Justus von Dohnányi

Born in Lübeck, von Dohnányi is the son of conductor Christoph von Dohnányi and actress Renate Zillessen and a member of the well-known Dohnányi family. His grandfather was Hans von Dohnanyi, German jurist and German resistance fighter and his great-uncle was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran pastor and a co-founder of the Confessing Church, both of whom were executed by the Third Reich. His great-grandfather was Ernst von Dohnányi, a notable composer of Hungarian origin.

Dohnányi studied acting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. He appeared on the legitimate stage in Hamburg, Zürich, and Frankfurt before working in television, where he appeared in several television movies.

He appeared in the 2004 film Downfall (German: Der Untergang) as Wilhelm Burgdorf. He had a prominent role in the 2001 movie The Experiment as a prison guard, opposite Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel, who also appeared in Downfall. He received the 2001 Lola for Best Supporting Actor. In 2014 he appears alongside Matt Damon, Jean Dujardin and others in the movie The Monuments Men. He is featured in the 2015 film Woman in Gold as the representative of the Belvedere Gallery who attempts to keep the title-painting, stolen by the Nazis, from being returned to its rightful owner, Maria Altmann.