After her character, Pia Heilmann, had fought breast cancer in the series twice, actress
Hendrikje Fitz herself was diagnosed with the disease in 2014. After a first successful treatment, metastases were found in her brain in autumn 2015, so she had to reduce her filming work for the 19th season, which was aired from January 2016 on (her character took a sabbatical in Italy). In October 2015 she filmed several scenes at her own family's house near Monterotondo Marittimo, Tuscany. In January 2016 she filmed one last episode at the MDR studios in Leipzig. Three months later, she died of her disease on 7 April 2016, age 54. Her last episode was aired posthumously on 27 April 2016. Six months later, on 11 October 2016, she made one last appearance in the series, with one of the scenes filmed in Tuscany in 2015, which she personally selected to be her last scene: She was seen walking away through a sunny Tuscan alley and spreading her arms. In the episode, Pia sends that scene to her family in Germany as a video message, adding she would "go on a longer trip next week". One week later, in the episode of 18 October 2016, the character's death was announced.
