Volker Bruch (; born 9 March 1980) is a German television and film actor. He is best known internationally for his leading roles as Wilhelm Winter in the television drama ''

Generation War ''Generation War'' (german: Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter, links=no, translated as "Our Mothers, our Fathers") is a German World War II TV miniseries in three parts. It was commissioned by public broadcasting organization ZDF, produced by the UFA ...

'' (2013) and as Inspector Gereon Rath in the

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

series ''

Babylon Berlin ''Babylon Berlin'' is a German neo-noir television series. Created, written, and directed by Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries, and Hendrik Handloegten. It is loosely based on novels by German author Volker Kutscher. The series premiered on 13 ...

'' (2017–present); for the latter, he was awarded the 2018

Grimme-Preis The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme.Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in 2009: ''The Reader'' (

Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

) and ''

The Baader Meinhof Complex ''The Baader Meinhof Complex'' (german: Der Baader Meinhof Komplex, ) is a 2008 German drama film directed by Uli Edel. Written and produced by Bernd Eichinger, it stars Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck, and Johanna Wokalek. The film is based ...

'' (

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

); more recently, he appeared in the thriller ''The Girl in the Spider's Web'' (2018).

Early life

Bruch was born in 1980 in West Germany to a German father and Austrian mother. He grew up in Munich with five siblings. He began acting during his years at gymnasium and was involved with student acting groups. After completing his university-entrance diploma, he studied performing arts at the

Max Reinhardt Seminar The Max Reinhardt Seminar (Reinhardt Seminar) is the School of Drama at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. It is located in the Palais Cumberland, Penzingerstraße 9, in Vienna's 14th district (). History A ''Leh ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria. Bruch made a deliberate choice while studying to commit himself to acting for television and film, as opposed to theater. During this time, he made some of his first television appearances. He graduated in 2005.

Career

Bruch spent the beginning of his career primarily playing small roles in German television and TV movie productions. His first noteworthy role was as Axi in the 2005 German television movie ''Rose'', for which he won a

German Television Award The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming, created in 1999 by German television channels Das Erste, ZDF, RTL and Sat.1. It was created to be an equivalent to the Emmy Awards, t ...

for Best Supporting Actor. The year 2008 was notable for Bruch's career as he acted in a number of movies including the French film ''

Female Agents ''Female Agents'' (french: Les Femmes de l'ombre) is a 2008 French historical drama film directed by Jean-Paul Salomé and starring Sophie Marceau, Julie Depardieu, Marie Gillain, Déborah François, and Moritz Bleibtreu. Written by Salomé and Lau ...

'', the English-language German biopic ''

The Red Baron Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of t ...

'' as Oberleutnant Lothar Freiherr von Richthofen, the Oscar-nominated German film ''

'' as

Stefan Aust Stefan Aust (; born 1 July 1946) is a German journalist. He was the editor-in-chief of the weekly news magazine ''Der Spiegel'' from 1994 to February 2008 and has been the publisher of the conservative leading ''Die Welt'' newspaper since 2014 ...

, as well as the Oscar-winning American film ''

The Reader ''The Reader'' (german: Der Vorleser) is a novel by German law professor and judge Bernhard Schlink, published in Germany in 1995 and in the United States in 1997. The story is a parable, dealing with the difficulties post-war German generations ...

.'' Bruch had a few small supporting roles after this period before his breakout role in the popular 2013 German miniseries ''

'' in which he played one of the five protagonists. Bruch was nominated for a

for his performance and received a special award for Ensemble Cast at the 2013 Bavarian TV Awards. After ''Generation War'', Bruch starred in a variety of film and television productions of varying scopes until 2016 when he was cast in ''

''. In ''Babylon Berlin'', Bruch stars as the main character, police inspector Gereon Rath, who investigates a series of crimes in

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...

