Nadja Uhl (; born 23 May 1972) is a German actress. Uhl grew up in the town of Franzburg, near her birth city of

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...

. She lived with her mother in a three-generation house, shared with aunts and her grandparents, who had moved in shortly after the war. Her father left the family home when she was two; she never got to know him. Many years later, after setting up her own multi-generation multi-family house in Potsdam in 2005, with friends and relations ranging in age from 20 to 90, she told an interviewer that childhood experience of living with aunts and grandparents taught her that this type of extended family community in a single home was a challenge which could only succeed if each member was allowed some free space. At school, Uhl tried shooting, ballet, table tennis, and gymnastics. A perceptive school report noted that "Nadja likes to be part of a group". An art teacher spotted her talent for entertaining others and arranged for her to take part in a weekly amateur drama group after school each Monday. That became a weekly highlight. Uhl studied at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy College of Music and Theatre in Leipzig between 1990 and 1994, beginning her career as a theatre actress at the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam in 1994. There, she opened a music hall with her partner (and business manager) Kay Bockhold in 2006. Uhl first appeared in a film in 1993 (Thomas Koerfer's ''Der Grüne Heinrich'', playing Agnes' role), but in 2000 she attracted international attention acting in

Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He ha ...

's ''The Legend of Rita'' (''Die Stille nach dem Schuß''). In this film she played Tatjana, an East German waitress who rebels against the system of her country. Due to her work in this film, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the

Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...

(German Film Awards). In 2002, Uhl appeared in '' Twin Sisters'' (''De Tweeling''), directed by Dutch director Ben Sombogaart and based on the novel '' The Twins'', a bestseller by Tessa de Loo. Here she played Anna, Lotte's sister. They are separated from each other after the death of their parents; the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

will consolidate their situation. The film was a 76th Academy Awards nominee for

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

of 2003. In 2005, Uhl played the role of Nicole in '' Summer in Berlin'' (''Sommer vorm Balkon''), directed by Andreas Dresen, and was nominated for Best Actress at the German Film Awards. In 2006, Uhl played Katja Döbbelin in ', directed by Jorgo Papavassiliou. This successful RTL TV

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

focused on the

North Sea flood of 1962 The North Sea flood of 1962 was a natural disaster affecting mainly the coastal regions of West Germany and in particular the city of Hamburg in the night from 16 February to 17 February 1962. In total, the homes of about 60,000 people were ...

, which left 315 dead. In 2008, Uhl participated in Uli Edel's '' Der Baader Meinhof Komplex'', based on the bestseller of the same title by Stefan Aust; the film and the book are based on real events. In the film, Uhl plays Brigitte Mohnhaupt, a member of the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

(''Rote Armee Fraktion'' or R.A.F., a German terrorist group of

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

ideology active from the late 1960s to 1998), and leader of its second generation. Also in 2008, Uhl participated in a TV production, also based on real events, about the Lufthansa Flight 181 hijacking (during the German Autumn of 1977), which was perpetrated by four terrorists of the

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...

in collusion with the R.A.F. Here, Nadja Uhl plays flight attendant Gabriele Dillmann, who was one of the victims of the hijacking. Coincidentally, at the time of the hijacking, the R.A.F.'s leader was Brigitte Mohnhaupt. In the film '' Mogadischu'' she plays a flight attendant aboard hijacked Flight LH181. In 2017, Uhl told an interviewer that she still loves the land of her birth, the German Democratic Republik (GDR) "in spite of everything ... that happened with my family". Although the family in which she grew up was not particularly politicised during her early childhood, they were forced to confront an uglier side of the socialist paradise when her uncle was arrested during the later 1980s and imprisoned at

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...

in connection with his "environmental activism which at that time was not welcome o the authoritiesin the GDR ... hose activistsdid nothing wrong. They just pointed out the abuses. That alone was enough to be seen as an attack on the system." Uhl has two daughters, born in 2006 and in 2009.

Filmography and roles

* ''Der grüne Heinrich'' (1993) … Agnes * ''Zerrissene Herzen'' (1996, TV film) … Britta * '' Polizeiruf 110: '' (1996, TV series episode) … Bibi * ''Alarmcode 112: Haus im Grünen'' (1996, TV series episode) * '' Tatort: Eiskalt'' (1997, TV series episode) … Petra Schächter * ''Mein ist die Rache'' (1997, TV film) … Evi * ''Beichtstuhl der Begierde'' (1997, TV film) * ''First Love – Die große Liebe'' (1998, TV series, 1 episode) … Wolke * ''Murderous Legacy'' (1998, TV film) … Helen Braddy * ''Blutiger Ernst'' (1998, TV film) … Marysa Heeren * ''Scent of Seduction'' (1998, TV film) … Sophie * '': Auf eigene Faust'' (1998, TV series episode) … Laura Basenius * ''Ufos über Waterlow'' (1998, TV film) * ''No Sex'' (1999, TV film) … Isabell Jacobi * ''Snow on New Year's Eve'' (1999) … Nora * ''Verrat'' (2000, short) * '' The Legend of Rita'' (2000) … Tatjana * ''Verhängnisvolles Glück'' (2000, TV film) … Gloria * ''La Volpe a tre zampe'' (2001) … Doris * ''My Sweet Home'' (2001) … Anke * '' What to Do in Case of Fire?'' (2001) … Nele * ' (2002) … Zitrone * '' Twin Sisters'' (2002) … Anna * ' (2003, TV film) … Helga Wolbert * '' Soundless'' (2004) … Nina * ' (2004, TV film) … Paula Reinhardt * '' Summer in Berlin'' (2005) … Nicole "Nike" Pawelsky * ''Artour'' (2006, TV series, 1 episode) * ''Dornröschen erwacht'' (2006, TV film) … Juliane Meybach * ' (2006, TV film) … Katja Döbbelin * '' Four Minutes'' (2006) … Nadine Hoffmann * ' (2006, TV film) … Anna Degen * '' Cherry Blossoms'' (2008) … Franzi * '' The Baader Meinhof Complex'' (2008) … Brigitte Mohnhaupt * '' Mogadischu'' (2008, TV film) … flight attendant Gabriele Dillmann * '' I've Never Been Happier'' (2009) … Tanja * '' Men in the City'' (2009) … Susanne Feldberg * ''Spreewaldkrimi: Der Tote im Spreewald'' (2009, TV series episode) … Tania Bartko * ''Die Toten vom Schwarzwald'' (2009, TV film) … Inka * '' Jungle Child'' (2011) … Doris Kuegler * ' (2011) … Susanne Feldberg * '' The Tower'' (2012, TV film) … Josta Fischer * ''Der Kaktus'' (2013, TV) … Thea Cronpichel * ' (2014) … Apple * '' Tannbach'' (2015, TV series, 3 episodes) … Liesbeth Erler * ''Ich werde nicht schweigen'' (2017, TV film) … Margarete Oelckers * ' (2017, TV film)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uhl, Nadja 1972 births Living people People from Stralsund German film actresses German television actresses University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni Silver Bear for Best Actress winners German stage actresses 20th-century German actresses 21st-century German actresses Actresses from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania