Hollywood celebrities dominate Germany’s gossip magazines, but the country has a batch of its own homegrown celebrities, too. Whereas some stars, including the super models Claudia Schiffer and Heidi Klum and the Hollywood director Roland Emmerich, have earned international recognition, others may get the VIP treatment in Germany, but go unnoticed in other parts of the world. Get to know the names of the bold-faced names in Germany at the moment and you will feel more like a local.

Television

With his shock of blond hair and preference for velvet, patent leather and bright patterns, Thomas Gottschalk tries his hardest to stand out from the crowd. When he isn’t hanging out in his castle along the Rhine or his house in Malibu, he hosts a beloved German television show that broadcasts about twice a year. Wetten, dass…? (Bet that…?) is a live interview/talent show that dominates the ratings every time it broadcasts. Gottschalk also appears in dozens of commercials. Other small screen personalities include two late night talk-show hosts: the goofy host of TV Total, Stefan Raab, and the David Letterman-esque host of Die Harald Schmidt Show.

Film

With her brief appearance as Jason Bourne’s love interest in the Bourne Identity, Franke Potente was the most famous German actor to successfully cross over into Hollywood–until Diane Kruger came along. The model-turned-actress Her breakout role was Lola in Tom Tykwer’s art house hit Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run). She played a red-head who spent most of the film running through the newly reunified Berlin.  Since then, the Westphalia native has become a regular in German and European hits, including the horror film series Anatomie and the enigmatic Elementarteilchen (The Elementary Particles). She was also on the television series House. Recently, Diane Kruger, who was born Diane Heidkrüger in a small town near Hildesheim, has become the latest actress to take Hollywood by storm.

Born in East Germany, the talented Armin Müller Stahl has appeared in dozens of Hollywood films, as well as the television series West Wing and X-Files. When he acts in German productions, he goes for meaty characters, such as the novelist Thomas Mann and, most recently, the main character in the film based on Mann’s novel, Buddenbrooks.  Other well-known German actors include Daniel Brühl, who starred in the Oscar-nominated Goodbye Lenin! and Inglorious Basterds, and the prolific Moritz Bleibtreu, the son of the late German actor Monica Bleibtreu.

Sports

The seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher, Schumi for short, reigns is the country’s most famous athlete. Retired from tennis for decades, the red-haired Boris Becker manages to stay in the gossip magazines thanks to his regular appearances on television commercials and his well-documented affairs. A Munich nightlife regular, you could easily run into him at one of the city’s swankier bars. Soccer, of course, supplies Germany with plenty of celebrities. One of the most famous footballer is the tall, dark and handsome ex-captain of the National Soccer team, Michael Ballack. Once a striker, he’s now a celebrity endorser on television commercials. Regarded as one of the best soccer players of all time, the long-retired Franz Beckenbauer appears everywhere–on the front page of the sports pages, in television commercials and in the VIP section of high-profile soccer matches.

Fashion

Heidi Klum, of course, is Germany’s most famous fashion model. The Project Runway host and wife of the singer Seal, spends most of her time in New York and Los Angeles, but she also makes appearances in her hometown of Bergisch Gladbach, a small town northwest of Cologne. She is the spokesperson for McDonald’s in Germany.

Music

Other than Die Ärzte, Die Toten Hosen, Rammstein and Nena’s 99 Luftballoons, Germany hasn’t produced many bands of international note. One exception is the teen pop sensation Tokio Hotel, which hails from Magdeburg. Other well-known names in the music scene include Xavier Naidoo, an R&B artist with a velvety singing voice, Fettes Brot, a rap trio a la the Beastie Boys and the Turkish-German rapper Kool Savas.