Johann von Bülow

Johann von Bülow already made himself known to a wide audience with his debut: In 1995, Hans-Christian Schmid cast him alongside Franka Potente in the cinema comedy NACH FÜNF IM URWALD, which won several Film Awards.

As a graduate of the renowned Otto Falckenberg School in Munich, Johann von Bülow continued his tremendous screen success right at the beginning of his career with a permanent engagement at the Staatstheater Mainz. At the same time, he was discovered as an actor in television also. In 1996, Johann von Bülow appeared in front of the camera as part of the ensemble cast of the high school drama UND MORGEN FÄNGT DAS LEBEN AN, which was followed by countless guest appearances in well-known TV series.

In 2003, he was part of the cast of the Sat1 two-parter A LIGHT IN DARK PLACES ( DAS WUNDER VON LENGEDE), which was awarded a Bambi as TV-Event of the Year and in 2004 won Adolf Grimme Awards in the categories of Director, Actor and Production, as well as the Bavarian Television Award and the Golden Camera as Best German Television Film.

Johann von Bülow also demonstrated his versatility on the stage of the Schauspielhaus Bochum from 2000, for example in the title role of Friedrich Schiller's "Don Carlos," as a singer in song recitals and in multiple parts in Helge Schneider's revue "Mendy - Das Wusical," the stage recording of which was also well received by TV audiences.

Johann von Bülow returned to the big screen in 2005 with 3° KÄLTER (director: Florian Hoffmeister). The relationship drama was awarded the Silver Lion for Best Newcomer Film at the Locarno International Film Festival in the same year.

In addition to appearances in light roles, including the ARD-produced comedy MEIN SÜSSES GEHEIMNIS (directed by Franz Xaver Schwarzenberger), it was primarily the tragic roles with which Johann von Bülow was increasingly successful with audiences. Dominik Graf cast him as a priest in his semi-fictional TV drama about Clemens von Brentano's life, DAS GELÜBDE, while director Emily Atef entrusted him with the role of a new father alongside a post-natal depressed mother in THE STRANGER IN ME (DAS FREMDE IN MIR). This drama won multiple awards at festivals in France, Belgium, Brazil and Argentina in 2008, as well as the Audience Award at the Oldenburg International Film Festival.

Johann von Bülow literally made a foray into international realms as the Austrian pilot of a hijacked airplane in the three-part terrorist saga CARLOS THE JACKAL (CARLOS - DER SCHAKAL), directed by Frenchman Olivier Assayas, which was promptly rewarded with a Golden Globe in the category Best Mini-Series in 2011.

Within the years 2006 to 2012, Johann von Bülow's roles and guest appearances in many German TV movies and TV series also grew larger and more substantial, such as in BERLIN 36 (directed by Kaspar Heidelbach), UNSPOKEN (IN ALLER STILLE) (directed by Rainer Kaufmann), DAS LEBEN IST ZU LANG (directed by Dany Levi) and in the series UM HIMMELS WILLEN, WIR MÜSSEN REDEN and in seven TATORT episodes. Just in time for the filming of the third season of MORD MIT AUSSICHT, Johann von Bülow joined the popular ARD series as the mayoral candidate of Hengasch. In 2015, he continued this role as mayor in the feature-length spin-off EIN MORD MIT AUSSICHT.

Johann von Bülow was seen in two historical films based on true events in 2014 and 2015. Firstly, he played a lawyer in the 1963 Frankfurt Auschwitz trial in LABYRINTH OF LIES (IM LABYRINTH DES SCHWEIGENS) (2014, directed by Guilio Ricciarelli), and secondly, he was seen in 13 MINUTES (ELSER) (2015, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel) in the role of Heinrich Müller, head of the Gestapo and thus mainly responsible for the murder of the resistance fighter Georg Elser. IM LABYRINTH OF LIES was shortlisted for the 2016 "Foreign Oscar" selection. Additionally, the TV drama SHED MY SKIN (AUS DER HAUT) was screened at the Max Ophüls Preis in the same year. With Francois Ozon's FRANTZ, which was released in September 2016, Johann von Bülow celebrated its world premiere in competition at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. With the films MY BLIND DATE WITH LIFE (MEIN BLINDDATE MIT DEM LEBEN) and ROCK MY HEART, he also appeared in theaters in 2017. The docu-drama HEINRICH VOGELER – AUS DEM LEBEN EINES TRÄUMERS, which examines the life of German Art Nouveau artist Heinrich Vogeler, is scheduled for theatrical release in 2021.

Since 2014, Johann von Bülow has read from "Der ganz offene Brief" by Loriot to often sold-out audiences. Johann von Bülow also reads various audio books. For example, he lent his voice to Sherlock Holmes in the radio play series "Sherlock & Watson - Neues aus der Baker Street".

Between 2018 and 2021, Johann von Bülow appeared in the successful ZDF crime series HERR UND FRAU BULLE alongside colleague Alice Dwyer in the male lead role. The SWR crime series ‘Damian’, directed by Stefan Schaller, was broadcast with great success and the drama RUFMORD premiered at the Munich Film Festival in the same year.

In 2022, Johann von Bülow was part of the third and fourth seasons of the Sky series DAS BOOT in the role of Victor Gruber. Johann von Bülow was also seen in the four-part thriller drama EIN SCHRITT ZUM ABGRUND, directed by Alexander Dierbach, and shone in both German and French in the German-French cult series PARLEMENT, which will continue in 2024.

He was in front of the camera with Karoline Schuch for the ZDF series DIE ZWEITE WELLE from 2023. In the same year, Johann von Bülow appeared in Todd Field's musical drama TÁR, which was nominated for a total of six Oscars and celebrated its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. He was in front of the camera for the streaming service JOYN in the cult series JERKS and directed by Nele Mueller-Stöfen for the Netflix feature film DELICOUS.

Johann von Bülow slipped into the role of showmaster Robert Lemke for ARD/SWR. The docu-fiction film "Robert Lemke - Who am I? was directed by Martin Weinhart. DER PALAST 2, directed by Uli Edel, was shot for ZDF in 2024. The film GERTA SCHNIRCH by director Tomáš Mašín for Czech TV followed in Prague at the beginning of 2025.

His debut novel ROXY was published by Rowohlt Verlag in 2023.

Johann von Bülow lives in Berlin.

Status: 05 / 2025