Irm Hermann

German actress (1942–2020)


title: "Irm Hermann" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1942-births", "2020-deaths", "actresses-from-munich", "german-film-actresses", "german-television-actresses", "20th-century-german-actresses", "21st-century-german-actresses", "best-actress-german-film-award-winners"] description: "German actress (1942–2020)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irm_Hermann" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary German actress (1942–2020) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameIrm Hermann
imageIrmHermann.jpg
captionIrm Hermann in 2008
birth_date
birth_placeMunich, German Reich
death_date
death_placeBerlin, Germany
occupation{{plainlist
years_active1966–2018
awardsDeutscher Filmpreis
::

| name = Irm Hermann | image = IrmHermann.jpg | caption = Irm Hermann in 2008 | birth_date = | birth_place = Munich, German Reich | death_date = | death_place = Berlin, Germany | occupation = {{plainlist|

Career

Born in Munich, Hermann became a publishing clerk after finishing school and worked as a secretary for ADAC. She met Rainer Werner Fassbinder in 1966, who convinced her to quit her job to work with him although she lacked formal training as an actress. The same year, Hermann made her debut in Fassbinder's short film The City Tramp (**), and then went on to play in 19 of Fassbinder's films, including Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, 1972). She was usually cast as a frustrated, stuffy (spießig) woman. Her one leading role in his films, Irmgard Epp in the 1971 Händler der vier Jahreszeiten (The Merchant of Four Seasons), won her the Deutscher Filmpreis award. She was a member of Fassbinder's complicated professional and personal entourage, and became one of his confidantes, but the relationship also involved abusive behaviour by Fassbinder towards her; after his death, she said he had been physically abusive.

In the mid-1970s, Hermann broke with Fassbinder and moved to Berlin, where her career developed. She played in numerous film and television productions with directors such as Tankred Dorst, Werner Herzog, Hans W. Geißendörfer and Christoph Schlingensief. Her performance as Else Gebel, a woman in prison with the resistance fighter Sophie Scholl, in Percy Adlon's 1982 Fünf letzte Tage (Last Five Days) was again honoured with a Deutscher Filmpreis in 1983. She liked to play in comedies such as Loriot's 1991 Pappa Ante Portas, Hape Kerkeling's 1996 Willi und die Windzors (as a fictionalized version of Queen Elizabeth II) and Rudolf Thome's 1999 **. Paradiso won a Silver Bear at the 2000 Berlinale for artistic achievement (künstlerische Leistung). She also appeared in Rosa von Praunheim's film Fassbinder's Women (2000).

Overall, she appeared in over 160 film and television productions until 2018. She played on stage at the Berlin Volksbühne, with the Berliner Ensemble, and at the Hamburger Schauspielhaus.

Personal life

Hermann was married to Dietmar Roberg, an author of children's books; they had two sons, Franz Tizian and Fridolin.

Hermann died on 26 May 2020 in Berlin,at the age of 77, after a short serious illness, according to her agent.

Awards

Filmography (selection)

Hermann's film appearances included:

Fassbinder

Geißendörfer

Werner Herzog

Percy Adlon

Ulrike Ottinger

Schlingensief

Rudolf Thome

  • ** (1998) as Birgit Kirschstein
  • ** (2000) as Berenice

Other directors

References

| last = Kothenschulte | first = Daniel | url = https://www.fr.de/ratgeber/medien/hermann-anarchische-koenigin-zr-13780139.html | title = Zum Tod von Irm Hermann: Die anarchische Königin | website = Frankfurter Rundschau | date = 29 May 2020 | language = de | access-date = 29 May 2020

| last = Shoard | first = Catherine | url = https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/28/irm-hermann-star-of-20-fassbinder-films-dies-aged-77 | title = Irm Hermann, star of 20 Fassbinder films, dies aged 77 | date = 28 May 2020 | access-date = 29 May 2020 | newspaper = The Guardian | location = London

| url = https://www.berlinale.de/en/irm-hermann.html | title = Berlinale Mourns the Loss of Irm Hermann | access-date = June 9, 2025 | work = berlinale | lang = en

| url = http://www.filmportal.de/person/irm-hermann_742791dfe0b842bf8c069c4d29e65b09 | title = Irm Hermann | website = Filmportal | language = de | access-date = 29 May 2020

| url = https://www.rbb24.de/kultur/beitrag/2020/05/irm-hermann-schauspielerin-fassbinder-gestorben.html | title = Film- und Theater-Schauspielerin Irm Hermann im Alter von 77 Jahren gestorben | website = rbb24.de | date = 28 May 2020 | language = de | access-date = 28 May 2020 | archive-date = 28 May 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200528124755/https://www.rbb24.de/kultur/beitrag/2020/05/irm-hermann-schauspielerin-fassbinder-gestorben.html | url-status = dead

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1942-births2020-deathsactresses-from-munichgerman-film-actressesgerman-television-actresses20th-century-german-actresses21st-century-german-actressesbest-actress-german-film-award-winners