Matthias Wittekindt
Matthias Wittekindt, born in Bonn in 1958, often loses track of everything around him when he is writing. This happens just as often in his flat in Berlin as it does in his garden in Schmöckwitz on Lake Zeuthen, where he enjoys working in the summer. Matthias Wittekindt grew up in Hamburg. After studying architecture and the philosophy of religion in Berlin and London, he worked as an architect, director and playwright and radio playwright, amongst other things. Since 2011, he has focused entirely on his highly acclaimed crime novels. “Vor Gericht” (In Court), the first case for retired Detective Superintendent Manz, was shortlisted for the Crime Cologne Award. “Vor Gericht, Die Schülerin” and “Die rote Jawa” were selected for Deutschlandfunk Kultur’s crime fiction best-of list, with “Die rote Jawa” reaching number 1. Three of Matthias Wittekindt’s novels have made it into the top three of the German Crime Fiction Prize, most recently “Hinterm Deich”, which took second place in 2024.