Maximilian Peter Nikolaus Brückner saw the light of this world in
Munich, Bavaria on Wednesday, January 10, 1979 under the sign of
Capricorn and as it later turned out, was to be the first of eight
children of Ralf Brückner, a lawyer, and his wife Angela.
He was followed by his brother, Dominikus, a trained carpenter and now an engineer of wood building and construction and as a member of the brass band “Junge Riederinger Musikanten”, playing the baritone and appearing on stage at the Munich Volkstheater with Maxi.
In 1982 Florian was born. He is a paramedic with the Bavarian Red Cross, and part-time actor and plays one of the trumpets with the “Junge Riederinger Musikanten”, and is also on stage with them at the Munich Volkstheater.
It was probably after his birth when the family moved to Riedering in the vicinity of the Lake Chiemsee.
Then followed another brother, who is the only one of the siblings not appearing on stage; and sister Angelina, who worked as a legal secretary in her father’s law office, and since 2014 in the family store for traditional clothing and plays one of the clarinets of the “Junge Riederinger Musikanten”.
In 1987 Franz-Xaver was born and works now as an electrician, but also as an actor and he is a dancer in the “Trachtenverein Almengrün”. As one of the “Riederinger Children”, he was part of Christian Stückl's production of “Everyman” of the Salzburg Festival 2001-2005.
Performing also with this same group were the youngest sisters Susanne (b.1991) and Isabella (b.1997); the later opened the opening ceremony of the 2006 Football World Cup in Munich on a bicycle, and is now a textile specialist, and one half of the fashion label BellaSusi. Susanne is now an actress, presenter on Bavarian TV, violinist and singer with the musical trio “Perlseer Dirndl”, and the other half of BellaSusi and works under her married name of Wiesner.
In 1992 Sepp Staber Sr. founded the “Weisenbläser” wind section as part of the Trachtenverein [a club for the preservation of traditional mountain costumes and customs], with the group consisting of his own five children and some of the Brückners. Maxi was selected to play the bass tuba, as he was the tallest of the children at that time. This later grew into the brass band “Die Jungen Riederinger Musikanten” (in 2015 they shortened the name to “Riederinger Musikanten”). The “Shepherds Play” was also revived, and with it the children travelled through Bavaria.
Maxi had to
repeat the 7th grade, because he wasn't in school very often and his
English wasn’t as good as it should be.
He wanted to become a doctor, and he was already accepted at the
university. However, while working as a driver in the Civilian Service
prior to the begin of his study, his parents read an advertisement for
the renowned Otto-Falkenberg Acting School in Munich stating that they
would accept new students. Maxi was acting in a play at the time, and
according to himself, not because he liked it so much or was so good
in it, but because his friends were there and he wanted to impress a
certain girl. But his mother liked what she saw. So his parents gave
him 50 Marks for the admission fee, and he auditioned in his finest
Bavarian with the prologue of the “Shepherds Play” along with scenes
from “Much Ado about Nothing” and “Woyzeck”. The elderly ladies he
drove at the time practiced the lines with him. And much to his
surprise he was accepted even though any knowledge of the German
language was missing. To learn it he had to move to Munich and limit
his visits to Riedering. It was a tough time, but he managed it - now
he is perfect in both languages (German and Bavarian - but he is still
working on his English).
He studied there from 2000 until 2003. He didn't had much time to attend his last study year, due to work, but still graduated. In 2001 he was invited by Michael Lerchenberg into his newly founded ‘Summer Academy for Acting in Bavarian Language’. Since 2002 he has been a regular guest at the Munich Volkstheater, and in the summers of 2004 to 2006 he as Mammon seduced “Everyman” at the Salzburg Festival.
Maxi also delights audiences in front of TV screens and in the movies. He had also directed, amongst others, productions of “Magdalena” and of “Der ehrlose Prozess” in Riedering, but prefers to stay an actor.
Until spring of 2009, he shared a home with his brothers Dominikus and Florian in Baierbach and in early 2008 was elected into the municipal council of Riedering with 1037 votes, thanks to his slogan “Progressive thinking and acting - holding on to traditions”. As part of the council, he got involved with local waste separation, the use of alternative energies in the country side, youth development, and the cultural society “D’Spuileit”. In April 2009 he relinquished his council seat, because he moved to the neighboring community Prutting with his brothers. In 2014 the family received an honorable mention from the Hypo Cultural Foundation for the successful renovation of their new multigenerational domicile in the historic Zenzmühle in Bad Endorf.
He is also an avid sportsman active in: kayaking, snowboarding, skiing - mainly telemark, paragliding (for which he got his pilot’s license in summer of 2008), mountain climbing, and Bavarian folk dancing in the Trachtenverein. He still plays the tuba, but no longer with the Jungen Riederinger - as he doesn’t have time for this anymore. He now practices with his band the “Riederinger Geigenmusi”, where his sisters Susanne and Isabella play the violins, and until January 2012 also in his role as police commissioner Franz Kappl in the popular TV-series “Tatort” in Saarbrücken.
In 2007 Maximilian Brückner was a member of the jury for the section Bayernfenster [Window into Bavaria] of the 14. Regensburger Short Film Festival, and he was also a member of the jury responsible for the CineVision Award of the 25. Munich Filmfest, and at the 27. Munich Filmfest 2009 together with Oscar-winning director Caroline Link (“Nowhere in Africa”) and producer Uli Aselmann (“Winter Journey”, “Little White Lies”) he was part of the jury for the Young German Cinema Award.
In the summer of 2011, he had an accident during the renovation of his own farm, the historic Zenzmühle, tearing the ligaments in the knee. So parts of his meniscus had to be removed, and therefore some of his film projects were then canceled, or at least postponed.
His directorial debut with the play “Magdalena” by Ludwig Thoma premiered on February 23, 2012 at the Munich Volkstheater. His brother Florian was cast in the lead.
In November 2012 he married his long-time girlfriend Magdalena, a mid-wife by profession and in her free time harp player of the Riederinger Geigenmusi, with the church wedding following in summer 2013 in a double date with his brother Dominikus and Maria. Early April 2017 Maximilian and Magdalena became parents for the first time, blessed with a daughter. In late 2019 a second daughter was born. In 2023 they welcomed their third child.
In autumn 2023 Maxi announced a screenwriting partnership with Linus Herbig-Matten - their first project will be a TV series based on Ludwig Thoma's Bavarian “Lausbubengeschichten”.
I wonder what Maxi will be doing next ....