Christian Friedel

Christian Friedel (born 9 March 1979) is a German actor and singer. Having acted in a number of German language productions, he is best known internationally as the teacher in Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, as part of the main cast of the Netflix television thriller series Babylon Berlin (2017–present), as Rudolf Höss in the 2023 drama The Zone of Interest, and as Fabian in season three of the anthology series The White Lotus (2025).

Career Film and television

Friedel has appeared in films and television series since 2009 including Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, and Oliver Hirschbiegel's 13 Minutes, where he portrayed Georg Elser. More recently, he played police photographer Gräf in the esteemed drama series Babylon Berlin, and was a main character in the German mini-series Perfume. He also portrayed Rudolf Höss in Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest after previously turning down offers to play Nazi roles.

Stage After studying acting at Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts in Munich, Friedel acted in the German theatre companies of Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel, Munich Kammerspiele and Schauspiel Hannover.

Since its 2009–2010 season, Friedel has been part of the company at Staatsschauspiel Dresden, and has acted in title roles such as Schiller's Don Carlos and Shakespeare's Hamlet.

In Spring 2017, Friedel played the role of Nathanael in a stage adaptation of E. T. A. Hoffmann's The Sandman by Robert Wilson at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus.

Music In June 2011, Friedel and four members of the German band Polarkreis 18 formed the band Woods of Birnam.

Personal life Friedel lives in Dresden.

Filmography

Film

Television