Katja Riemann

Katja Riemann — Biography

Katja Hannchen Leni Riemann (born 1 November 1963 in Kirchweyhe) is a German actress, singer and author. Born in Kirchweyhe, part of Weyhe near Bremen in Lower Saxony, Riemann grew up as the child of two teachers. Alongside her long career in film and television she has also worked in music and children's literature, and she has served as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.

After finishing high school she went to Hamburg to study music and theatre. She received her acting training at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media and at the Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts.

Her breakthrough came in 1987 with the six-part television production Sommer in Lesmona; the following year she appeared in the series Der Fahnder, and in 1990 the ten-part Regina auf den Stufen raised her profile further. In the 1994 production Maybe... Maybe Not and the 1995 films Talk of the Town and Over My Dead Body she played characters such as Monika Krauss and Rita Hauser respectively. In 1997 she reached a wide audience with the role of Emma Moor in Bandits, directed by Katja von Garnier.

In the 1999 production Balzac: A Life Of Passion she played Laure d'Abrantès. For her performance in Güller Sokağı, directed by Margarethe von Trotta, she won the Volpi Cup, the Best Actress award of the Venice Film Festival. In 2004 she played Barbara Blocksberg in Bibi Blocksberg and the Secret of the Blue Owls and Signe Tschirner in Agnes and His Brothers.

In later years she took part in productions such as Ben Öteki Kadınım (2006), Kan ve Çikolata (2007), Türkisch für Anfänger (2012), Ausgerechnet Sibirien (2012), Coming In (2014), in which she played Berta, Look Who's Back (2015), Kayıp Hatıralar (2015) and Eski Kocam(ız) (2017); she returned to television with Evet, Hayır, Belki in 2025. Her real recognition among younger audiences, however, is owed to the headmistress Gudrun Gerster, whom she played in the Fack ju Göhte series; she played the same character in all three of Fack ju Göhte (2013), Fack ju Göhte 2 (2015) and Fack ju Göhte 3 (2017).

In music she released the album Nachtblende and the single Hier und jetzt in 2000; she took part in the recordings Rilke Projekt: Überfließende Himmel (2004) and Jahreszeiten - Die Stimme des Libanon (2013), and has read many audiobooks. In 1999 she published a children's book illustrated by her elder sister. She has won the German Film Award both for best actress and for best supporting actress; she is a holder of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Askania Award and the Berliner Bär, and was nominated for Best Actress at the European Film Awards. In her private life she married Peter Sattmann; her daughter Paula Riemann also works as an actress.