Blogpost by Nele Feuring Johann “Rukeli” Trollmann in “Babylon Berlin”: On the Interplay between History, Remembrance and Fictionalisation

Published on 29.07.2026.

Babylon Berlin is the most expensive German TV production to date. Directed by Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries, and Henk Handloegten, and produced by X Filme Creative Pool, the series premiered in 2017 and has since achieved international success. Set in late Weimar Republic Berlin, it explores the social, political, and cultural upheavals of the late 1920s, a period marked by both artistic flourishing and looming catastrophe. 

The series is loosely based on a book series by German author Volker Kutscher and is often praised for its historical precision. Nevertheless, it functions less as a historical document than as a medium for reflection, connecting the crises of the past with those of the present. Its narrative continuously allows the shadows of National Socialism to resonate in the background – not only by explicitly representing them, but by letting political violence and antisemitism emerge as forewarnings whose significance unfolds through the audience’s historical awareness. According to researchers Hanno Hochmuths and Bettina Köhlers, in the future our common understanding of the history of Weimar Republik will be influenced by Babylon Berlin (see Hochmuth & Köhler 2021). Not only because of its popularity, but also because of the influence it has had and will continue to have on our understanding and perception of this era, it is worth examining how the Sinto Johann Trollmann is woven into the narrative of the series, as he was not included in the novels. 

Within its carefully constructed quasi-historical space, Babylon Berlin introduces a variety of characters whose relation to history operates on three different levels. As Hochmuth and Köhler explain, first of all, many of the characters, including the two protagonists Charlotte (Lotte) Ritter or Gereon Rath, are purely fictional, embodying the social types and tensions of the era rather than specific historical figures. Lotte, who is very different from Charly in Volker Kutschers novels, comes from a poor working-class background and is a very liberal interpretation of the New Woman of the Weimar era. She is ambitious and highly values her independence. Over the course of the first few seasons, she secures a permanent position with the police. Gereon Rath is working in superior position at the Berlin police and suffering from what was described as shell shock during the World War I – post-traumatic stress disorder. Over the course of the first four seasons, a romantic relationship developed between the two. 

Secondly, several characters are modelled after real figures but appear under slightly altered names: the industrialist Thyssen becomes Alfred Nyssen, General Hans von Seeckt appears as Major General Seegers (see Hochmuth & Köhler 2021). And finally, the series occasionally introduces historical figures under their real names – among them the Sinto boxer Johann “Rukeli” Trollmann. By choosing Trollmann for a storyline, the showrunners have the opportunity to depict boxing, which was the most popular sports of the time, and to focus on a lesser-known figure, in contrast for example to Max Schmeling.  

Trollmann’s prominence in memory culture stems, in part, from his German middleweight title fight against Adolf Witt on June 9 1933. This title was vacant as the Jewish boxer Erich Seelig was stripped of it and fled Germany. The fight, in which Trollmann outpointed Witt, should have declared him German champion but was ruled a draw by the judges. Due to loud protests from the audience, the verdict was overturned, against the will of the present Nazi official, by the responsible sports committee in a spontaneously convened meeting. Trollmann was finally declared the winner (see Brasch 2022: 63–82). Eight days later, he was stripped of his championship title (see Grote 2000: 189–191). As Yvonne Robel and Kerstin Herold point out, what is known today about Trollmann’s life and death and what he is remembered for rests on shaky ground (see Robel & Herold 2012: 147). This is certainly less a question of remembering the genocide against the European Sinti and Roma, than a fundamental dilemma in pursuit of an integrated approach to history and historiography (Saul Friedländer), which does not want to rely solely on documents and archives produced by the perpetrators but faces the challenge that there might be not a multitude of sources at hand. What can be noted at this point is that, for several decades now, the following account of Trollmann’s boxing match against Gustav Eder on July 21 1933 has been passed down – the second story for which he is famous for: After being stripped of the championship title, he supposedly powdered his face white and dyed his hair blonde to caricature an “Aryan” and then stood motionless, let himself be beaten and lost the fight. Although there are no historical photographs of this event (known), this highly visual narrative has been passed down, particularly through audiovisual media. Today, it is impossible to think of Trollmann without this story; this account of his resistance has made him the well-known historical figure from the Sinti and Roma community in Germany. His story offers a high degree of identification. 

