'Dark' Family Tree: Kahnwalds to Tiedemanns, see how the families are related

Dark season 3 released on Netflix on June 27, 2020, and fans across the world are enjoying the new season thoroughly. This German science fiction thriller series is based in a fictitious town in Germany named Winden. With Dark season 3 out, it has become more important for viewers to understand the Dark Family Tree from Season 1 and 2 more thoroughly. Read on to understand the complicated world and characters of Dark on Netflix.

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Dark Family Tree

In a story where everything is connected, things can get a little complicated. However, season 2 of the show revealed much of the information about the families in the fictional Germanic town of Winden. One of the most intriguing things in Dark Season 2 is Adam’s wall of photos, which viewers get to witness in the 1921 timeline.

Dark Season 1 gave the viewers the string wall which was presumably put together by Claudia. While many mysteries still remained intact, at the end of season 2 it became increasingly clear how the four families Doppler, Tiedemann, Nielsen and Kahnwald are interconnected in 2019. Find out how.

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Dark Family Tree Season 1 and 2 explained:

Nielsen Family Tree

To make this herculean task of understanding the complex family tree in Dark simpler, let’s begin with the Nielsens. The Nielsen family in 2019 includes Ulrich Nielsen and Katharina Nielsen, the high school sweethearts who get married and have three kids together, Magnus Nielsen, Martha Nielsen, Mikkel Nielsen. In November of 2019 Mikkel Nielsen, who is the youngest Nielsen kid time travels through the caves and arrives in 1986.

Mikkel Nielsen who is an 11-year-old stuck in 1986, gets adopted by a nurse named Ines Kahnwald and grows up to become Michael Kahnwald. Hence, Mikkel is now a Nielsen by blood but Kahnwald by name. Ulrich Nielsen’s brother Mads Nielsen went missing in 1986. Mad dies after being kidnapped and being used as a guinea pig to test the time travel chair by Noah and Helga. They send him to 2019 through it, but Mad dies in the process, as the chair wasn’t fully operational yet.

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Ulrich Nielsen’s grandmother is the ever-charming Agnes Nielsen, who arrives at Winden in 1953, with her young children. Agnes Nielsen is one of the most mysterious characters in the series. It is not confirmed if Agnes is the biological mother of Tronte Nielsen, who is Ulrich’s father, as a young Tronte reveals to young Claudia from the Tiedemann family that Agnes arrived at his home when he was already living there. Agnes’s husband’s identity is not revealed to the viewers yet, hence, how she carries the Nielsen name is a mystery too. 

In 1953 Agnes has an affair with Doris Tiedemann and surprisingly in 1986 their children Claudia Tiedemann and Tronte Nielsen, who is now Ulrich’s father have an affair too. Meanwhile, Mikkel Nielsen grows up as Michael Kahnwald in the 1986 timeline and has a kid named Jonas Kahnwald. And now, Ulrich Nielsen is Jonas’s grandfather.

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Kahnwald Family Tree

The 2019 Kahnwald family is Michael Kahnwald, Hannah Kahnwald and their son Jonas Kahnwald and Michael’s adoptive mother Ines. Ines’s father was Daniel Kahnwald, who was a chief of police in 1953. Viewers of the show get to see that he used to work with Daniel Kahnwald. Hannah who is married to Michael unknowingly ends up having an affair with Mikkel's father Daniel Kahnwald when she starts a relationship with Ulrich Nielsen.

Jonas Kahnwald falls in love with Martha Nielsen, the middle Nielsen child. Jonas Kahnwald is the central character in the story, as he starts out as a teenager 2019, his older self appears in Winden at the beginning of season 1 and was referred to as the stranger. He also has an older self in the 1921 timeline, who is named Adam. Hannah Tiedemann travels back to 1954 to see Ulrich but has a fall out with him. Hence, she decides to start a new life in the 1950’s timeline, but she shows a keen interest in Egon Tiedemann who is Ulrich’s nemesis through the ages.

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Tiedemann Family Tree

Speaking of the Tiedemann family, in 2019 the family consists of Regina Tiedemann, Aleksander Tiedemann is also known as Boris Niewald. Regina’s mother is Claudia Tiedemann, who is a very important character in the show, she is the head of the power plant but went missing in 1987. The identity of Regina’s father is unknown as Claudia never had a husband that the audiences know of.

Claudia had an affair with Tronte Nielsen, hence Regina could very well be Tronte’s child. But this theory has not been confirmed yet. Claudia’s parents are Egon and Doris Tiedemann who are both visibly unhappy in their marriage, hence Doris ends up having an affair with Agnes Nielsen. Regina Tiedemann’s husband who has named himself, Aleksander takes her name when they marry, but he arrives in town to look into the six missing person’s case, as his brother the real Aleksander Kohler is among the missing. Nothing is known about Aleksander’s family.

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Doppler Family Tree

2019, Doppler family includes Peter Doppler, Charlotte Doppler and their kids Franziska and Elisabeth. Peter Doppler refers to Helge Doppler as his father. Helge Doppler’s parents are Bernd and Greta Doppler. Bernd Doppler is the one who started the nuclear power-plant in Winden and passes it on to Claudia Tiedemann once he retires. 

Greta has a mysterious affair with a stranger in 1953 and it is highly possible that Helge was not Bernd Doppler’s biological child. But Bernd doesn’t seem to care about this and takes care of Helge as his own. Charlotte Doppler’s father is Noah, and this implies that her family is related to everyone through Tronte who would be Charlotte’s cousin.

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The big Doppler family reveal in Dark Season 2 was that Charlotte and her daughter Elisabeth are actually each other's mothers. It is speculated that young Elisabeth and young Noah in a previous timeline, survived the apocalypse in the bunker together. They might have started a relationship, as a result of which Charlotte was born. 

Later Charlotte was raised by H.G Tannhaus, the clockmaker who became her adoptive grandfather. It is unclear as to who brought Charlotte to him. Because Elisabeth is Charlotte’s mother, it is implicit that she is her own grandmother and her sisters Franziska’s grandmother as well.

No matter how absurd or outrageous the Dark family tree season 1 or the Dark Family Tree Season 2 seems, it makes sense in the time travel timelines of the show. Dark has managed to marry science fiction with complex human interactions, while still maintaining scientific thrill in the series. Dark Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix and this season will fill many more loopholes that still exist in the story.