Friedrich Mücke plays the former department store blackmailer Arno Funke in “I am Dagobert”. The two don’t just look quite similar.
The new six-part series “I am Dagobert” has started on RTL+. The story of the Berlin department store extortionist Arno Funke (74) is told. The series will also be shown in the USA, Canada and Australia.
An extraordinary criminal case
After the real Arno Funke was successful in blackmailing the Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) in 1988 and was able to steal 500,000 German marks, he tried again a few years later: under the pseudonym “Dagobert”, Funke wanted to carry out bomb and arson attacks in department stores extort a sum of millions from all of Germany. A long game of cat and mouse kept police and the public on tenterhooks between 1992 and 1994. His extraordinary money handovers and clever inventions actually earned him sympathy over time.
In 1994 Arno Funke was arrested in Berlin. Two years later he was sentenced to nine years in prison in the second instance. In 2000 he was released early for good behavior.
This criminal case, considered the “most spectacular and longest extortion case in German criminal history,” has now been made into a film. As broadcaster RTL reported, Arno Funke, who now works as a graphic designer and author, was available as an exclusive consultant for the series creators. He can also be seen in a cameo appearance: in episode 5 he appears in the investigative team.
Friedrich Mücke also convinces Arno Funke as “Dagobert”
“Dagobert” is played by Berlin-born Friedrich Mücke (43, “Ballon”). The two only met in person during filming. It must have been pleasant, because: “I then met a very friendly man. And discovered that a lot of things in the series were really well done, for example his humor. We giggled a lot, laughed a lot, he’s a very approachable, connecting person.”
And Funke was also impressed by the man who presented part of his own life story to the audience: “Of course I was also curious to see what he was like. I then saw that he did his job well. I could identify with him, and Of course that’s already a pound.”
Other roles include: Mišel Matičević (54, “Babylon Berlin”), Sonja Gerhardt (35, “Ku’damm”), Moritz Führmann (46 “Charité”) and Bettina Lambrecht (47, “Pastewka”). The director was Finnish-born Hannu Salonen (52), who was previously responsible for “The Rebel – From Leimen to Wimbledon” (2021), “Oktoberfest 1900” (2020), “The Midwife” (2014) and several Sunday thrillers.
Source: Stern
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