You'll hear them used from Barcelona to Bucharest, from Sicily to Stockholm. It's just easier to yell "stop!" than "haltet an" or "Arrêtez!" or "¡parad!"
There is a century or older standard German joke that states that whatever is a fad in Germany becomes one five years later in Austria. It is, to some degree, based in fact. There was a cop/dog series a few decades ago in Germany called "Kommissar Rex" where Rex was the smart, obedient police dog. It seems the Austrians have revived the idea. There is a Germanic-wide (Germany-Austria-Switzerland) crime series that is fifty years old now called "Scene of the Crime" or "Tatort." It takes place in a different city every week, and there is usually a duo of cops that is featured for several years until they either get too old, or just don't catch on. Some were so popular they represented their respective cities for decades. The ones from Vienna feature a pair with such thick Viennese accents that we in the North have trouble understanding them. The ones from the German-speaking part of Switzerland are filmed with local actors speaking Schwyzerdüütsch, which is so different from standard German that they are dubbed by actors from Germany when shown in Germany. We in northern Germany have never heard their real voices. The original "cops" from the series when it began are long gone, of course. Some of them have developed a real sense of humor. For years, the head cop in Hamburg was always sucking on a tootsie roll pop like Kojak. There has been a duo in Münster with a working class cop transferred from Hamburg who works with a haughty aristocratic medical examiner who is always embarrassed when he either makes mistakes, or needs help, but admits it only grudgingly. They are probably the most popular these days. The haughty medical examiner is played by a real working class actor from the former East Germany who mocks the "upper class" brilliantly with his portrayal. There is a pair in München where the senior cop is a Croatian immigrant (the actor really is, too), but has most of the ideosynchracies of a Bavarian, and has a Bavarian accent. You will hear almost all of them using anglicisms like "stop" and "OK." It is just that pervasive.
Probably the coolest German series ever was one called "Liebling Kreuzberg." It was about an unconventional small time legal practice in what was then West Berlin, and the head lawyer was an attorney named Robert Liebling. He was a smart-mouthed, somewhat lazy, but very effective lawyer, who liked to close the door to his office, light up a cigar, lay down on his sofa and eat green jello. My wife and I used to live for that series. It was written for the actor that played Robert Liebling by a friend of his, and he was born for the role. The music was done by one of Germany's top jazz musicians. Just everything worked. I don't know if it's available anywhere, but IF you can find it, it's a classic.
= new reply since forum marked as read
