By Markus Tschiedert
After his severe corona disease and the death of his parents, Christian Kahrmann is back with a new role. BZ met him for an interview.
He’s a Cologne boy and sometimes you can hear it when he speaks.
And that despite the fact that Christian Kahrmann (50) made Berlin his new home 22 years ago. One of his favorite places is Museum Island, where we meet him for a walk.
Things didn’t always go well for Kahrmann: his success in “Lindenstrasse” was followed by a car accident while drunk in May 2016 and the death of his parents while he was in the hospital with Corona. He overcame all of that and is now playing his first role after his severe Covid illness in the war film “Blood & Gold” (new on Netflix).
BZ: You have acted in almost all of director Peter Thorwarth’s films. Are you some kind of mascot for him?
Christian Kahrmann in his mobile café station in Prenzlauer Berg Photo: Parwez
Christian Kahrmann: Haha, we are definitely connected by a long-term friendship that started in 1997. At that time I met him at a casting in Berlin for a series. Then nothing came of it. But he had other plans for me anyway. He wanted me to play Diether Krebs’ son in his first feature film “Bang Boom Bang”. Since then we have experienced a lot together over the years.
Looking back, was the role of Benny Beimer in “Lindenstrasse” more of a blessing or a curse for you?
Both! Otherwise I wouldn’t have become an actor and I was already making money when I was 13. When I left the show in 1993, a lot of doors opened, although I had plans to go back to acting school in New York right after. I stayed two more years to take everything with me and didn’t move to the States until early 1995.
Kahrmann with crutches in the Netflix film “Blood & Gold” Photo: Netflix
And what was the curse about it?
Of course, when you play in a series for so long, you are often committed. It’s rather difficult to get interesting roles. At that time you often heard “Oh no, that’s the one from the series, let’s take someone else…”
Did you get to choose your role in Blood & Gold?
No, he already gave me that. But the funny thing is that Steffen Wink should carry the crutches and the wooden leg first. Due to my corona damage, I had to have both hip joints replaced and in May 2022 I was able to walk rather poorly due to pain. I was happy to be able to shoot at all. Peter just said: Then I’ll take Steffen’s crutches away and you’ll get them.
Did you get artificial hips because of Corona?
If you lie down for three months and all your muscles are gone, you have to learn to walk again. In rehab I realized something was wrong, I was in severe pain. The doctors then determined that my hip joints were damaged.
In conversation with BZ reporter Markus Tschiedert Photo: Stefanie Herbst
How is your health today?
Very good! Everything has healed quite well and I hardly have any Long Covid. Which is not to be taken for granted when, like me, you were in a coma for three weeks. I just barely made it. In the coma, my kidneys suddenly failed. Then it was said, he probably won’t make it. I was in Vivantes Friedrichshain, where they put me on dialysis. After three days I still scratched the curve.
During that time you lost your parents too…
Yes, it was very difficult for my father, he had a lung disease and unfortunately didn’t make it. I woke up from the coma on April 5th, but didn’t find out until the end of April that he was dead and already buried. My mother, who had cancer, was still alive then. I think she wanted to live long enough to find out I made it. And that’s the way it was. Only then was she able to let go and died on June 21.
Do you have the feeling today that a new life has been given to you again?
In any case. I perceive the world very differently, live much more intensively. I feel extreme gratitude. It brought me a lot, even if it was a really bad experience.
He gave up his café on Bötzowstrasse in 2020 after eight years. He often worked in the café himself Photo: promo
Do you sometimes feel that fate is unfair after overcoming a completely different crisis in 2016?
Such thoughts come to you. You can’t blame yourself for Corona. But the fact that it was so tough, that I lost my parents, took a toll on me. I also had to get help in the form of talk therapy.
And how do you classify the year 2016 today?
Of course it was my own fault, which was stupid, but it was caused by personal setbacks. I have no plausible excuse for that. The only way to explain it is that I didn’t really have my head on my shoulders. You do stupid things that you don’t think about beforehand. But anyone who knows me knows that I am very responsible and reliable. But back then, I briefly lost control of my life.
From the first episode to episode 520 he played Benny Beimer in the series “Lindenstraße” Photo: dpa picture radio
The alcohol was also to blame…
Yes, you can get there faster than you think. Firstly, you get offered it everywhere, secondly, you already experience disrespect if you don’t drink and thirdly, there is always a reason if you drink too much. For me it came from the stress at work and the failure of my marriage. It wasn’t a nice phase for me.
How did you get out of there?
I got help and went into rehab. At first I thought alcohol was still okay from time to time, but then I realized that it wasn’t. Of my own accord, I finally managed to be completely abstinent. That’s how I live now. I can only recommend this to everyone. It is worth it!