Married his wife Dana Vávrová in the hospital while she was already in labor
with their first daughter in order to have the child being born with
German citizenship. Daughter Janina Vilsmaier was born only 10 minutes
later.
Born in Munich. Vilsmaier attended a boarding school near Augsburg. He then trained as a technician to make film cameras, and studied piano at the Musikhochschule München.
He is internationally known for films such as Comedian Harmonists (1997) and Stalingrad (1993).