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Furtwängler is the great-niece and step-granddaughter of conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler. She was raised in a middle-class family by her parents: her father Bernhard Furtwängler was an architect, and her mother Kathrin Ackermann an actress. At eight years old, she made her first on-screen appearance in the film "Zum Farewell Chrysanthemums," directed by her uncle Florian Furtwängler. Her early acting training was provided by her mother and Elionor Hofmann. After completing high school, Furtwängler studied medicine, earned her doctorate, and practiced as a doctor in Munich. However, she soon returned to her passion for acting. Maria Furtwängler gained widespread recognition through the successful TV series "The Happy Family."
From 1987 to 1990, she portrayed "Katja" alongside Maria Schell and Siegfried Rauch. In 1991, she married publisher Dr. Hubert Burda, with whom she had a son and a daughter in 1990 and 1992. In 1995, she starred in the romantic comedy "Three Women and (no) a Man." Beginning in 1996, she appeared in the pediatric series "Hello, Uncle Doc!" and also played Walter Sitter's wife in the family series "Two to Fall in Love" and "Lust auf Liebe" alongside Peter Sattmann. She continued to appear in comedies, TV series, romantic melodramas, and crime shows such as "Der Alte," "Fahnder," and "Siska," where she established herself further. Between 1997 and 1998, she featured in "Cape of Good Hope" and "Herzflimmern," directed by Dieter Kehler, based on Barbara Wood's book. The 1999 melodrama "Dir zu Liebe," directed by Hans Werner, attracted significant attention. In 2000, she starred in "The Eighth Deadly Sin - Ghost Hunt," playing the head of a police department investigating cigarette smuggling.
That same year, she appeared in the romantic melodrama "Happiness is an Island." In 2001, she took on the role of chief detective Charlotte Lindholm in the acclaimed ARD crime series "Tatort." In 2002, she received the Jupiter Award from the cinema magazine "Cinema" for the most successful television film of the year for the "Tatort" episode "Lastrumer Misch." Also in 2002, she starred in the marital drama "Too Close to the Fire" alongside Michael Mendel, portraying a woman who risks her relationship through an affair. Beyond acting, Maria Furtwängler became known for her involvement in various social projects, focusing on combating cancer, violence against children, and fighting disease and poverty in the Third World. In 2003, she was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for her dedication to the aid organization "Doctors for the Third World."
In 2005, Maria Furtwängler received the Siegfried Lowitz Prize in recognition of her theater and acting achievements.
