“Tatort” star: Maria Furtwängler: Your daughter is expecting a new life

As Commissioner “Charlotte Lindholm,” Maria Furtwängler, 58, has played her way into the hearts of “Tatort” fans since 2002. On the red carpets of Germany, she embodies classic elegance like no other. Her once regular companion in a black suit and bow tie: ex-husband and soon ex-publisher Hubert Burda, 84.

But did you know that one of her two children is completely out of this superficially glamorous line? Elisabeth Burda Furtwängler, 32, is a rapper and is rarely seen at gala events. But that is likely to change from February 2025: She will work alongside her brother Dr. Jacob Burda, 34, takes over the publishing business of her father’s “Hubert Burda Media”. GALA looks back on Elisabeth’s life so far.

Maria Furtwängler and daughter Elisabeth: So different and yet very similar

Dyed pink hair and a casual, colorful style consisting of hoodies, sneakers and beanies versus classically elegant blouses, trench coats and blazer combinations: From the outside, the successful actress and doctor and her daughter have little in common. If you look at Elisabeth Furtwängler’s Instagram account, you’ll notice that she likes flashy colors, patterns and loose clothing.

Her previous career plans also differed from those of her parents. Medical studies, an acting career or even an aspiring publisher in the Burda dynasty (whose brands include “Bunte”, “Instyle” and “Focus”) into which she was born? Until recently, it was hardly imaginable. In recent years, Germany’s youngest billionaire – the US business magazine “Forbes” magazine estimates her fortune at over one billion euros – has been concentrating on her musical future.

Elisabeth Furtwängler: artist and feminist rapper

To do this, she attended a music school in California. Elisabeth has been rapping since she was around eight years old, as she told “Zeit” in an interview in 2021. At the age of nine or ten she even performed on her mother’s birthdays, as she also reported in an interview with “Zeit”. “She knew all the Eminem lyrics by heart,” Maria recalled.

But Elisabeth not only performs, she also wrote songs and produced them. First under the stage name “Lisa Fou”, now under “Kerfor”, derived from the English “care for”, which translates as “to take care of someone”. Furtwängler, who describes herself as an “artist” in her Instagram bio, addressed things that are important to her in her pieces – such as inequalities or discrimination.

In a hip-hop video, she spoke for the first time about her privileges as an heiress and rich daughter, which she said she tried to “keep well hidden.” A shitstorm broke out, which Elisabeth Burda Furtwängler described to “Zeit” as “harsh”. But she understands the backlash because she is aware that her “privileges are unfair.”

The mother-daughter duo works together

But Elisabeth doesn’t just sing about inequalities, she also gets involved – together with her mother Maria Furtwängler. As different as the two are on the outside, the mother-daughter duo are similar when it comes to certain values ​​and character traits. In 2016 they founded the “MaLisa” Foundation, which, according to its own description, “is committed to ending violence against women and girls” and “for social diversity”.

As a result, in 2016 they “commissioned a study to examine gender representations in music videos,” reports Elisabeth in the “Zeit” interview.

She explains: “It was about the fact that there are twice as many men as women in the charts. And about how young people perceive these videos. All the clichés were confirmed there too: women still have to be sexy, pretty and thin. And Men should be strong.” Even though Elisabeth doesn’t often accompany her mother on Germany’s red carpets, she is much closer to her than first thought.

Sources used: instagram.com, forbes.com, zeit.de, twitter.com

jse
Gala