Verena Altenberger is an Austrian actress born and raised in the federal state of Salzburg. She studied acting in Vienna after completing a degree in Communication Studies and graduated from the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna in 2015. Altenberger gained early stage experience at the Burgtheater and later appeared at major theaters such as the Volkstheater Vienna and the Salzburg Festival, where she played the role of the Buhlschaft in Jedermann in 2021 and 2022. She rose to international attention with her award-winning lead performance in Adrian Goiginger’s film The Best of All Worlds (2017), which earned her several acting awards. Altenberger is also widely known for her television work, including CopStories, Magda Makes It Work!, Polizeiruf 110, and numerous film and TV productions across Austria and Germany. Beyond acting, she has served as President of the Austrian Film Academy since 2021 and became a UN World Food Programme ambassador in 2025.

Filmography

• 2027Athos 2643
• 2026Babystar — AI CEO
• Sheep — Astrid
• 2025ACHT — Sandra Wolf
• 2025In the Rose Garden
• Mozart/Mozart — Marie Antoinette
• 2025No Beast. So Fierce. — Elisabet York
• 2025Slow Down the Fall
• Sturm kommt auf — Elies Heingeiger
• 2025The Life of Wishes
• 2025Tödliches Spiel - Das Krimi-Dinner — Eila Kampstahl
• 2024Bach - A Christmas Miracle — Anna Magdalena Bach
• Kafka — Robert Musil
• 2023First Snow of Summer — Caro
• 2022Above the World — Moid
• 2022Die Doppelte Frau — Betty Steinhart
• Riesending - Jede Stunde zählt — Birgit Eberharter
• 2022Shadows of the Past — Christina
• 2021Commitment Phobia — Martha
• 2021Hannes — Dr. Redlich
• 2021Jedermann - Salzburger Festspiele — Buhlschaft
• 2021Me, We — Marie
• Wild Republic — Rebecca
• 2020Schönes Schlamassel — Anne Braun
• M - A City Hunts a Murderer — Mutter
• 2019Secret in the Mountain — Eva Schädler
• 2018Rufmord — Kommissarin Baumann
• 2018Shillings from Heaven — Rosa Unterguggenberger
• 2017Cold Hell — Ranya
• 2017Der Treue größter Akt — Kriemhild
• Magda macht das schon! — Magda Wozniak
• 2017The Best of All Worlds — Helga Wachter
• 2017The Makemakes in Hollywood - Auf den Spuren von Sound of Music — Narrator
• 2016Der Hafenpastor und das Blaue vom Himmel — Ina
• 2016Kästner and Little Tuesday — young woman
• 2016Secret of the Midwife — Dame Margareth
• 2016The Dragon Maiden — Hannah
• Lena Lorenz — Hanna Striebel, Hanne Striebel
• Shades of Guilt — Sheryl
• Murder by the Lake — Maike Vogel
• 2014Therapy for a Vampire — Woman in Dirndl
• CopStories — Chantal
• Im Schleudergang — Tatjana
• Vienna Crime Squad — Jenny Peschke
• SOKO Köln — Sarah Fischer
• Murder in the Mountains — Yvonne
• Polizeiruf 110 — Elisabeth Eyckhoff, Elisabeth 'Bessie' Eykhoff
• Scene of the Crime — Valli Granitzer
• The Road to Nevermore — Gwen

Appearances as themselves (6)

• 2024Gegen das Schweigen - Machtmissbrauch bei Theater und Film — Self - Interviewee
• 2023Lars Eidinger – To Be or Not To Be — Self
• DENK mit KULTUR — Self
• Abendschau — Self
• Bavarian Film Awards — Self
• Kölner Treff — Self