” on his grandparents’ piano.

Born in Berlin, Doldinger’s skilled profession started within the early Fifties, whereas he was nonetheless learning piano and clarinet in Düsseldorf. He belonged to the Dixie band “The Feetwarmers” and gained his first experiences. Just a few years later he based his first band, “The Oskar’s Trio”.

International profession

In 1960, Doldinger toured the USA for the primary time and was awarded honorary citizenship within the jazz metropolis of New Orleans. The profession of the Berlin-born musician had gained worldwide momentum. In 1969 he began his new band “Motherhood” earlier than “Passport” adopted in 1971.

The sources of Doldinger’s music included jazz, rock, blues and soul in addition to experimental digital sounds and Latin American rhythms.

Successful movie and… Television composer

At the identical time, he composed for movie and tv productions. He contributed the music to well-liked hits reminiscent of “Das Boot”, “The Neverending Story”, “Salt on My Skin”, “A Case for Two” and “Liebling Kreuzberg”. The “Tatort” theme tune turned an evergreen.

The quite a few honors that Doldinger obtained all through his life embrace the Federal Service Cross, the German Film Prize, the Golden Camera, the Grimme Prize and the Echo Jazz.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier condoled and wrote: “Doldinger was an outstanding musician with almost inexhaustible energy and creativity, especially in the area of ​​improvisation, who worked with countless leading international jazz musicians around the world.”

Doldinger’s music, “characterized by artistic excellence, freedom and dedication”, has “conquered the hearts of a large audience through its special expressiveness”. Anyone who was fortunate sufficient to see him stay will always remember it.

With data from Juli Metzdorf and Jochen Eichner, BR.