When Tatort introduced Austrian detective Moritz Eisner in the episode “Der Millenniumsmörder,” the long running crime franchise quietly entered a new era. The dark and unsettling story follows Vienna chief inspector Eisner, played by Harald Krassnitzer, as he investigates a ritualistic murder linked to millennium panic and apocalyptic prophecy. A burned-out car, mysterious symbols carved into the earth and a killer obsessed with Nostradamus set the tone for a distinctly Austrian take on the famous Sunday night detective series.

Although the Austrian branch of Tatort actually began much earlier – actor Fritz Eckhardt making his Tatort debut as Inspector Viktor Marek way back in 1971 after having played the character in his own series on Austrian TV throughout the 1960s – the Eisner era represented reinvention and modernization at the end of the 1990s. Krassnitzer’s quieter, psychologically observant detective contrasted with some of the more flamboyant Tatort investigators – we’re looking at you, Schimanski! – and helped establish the Vienna-centered ORF productions as one of the franchise’s most respected strands. The films often blended urban crime stories with regional Austrian settings and, especially in the early episodes, a rotating ensemble of familiar actors – look out for a very young Simon Schwarz in Episode 2 “Passion” many years before he returned to play Heinzi in Tatort: Vienna!

This, then, is how it all began – the exploits of Inspector Moritz Eisner in the years before he teams up with Adele Neuhauser’s Bibi Fellner in Tatort: Vienna, a partnership that continues to this day and propelled that series to even greater heights of popularity.

But Tatort: Eisner actually begins as something a little more experimental, with each episode akin to a standalone Heimat-influenced TV movie rooted in Austrian culture, regional identity and local character actors. Eisner is quieter than some of the German detectives, introspective and deeply tied to the social atmosphere around him. That approach helps create continuity even when the stories move back-and-forth between Vienna, Salzburg, Tyrol and various rural Alpine communities. Each episode explores a slightly different corner of Austria, from political corruption and immigration to provincial tensions and family secrets.

Krassnitzer’s performance is the anchor. Calm, observant and occasionally melancholy, Eisner often seems less interested in catching criminals than in understanding the damaged worlds they inhabited. That reflective tone helps distinguish the Austrian Tatort shows from their German counterparts and helped turn Moritz Eisner into one of the franchise’s defining investigators – and one of the longest-running.