For more than two decades, Axel Milberg was the face of the Kiel Tatort. As the idiosyncratic Commissioner Klaus Borowski, he shaped the crime series with quiet humor, melancholy, and psychological depth. But when his final case Borowski und das Haupt der Medusa aired on March 16, 2025, it wasn't just one of the most popular investigator careers in German television that ended - for Milberg himself, a new chapter began at the same time. On August 1, the actor celebrates his 70th birthday and proves: He's not thinking about retirement for a long time yet.

Tatort Farewell Co-Shaped

The farewell to Tatort was not a decision by the network, but his own wish. After 44 cases and nearly 22 years, the right time had come to let go of the character. "21 years is a long time in a human life," Milberg said in an interview with Hörzu. "Very cool other roles" were waiting for him, and he also wanted to spend more time with his family, plus there were projects abroad.

Milberg was also actively involved in shaping the end of his commissioner. "In the end, it was the way I wished it to be and the way it fits the character," he told NDR about his farewell case. Together with screenwriter Sascha Arango and NDR, work had been done over a long period on a finale that would give Borowski a dignified conclusion.

Axel Milberg Stayed in the Spotlight

However, anyone who believed Milberg would withdraw from the spotlight after Tatort was quickly proven wrong. The new beginning was already emerging two years before his departure. In 2023, he was seen in the ARD comedy Meine Freundin Volker in an unusual role as drag queen Vivian Bernaise. "I still remember how impressed I was by Axel's commitment and his dedication to the role," director Piotr J. Lewandowski raved at the time in an interview with spot on news.

In the quirky mystery miniseries Kohlrabenschwarz, where Bavarian myths meet modern crime drama, Milberg played the grumpy Criminal Director Eberhard Kroiss with passionately delivered tirades like this one: "Now you listen to me, you smarty pants. What do you think will happen when the 65,000 residents of Rosenheim plus 3,500 tourists and now also 8,500 trade fair visitors per day find out that a child has been abducted in our quaint little town? I need results before this boils over."

At the end of 2025, Milberg was also seen in the gripping ARD thriller Verschollen. As Klemens Stadler, he searches for his son who went missing in Brazil.

What Fans Can Look Forward To

Additionally, Milberg participated in the international historical series Vienna Game, which is set around the Congress of Vienna. "Shortly after the last Borowski shoot, I went to Budapest in February 2024," Milberg said about the elaborate Disney+ production. According to the streaming service's current announcement, the six-part series will launch in November 2026. An exact start date has not yet been released.

Familiar roles also remain with him. Milberg continued to appear as Gerald Bundschuh for the successful ZDF series Familie Bundschuh. Last year, the ninth film, Familie Bundschuh: Wir machen Camping, was shown. And although the ending of this episode didn't bode well and fans had to wait anxiously for a long time, there's an all-clear from the network. "A new episode of the 'Familie Bundschuh' series is expected to be filmed in 2026," was the pleasant news that a ZDF spokesperson shared with spot on news in late summer 2025.

In the ORF/MDR comedy Mit und ohne Simone, which was filmed in Vienna, Krems, and Dürnstein, Milberg is once again barely recognizable. This is shown by initial photos from the set last summer. Together with Viennese Tatort star Adele Neuhauser, he plays the crisis-ridden married couple Simone and Walter, who dream of divorce. The film celebrated its premiere on March 23, 2026, at the Diagonale in Graz. A television broadcast is scheduled for 2026.

Furthermore, Axel Milberg has just finished filming a TV movie for NDR. In Risotto brutale, the working title - on the clapperboard, Risotto mit Dame could also be read - he takes on the role of a feared restaurant critic whose life spirals out of control after a consequential misjudgment. With Maren Eggert, he appeared as a couple in front of the camera again after their time together on the Kiel Tatort.

And the sports drama Adams Acht about legendary rowing coach Karl Adam (1912-1976), which was filmed in Ratzeburg and Bratislava, will be released in theaters on September 17, 2026. In the illustrious cast, alongside Milberg, are Oliver Masucci, Felix Kammerer, and Heino Ferch.

New Career Phase After Borowski Departure

That Milberg has remained curious even at 70 is hardly surprising. Even before his last Tatort, he said he didn't particularly like the term "career." More important to him was the joy of storytelling and of new characters. It's precisely this openness that seems to be driving him now. Commissioner Klaus Borowski is history - but Axel Milberg is turning the page to the next chapter with remarkable composure. His farewell to Tatort was therefore not a final line, but rather the beginning of another, equally exciting career phase.