Christian Berkel: He was almost swapped as an infant

Christian Berkel (67) was almost exchanged with another child as an infant. The drama star has now spoken in an interview with the “Bild am Sonntag”. It was 1957 when a serious mistake in the hospital was almost unnoticed: Berkel’s father was given his son after birth – and was certain that it was not his child.

“I saw him after the birth. The one here is not!” He said, according to Berkel. It initially reacted horrified, insisted that it was the right baby. But the father remained persistent – and kept right: two babies had been exchanged. A moment that Berkel’s life might have steered in a completely different direction.

For Berkel, the unusual scene is not only an anecdote for Berkel, but also the namesake for his new book “Sputnik”, which will appear next week: translated the word “companion” – and with this term the supposedly real baby was handed over to the father at the time: “Here is her sputnik!”

“Sputnik” is the third autofictive novel by the successful actor and author after “the apple tree” (2018) and “Ada” (2020). Berkel emphasizes that the story is not autobiographically in the classic sense, but: “Ten to twelve situations in the novel actually took place exactly as I describe it.” The rest is fiction – based on real experiences, but alienated literarily.

The almost exchanged identity has long since become a family legend, explains Berkel: “My mother always said later, when she was annoyed by me,: ‘

Berkel’s life is characterized by moving history. His mother, the Jewish actress Sala Nohl, fled to France in 1938 in front of the National Socialists, was denounced there, arrested and later dived in Leipzig. After the war, she emigrated to Argentina and only returned to Germany in 1955. There she met her childhood sweetheart Otto Berkel, who served as a medical doctor of the Wehrmacht during the war. Two years later, her son Otto was born – almost in the wrong life.

Christian Berkel lived in Paris from the age of 14 and worked as an actor for the first time at the age of 19. He celebrated his international breakthrough with films such as “The Submission”, “Operation Valkyrie” or “Inglourious Basterds”, where he was seen alongside world stars like Tom Cruise (62) or Brad Pitt (61). In “Elle” he performed together with the French drama icon Isabelle Huppert (72). In 2018 he published his first novel.

Christian Berkel has been private since 1998 with fellow actor Andrea Sawatzki (62), with whom he has two sons. The couple married in December 2011.