An assassination attempt, an attack or a car accident – moments like these can suddenly change our lives. At the age of 15, Ulrike Blessing survives a shooting at her secondary school in Winnenden. She is sitting in class and witnesses first-hand how her classmate shoots through the door and fatally injures the trainee teacher.

Prof. Dr. Max Steller is an expert witness at one of the most spectacular abuse trials in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany – the Worms Trials. In the end, he concludes that the abuse described never happened.

The two of them are examples of the many people who have already been guests on the podcast DER FALL (THE CASE) and have shared their experiences with thousands of listeners.

Every other week, the hosts Lydia Benecke (criminal psychologist) and Sarah Koldehoff (psychology student and journalist) get to the bottom of new crime stories and incidents from a psychological perspective and try to find out what is going on in the minds of those involved. With their psychological expertise, the well-coordinated team provides insights into the world of true crime that go far beyond normal true crime entertainment.

The DER FALL podcast is characterized by a young approach, which is reflected in a young, female target group. The podcast quickly established itself and, with 1.8 million streams on Spotify stayed in the charts for 39 weeks in its first year, and reached the top position at no. 4.

Our hosts:

Lydia Benecke studied psychology, psychopathology and forensics. Since 2009, she has been working as a qualified psychologist with a focus on violent and sexual offenses. In Der Fall and the Der Fall podcast, she provides insight into the minds of perpetrators, helps to understand their psyche and categorize their crimes.

Sarah Koldehoff – studies psychology at the University of Hamburg and is particularly interested in neuropsychology and personality psychology. As a journalist, she has already worked for various well-known newspapers and was named one of the “most exciting young media professionals” – the top 30 to 30 – by Medium magazine in 2021.

Der Fall – YouTube