Director Bernd Wilms died at the age of 85

Wilms was born in Solingen in 1940. After graduating from high school, he first studied Protestant theology in Wuppertal and Tübingen before moving to the University of Cologne, where he specialized in theater studies, philosophy and German studies. In February 1969 he received his doctorate at the Free University of Berlin with a thesis on “Der Schwank. German Trivial Theater 1880–1930”. phil. doctorate.

Wilms began his theater career in 1968 as a dramaturge at the Wuppertal theaters under general manager Arno Wüstenhöfer. In 1972 he moved to the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg as a dramaturge and press officer, where he worked under director Ivan Nagel until 1979. This was followed by management positions at the “Theater der Welt 81” festival in Cologne, before he moved to Wüstenhöfer’s side again in 1981/82, as a dramaturge and personal speaker at the Bremen Theater.

From 1983 to 1986, Wilms was part of the dramaturgy team at the Munich Kammerspiele, after which he took over the management of the affiliated Otto Falckenberg School until 1991. From 1991 to 1994 he directed the Ulm Theater with its opera, drama and dance departments.

In 1994 Wilms moved to Berlin, initially as director of the Maxim Gorki Theater. In 2001 he took over the management of the Deutsches Theater, which under his direction – and in collaboration with directors such as Michael Thalheimer, Jürgen Gosch, Dimiter Gotscheff and Barbara Frey – was named “Theater of the Year” by critics in 2008. After leaving the DT in the summer of 2008, Wilms was curator of the Capital Cultural Fund until March 2010.