Actress Senta Berger fell heavily before a reading in Hamburg, suffering a complicated thigh fracture. She underwent surgery, and her son Simon Verhoeven reports she is recovering as well as can be expected. A planned performance in Kiel has been canceled.
Senta Berger, the 84-year-old actress from Munich, fell from a platform in Hamburg's Laeiszhalle on Friday afternoon while conducting a soundcheck for the reading "Loriot - Scenes of a Marriage" with Friedrich von Thun. She sustained a complicated thigh fracture and required surgery. Her son, filmmaker Simon Verhoeven, confirmed this to the German Press Agency, stating: "She is doing as well as can be expected."
The accident occurred shortly before the performance. Verhoeven, currently in Hamburg, added: "We'll see how quickly she gets back on her feet now." Recovery poses challenges for the active artist, as she is set to appear starting January 29 in the film "Oh, This Gap, This Terrible Gap," directed by her son and based on a novel by Joachim Meyerhoff. The premiere was scheduled for January 27 in Munich, which she will likely miss.
"Of course she is sad, also because of the many upcoming dates for our film that she will probably miss," Verhoeven reported. "But she is a fighter and maybe she will come back faster than one thinks, we hope so very much." His only wish: "Recovery is now the only thing that matters." As a result of the fall, the Loriot evening with Berger and von Thun on January 18, 2026, at the Konzerthaus am Schloss in Kiel has been canceled.
