Haußmann was the theatre director of the city theatre in
Bochum (
Schauspielhaus Bochum). He also wrote and acted in several plays (1995–2000), and had a role in the
Detlev Buck film Jailbirds (1996). His feature film breakthrough came with Sonnenallee in 1999. His second feature, Herr Lehmann, followed in 2003.[2] His production of Die Fledermaus in
Munich was controversial, compounding the trouble surrounding his production of Peter Pan. As a result, his scheduled production of Romeo and Juliet was cancelled.