Hape Kerkeling Biography: Height, Spouse, Age, TV Shows & Movies, Net Worth, Children

Hans Peter Wilhelm Kerkeling, famously known as Hape Kerkeling, stands as one of the country’s most beloved and versatile entertainers whose warmth, quick wit, and fearless character work have made him a national institution for over four decades.

From his early days impersonating grannies and queens to hosting legendary New Year’s Eve specials and walking the Camino de Santiago in disguise, Kerkeling has perfected the art of making millions laugh while quietly revealing deep humanity.

Profile

• Full Name: Hans Peter Wilhelm Kerkeling
• Stage Name: Hape Kerkeling
• Born: 9, December 1964
• Age: 60 years old
• Birthplace: Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
• Nationality: German
• Occupation: Comedian, Television Presenter, Actor, Author, Singer, and Voice Actor
• Height: 1.83m
• Parents: Heinz Kerkeling, and Margret Kerkeling
• Siblings: Unknown
• Spouse: Dirk Henning (m. 2017)
• Children: None
• Relationship: Married
• Net Worth: $12 million

Early Life and Education

Hans Peter Wilhelm Kerkeling was born on December 9, 1964, in Recklinghausen, West Germany, to Heinz and Margret Kerkeling.

His mother died by suicide in 1974 when he was nine, an experience he has spoken about openly. Raised by his grandparents and father, he found comedy as both an escape and a passion.

He attended secondary school in Recklinghausen, showing early talent in performing, but skipped formal higher education to pursue radio, cabaret, and television as a teenager. He is ethnically German and practices Catholicism.

Career

Hape Kerkeling announced himself to Germany at just 19 with the 1983 children’s show Känguru, but it was his 1984 creation of the chain-smoking, sharp-tongued pensioner Horst Schlämmer that turned him into a superstar overnight.

Throughout the late 80s and 90s he dominated Saturday-night television with sketch shows like Total Normal, Darüber lacht die Welt, and the iconic hidden-camera series Verstehen Sie Spaß?, which he hosted from 1990 to 2003. His gallery of characters—Queen Beatrix, the bratty kid Siggi, and the perpetually offended Hannilein—became part of the national psyche.

In the 2000s Kerkeling broadened his range: he voiced the genie in the German dub of Disney’s Aladdin sequels, starred in feature films (Samba in Mettmann, 2004), and in 2006 stunned the country by disappearing for months to walk the Camino de Santiago incognito.

The resulting book Ich bin dann mal weg sold over five million copies, spent years atop bestseller lists, and was adapted into the 2015 film I’m Off Then.

After a decade-long semi-retirement focused on writing and spiritual reflection, he triumphantly returned to television in 2021 with new specials and continues to sell out live tours.

Hape Kerkeling occupies a rare space in German entertainment—equally capable of broad slapstick and quiet introspection, adored by grandmothers and teenagers alike.

His influence stretches from training a generation of comedians to normalizing open discussion of mental health and LGBTQ+ identity on mainstream television. Few performers have managed to be both the nation’s favorite clown and its occasional moral compass.

Social Media

• Instagram Handle: @hape_k
• Facebook Handle: HapeKerkeling

Personal Life

Hape Kerkeling has been married to screenwriter and childhood friend Dirk Henning since 2017; the couple registered their civil partnership in 2006 and later converted it to marriage.

They live quietly between Cologne and Berlin and are fiercely protective of their privacy. Hape came out publicly as gay in 2004 during a television interview, a moment handled with his characteristic humor and grace that helped shift attitudes in Germany.

He has no children of his own but is a devoted uncle to nephews Stefan and Andreas Kerkeling.

Filmography

•   Samba in Mettmann (2004)
•   Ich bin dann mal weg (2015)
•   Kein Pardon (1993 – also writer and director)
•   Willi und die Windzors (1996)
•   Die Oma ist tot (1997)
•   Club Las Piranjas (1995)
•   Horst Schlämmer – Isch kandidiere! (2009)

Net Worth

Hape Kerkeling has an estimated net worth of around $12 million. The fortune stems primarily from decades of top-rated television work, massive book royalties, sold-out one-man theater tours, film projects he wrote and starred in, long-running advertising contracts, and lucrative voice-acting deals with Disney and other studios.