Management at the Deutsches Theater (DT) said Anne Kulbatski was recovering in hospital with stab wounds. Passersby and staff overwhelmed the assailant who attacked the 28-year-old actress with a knife on Tuesday night.

Kulbatzki had just emerged from the theater before the attack occurred. The "Berliner Zeitung" (BZ) newspaper claimed the attacker was a stalker.

In a press statement Wednesday, DT management said it was horrified by the attack on Kulbatzki and wished her a good recovery.

Before the attack, Kulbatzki was performing in "The Thermal Resistance," a well-received drama authored by Ferdinand Schmalz and directed by Matthias Rippert about unrest in spa resort bathhouse as neo-liberal developers try to turn it into a wellness temple. She plays the part of Maria, an adviser (pictured above).

In 2014, the Berlin-born Kulbatzki won a prize for best up-and-coming actress.

Tuesday's stabbing comes one year after Cologne's then-mayoral candidate Henriette Reker survived a stabbing in broad daylight.

Reker was subsequently elected mayor. Her attacker was jailed in July for 14 years.