Volker Prechtel (born August 9, 1941, in Hopfen am See; died August 7, 1997, in Gröbenzell) was a German theater, film, and television actor. Prechtel initially studied pedagogy and worked as a schoolteacher for several years before finding his way to professional acting through amateur theater stages. With his striking face and distinctive nose, he became a sought-after character actor in film and television, appearing in more than one hundred productions. Prechtel was also a regular presence on the theater stage. He performed at venues including the Münchner Kammerspiele, the Münchner Volkstheater, the Freie Volksbühne Berlin, and the Münchner Theater für Kinder. He achieved international recognition in 1986 for his role as the monk Malachias in *The Name of the Rose*, based on the novel by Umberto Eco. In that film, he acted alongside Sean Connery and Helmut Qualtinger. Additionally, he appeared as a public bus driver in the crime series *Der König*. Volker Prechtel died in 1997—two days before his 56th birthday—from complications related to cancer.

Filmography

• 1997Lorenz im Land der Lügner — Spitzel
• 1996Alles nur Tarnung — Pfarrer
• Die Fernsehsaga – Eine steirische Fernsehgeschichte — Fösi
• 1996Willkommen in Kronstadt
• 1995Die Fernsehsaga – Eine steirische Fernsehgeschichte — Fösi
• Air Albatros
• 1994Das Geheimnis — Staudammwärter
• Der König — Pichler
• 1994Pumuckl und der Blaue Klabauter — Stammtischbruder
• 1993Tödliche Lüge — Georg
• 1992Four Junior Detectives — Pingling / Ritter von Zährenstein
• 1992Moritz — Wagner
• 1991Das größte Fest des Jahres — Toni Lederer
• 1991Scream of Stone — Himalaja-Bezwinger
• 1991Sisi/Last Minute — Hias von Konnersreuth
• 1991The Serbian Girl
• 1989Der Pampelmusenmond — Herzblau
• Forsthaus Falkenau — Toni Lederer
• Löwengrube — Waldhauser
• 1989Waller's Last Trip — Karg
• 1988Starke Zeiten — Hospital Employee
• 1988Zimmer 36
• 1986Tanner — Fuhrhalter Suter
• 1986The Name of the Rose — Malachia
• 1985Big Mäc — Zollbeamter
• Der Fahnder — Wirt
• Weißblaue Geschichten
• 1983Traumlage
• Der Andro-Jäger — Polizist Heinmann
• 1982Drei gegen Hollywood
• 1982Kampftag
• 1982Piratensender Powerplay — Bailiff
• Tarabas
• Der Gerichtsvollzieher — Eisverkäufer Hans
• 1981Der Schluckauf
• 1981Oh Dear Harry! — Etagenkellner
• Anderland — Postkutscher
• 1979Blauer Himmel den ich nur ahne — Girgl
• 1979Die Farbe des Himmels — Milchfahrer Elfengruber
• 1979Es begann bei Tiffany
• 1979The Frozen Heart — Sargmacher
• 1979Woyzeck — Handwerksbursche
• Eine Schmugglergeschichte - Die Legende des Tabak-Peter
• Sachrang — Heckenberger
• Geheimtip für Tommy
• 1977Natascha - Todesgrüsse aus Moskau — CIA-Agent
• 1976Crime and Passion — Innkeeper
• 1976Heart of Glass — Wudy
• 1976The Marquise of O — Der Pfarrer
• Nonstop Nonsens — Sheriff
• 1974Der Jäger von Fall — Leitner
• Derrick — Ingenieur
• 1974The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser — Hiltel, the prison guard
• 1974The Odessa File — Günther Kolb (uncredited)
• Scene of the Crime — Landpolizist, Dallinger

Appearances as themselves (2)

• 2022An Oral History of: The Name of the Rose — Self (archive footage)
• 1986The Abbey of Crime: Umberto Eco's 'The Name of the Rose' — Self