The introduction of Trollmann is hinted at or prepared for narratively from early on in the series. In season 1, episode 3, the audience learns, that Lotte’s mother is infected with syphilis. In 1929, at the time of the first season of the hit series Babylon Berlin, there was no cure for syphilis; it was a death sentence. She had only been unfaithful to her husband once, an affair for which she would pay with her life more than twenty years later. She does not reveal the man’s name to the doctor, stating that he is already deceased. However, the episode reveals through imagery that Lotte is the result of this relationship. Lotte always puts her own family first, yet she has always felt like an outsider. The audience learns early on that her sense of alienation within her family is justified, but Lotte only discovers this after her mother’s inevitable death. At the end of the third season, Lotte learns her father’s name – “Trollmann”, and that she has a half-brother called “Rukeli”. The fact that the character Trollmann in Babylon Berlin is associated with sexual deviance and illness is, of course, problematic. Due to her sexually transmitted disease, Lotte’s mother could no longer “pick maggots” at the factory, and the large family is left destitute. Lotte provides for the family, not only through her work with the police, but also by turning to prostitution under duress. It was precisely in the “intermingling” between those labelled as gypsies and the majority population that pseudo-scientific racial hygiene theorists saw a heightened danger. Here, a strong link was drawn between sexual behaviour and “racial degeneration”. 

By the end of the fourth season, which is set in 1931, Lotte stumbles across a poster advertising a boxing fight in Berlin, in which her brother will partake. She gives him a call, and they meet up at a bar and talk. Actor Hannes Wegener revisits the role of Trollmann, he had played him ten years earlier, appearing in the re-enacted scenes of the documentary Gibsy (2012). By reusing the same actor, the showrunners consciously tie Babylon Berlin to the broader genealogy of Trollmann’s cinematic remembrance. The authenticity generated here is not historical but relies on the viewer’s recognition of the actor and his earlier role, thereby invoking continuity and credibility across different representational registers.  

In contrast to history, Trollmann is portrayed as an unknown underdog in Babylon Berlin with little chance of winning. The showrunners thereby deprive themselves of the opportunity to present a member of the Sinti and Roma community as part of the German public at that time. Lotte and Gereon attend the advertised fight with two friends. Before it starts, they reveal that they have all bet on “the gypsy, from Hanover” [00:27:26]. During the fight around 70 SA men in the audience chant “gypsies out of our country” [00:32:59]. Lotte appears shocked and concerned about aggression of the right-extremists targeting her half-brother. Through the boxing fight sequence, the showrunners blend different historical events and predate them. First, we have Trollmann’s fight in Berlin which he wins. However, the judges are reluctant to award him the victory due to the pressure by the SA men. When the fight restarts and the SA men loudly insult him, he powders his body and face white. Actor Hannes Wegener is not only reprising his role as Trollmann, but this iconic scene from the 2012 documentary. He proceeds to beat his opponent a second time and is finally granted the win. It could be argued that the showrunners undermine the impact of Trollmann’s presumed act of resistance and civil courage attributed to him by placing it before the beginning of Nazi Germany. However, it is only by setting the story in an earlier time that Trollmann can be incorporated into the series’ narrative.  

The way Trollmann’s story is woven into the series – particularly through its association with sexual deviance, which has devastating consequences for Lotte’s mother and her entire family – is ambivalent. The showrunners miss the opportunity to portray the well-known and widely popular Sinto boxer as what he was: a celebrated public figure within the Weimar boxing scene. Nevertheless, the audience primarily encounters Trollmann through Lotte’s perspective. She is proud to call him her brother and approaches him with openness, curiosity, and genuine attentiveness. 

The fifth season, which has already been announced to air on German TV-channel ARD in September 2026, will be the final one and will end just before power is handed over to the National Socialists. It will therefore be interesting to see how the relationship between Lotte, and her half-brother develops and what implications this will have for Lotte’s possible persecution on the grounds of racial hygiene.