-era Berlin. The first two series of the show were filmed over eight months beginning in May 2016 and released consecutively in Fall 2017. ''Babylon Berlin'' has been very popular in Germany as well as with international audiences and has elevated Bruch to international prominence; Bruch is considered one of Germany's upcoming stars. For his portrayal, Bruch received a 2018

Golden Camera Award The International Cinematographers Film Festival "Manaki Brothers" (known short as Manaki Film Festival) is an annual international film festival organized by the Macedonian Film Professionals Association (MFPA). The festival is held in Bitola, ...

and shares an

Adolf Grimme Award The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme.The Girl in the Spider's Web'' and filmed the German production ''Rocca Changes the World''. In late 2018, Bruch began the six-month shoot for the third series of ''Babylon Berlin'' which premiered in Germany in January 2020. A fourth series starring Bruch was produced mid-2021 and will be released in 2022. In 2022, he was cast as German

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

driver

Walter Röhrl Walter Röhrl (; born 7 March 1947) is a German rally and auto racing driver, with victories for Fiat, Opel, Lancia and Audi as well as Porsche, Ford and BMW. Röhrl has scored 14 victories over his career, with his notable achievements includin ...

in the English-language film ''2 Win''. Starring opposite

Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo (; born 16 June 1978) is a Spanish-German actor and filmmaker. He received his first German Film Award for Best Actor for his roles in '' Das Weisse Rauschen (The White Sound)'' (2001), ''Nichts B ...

and

Riccardo Scamarcio Riccardo Dario Scamarcio (; born 13 November 1979) is an Italian actor and film producer. Life and career Scamarcio was born in Trani, Apulia, the son of Irene Petrafesa, a painter, and Emilio Scamarcio. He went to train as an actor at the Sc ...

, the film depicts the

1983 World Rally Championship The 1983 World Rally Championship was the 11th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 12 List of World Rally Championship rallies, rallies. By this time, the schedul ...

Personal life

Bruch lives in Berlin with his partner, actress

Miriam Stein Miriam Stein (born 10 May 1988) is an Austrian-Swiss television and film actress. She is best known internationally for a leading role as Charlotte in the German television drama '' Generation War'' (2013). Early life Stein was born in Vienna, ...

. They had a child together in 2017. Bruch met Stein in 2009 on the set of the film ''

Young Goethe in Love ''Young Goethe in Love'' (originally titled ''Goethe!'') is a 2010 German historical drama film directed by Philipp Stölzl and starring Alexander Fehling, Miriam Stein, and Moritz Bleibtreu. It is a fictionalized version of the early years of t ...

''. Notably, they later starred together in 2013's ''Generation War'', 2014's '' Tour de Force'', and 2015's ''Das goldene Ufer''. Bruch speaks English fluently,(unscripted English interview from the 2017 Cannes Film Festival) and has acted in English.

Advocacy

Bruch is an environmentalist and, with his partner Stein, has supported the

climate action Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels bur ...

group

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk o ...

as well as the Joint Declaration made by the German government and media industry "for the sustainable production of films and television series." In 2019, Bruch, along with other German actors and artists like

, signed a petition advocating against the election of a far-right

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. ...

mayoral candidate in

Görlitz Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and is the largest town in Upper Lus ...

, Germany, an oft-used filming location in Europe. In June 2020, Bruch took part in the video "Was sie mitgenommen haben" for the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR). Bruch is a vocal opponent of the restrictions introduced in to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Germany. In May 2021, it was reported that Bruch had applied to join the

Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany The Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany (german: Basisdemokratische Partei Deutschland, abbreviated german: dieBasis) is a political party in Germany. The declared aim of the party is to strengthen grassroots democracy in society and politics ...

, an anti-lockdown

fringe party A minor party is a political party that plays a smaller (in some cases much smaller, even insignificant in comparison) role than a major party in a country's politics and elections. The difference between minor and major parties can be so gre ...

Filmography

Television

Film

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruch, Volker Living people 1980 births German male film actors German male television actors German people of Austrian descent People from Munich