Bjarne Mädel

Acting · b. 1968 · Hamburg, Germany

Bjarne Ingmar Mädel (born March 12, 1968, in Hamburg) is a German actor and director. He spent his childhood in Reinbek. As a teenager, he lived for several years in Nigeria in a gated community because his father worked there as a civil engineer. He obtained his Abitur at the Burggymnasium Friedberg. In California, he initially worked as a construction worker and then studied world literature and creative writing at the University of Redlands. As a 17-year-old, he worked for a summer in the Port of Hamburg.

Full biography

After studying theater studies and literature at the University of Erlangen, Mädel trained classically as an actor from 1992 to 1996 at the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen Potsdam. This was followed by an engagement at the Volkstheater Rostock from 1996 to 1999. He was then an ensemble member at the Schauspielhaus Hamburg for five years (2000–2005). Mädel gained greater fame in 2004/2005 through the character of Berthold “Ernie” Heisterkamp, whom he portrayed in the TV series Stromberg.

Mädel received his own comedy series Der kleine Mann from Stromberg creator Ralf Husmann, tailored specifically to him. The series aired on ProSieben starting in March 2009. After completing filming for the fourth season of Stromberg at the end of May 2009, Mädel shot the second season of Mord mit Aussicht (ARD). From 2011 to 2018, he played the lead role of Heiko “Schotty” Schotte in the series Der Tatortreiniger, a Hamburg crime scene cleaner who removes traces and remains of human bodies. The series was directed by Stromberg director Arne Feldhusen. In 2013, Mädel last portrayed the role of Berthold “Ernie” Heisterkamp during the filming of Stromberg – Der Film.

Mädel is a voice actor in several audio drama and audiobook productions and had a role as a dubbing actor in the comedy thriller Sightseers. Mädel lives in Berlin. He is a fan of Hamburger SV, which is reflected in his portrayal of the title character Schotty in Der Tatortreiniger, as this character is also a passionate HSV fan and wears a blue-white-black fan scarf in several episodes. In 2020, Mädel directed the NDR film Sörensen hat Angst and also took on the lead role in front of the camera as Chief Detective Inspector Sörensen.