Peter Fitz

Peter Fitz was a renowned German stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly six decades, beginning in the mid‑1950s and concluding only a year before his death in 2013. Born on 8 August 1931 in Kaiserslautern, Germany, he pursued an apprenticeship at the drama school of the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, where he honed the classical techniques that would define his later performances. In the 1960s he secured engagements at the Schauspiel Frankfurt, and his reputation attracted the attention of celebrated director Peter Stein, who invited him to join the ensemble of the Berlin Schaubühne. There he collaborated with Stein and later with Klaus Michael Grüber, contributing to groundbreaking productions that reshaped post‑war German theatre. Throughout his life Fitz appeared on all major German‑language stages, including the Vienna Burgtheater, Munich Kammerspiele, Berlin’s Schiller Theater, and the prestigious Salzburg Festival. His exceptional talent was recognized twice by the editors of Theater heute magazine, who named him Actor of the Year in 1980 and again in 1983. While theatre remained his primary passion, Fitz also cultivated a notable film and television career. He featured in the acclaimed 1987 film Au revoir les enfants and portrayed a role in the historical drama The Wannsee Conference (1984). In 1996 he received a German Film Award nomination for his portrayal of Reinhold Schünzel in One More Kiss and He’s Dead. His versatility extended to voice acting and popular crime series, making him a familiar presence to a broad television audience. Peter Fitz passed away on 10 January 2013 in his Berlin apartment at the age of 81, leaving behind a legacy of artistic excellence and two children, actress Hendrikje Fitz and actor Florian Fitz, who continued his artistic lineage.