Blindly determined: The drug case in the Fiaker shakes Vienna!

Blindly determined: The drug case in the Fiaker shakes Vienna!

A gripping crime drama awaits the audience this evening, July 3, 2025, at 8:15 p.m. In “Blind: Death in the Fiaker”, a feature film from Germany and Austria from 2020, the exciting and dangerous world of drugs in Vienna is illuminated. The story revolves around Alexander Haller, a blind commissioner who has an eye-opening experience when he witness to the collapse of the banker Schachner, who falter after the consumption of cocaine with cyankal salt. While Haller perceives the biting smell of the bitter almonds, he is denied the view of the dramatic events.

Haller's situation escalates when his sister Sophie is poisoned in mouth-to-mouth ventilation and fights for her life in a critical situation in the hospital. Driven by the fear of Sophie and the anger about the circumstances, Alexander Haller, supported by Commissioner Laura Janda, begins to investigate.

The trail leads to Fiaker operation

The investigation of the blind commissioner leads to a fiaker operation that is suspected of organizing cocaine deliveries in Vienna. Haller's driver Niko tries to push undercover into the dealership scene by hiring as a coachman with the family business of Alois Maxiner. It gets even more complicated here: Maxeiner's daughter Therese works for the suspect Laimer, and the list of suspects continues to grow. Schachner's widow Solveig, the sole heir of his assets, and bank manager Dr. Hohmann is targeted by the investigation.

The gripping staging comes from director Katharina Mückstein and the screenwriter Hans-Henner Hess, while the musical accompaniment of Michael-Alexander Brandstetter and Bernhard Fleischmann was designed. Among the performers are well -known faces such as Philipp Hochmair as Alexander Haller and Florence Kasumba as Solveig Schachner.

drug problem in Vienna

What many Viennese do not know: drug abuse has achieved an alarming extent in the city. In 2023 there were 256 drug deaths in Austria, with most of them (101) in Vienna. The consumption of cocaine increases among younger people, and about 3.8 percent of the Austrian population have already consumed cocaine in the course of their lives. These terrifying numbers make the film all the more relevant because it addresses the dark side of the urban lifestyle, which are often not recognizable at first glance. There are numerous challenges in dealing with illegal drugs, especially in Vienna. The city has developed into a metropolis of drug trafficking, which also makes the large number of substitution offers clear, which are particularly in demand in Vienna.

"Blindly determined: Death in the Fiaker" is not only a thriller, but also a mirror of our society that stimulates thinking. After the broadcast, the film will be available in the ARD media library for seven days, so that nobody has to miss the chance to deepen into the dense atmosphere of this gripping story.

If you want to learn more about drugs in Austria, you can find out more about Statista that offers exciting insights into the current situation.

don't miss what happens around the Viennese fiaker business and the dark machinations!