Karoline Herfurth was born in Berlin on May 22nd 1984. While still in school, she gathered her first acting experiences in TV productions, followed by her screen debut in Hans-Christian Schmids acclaimed youth drama "Crazy" in 2000.

The following year, Karoline Herfurth got her first leading role in the coming-of-age comedy "Mädchen, Mädchen" directed by Dennis Gansel. Made in the vein of American teen comedies, the film became a box-office hit and was followed by the sequel "Mädchen, Mädchen 2 – Loft oder Liebe" in 2004. Before reprising her role, Herfurth played one of the leads in the drama "Große Mädchen weinen nicht" (2002), appeared in the period piece "Mein Name ist Bach" (2003) and graduated from school.

In Buket Alakus" "Eine andere Liga" (2005), Herfurth plays the role of Hayat, a girl of German-Turkish descent, who is raised in Hamburg by her widowed father. Hayat is an accomplished and passionate soccer player, but when a cancer tumour leads to the amputation of one of her breasts, her life on and off the field is thrown into turmoil. With her subtle portrayal of a young woman who slowly regains her physical and emotional balance and finds love along the way, Karoline Herfurth established herself as one of the most versatile young actresses in German Cinema. Critics unanimously praised the film and its star, and in 2008, the cast and crew of "Eine andere Liga" were presented with a Grimme Award.

Next, Herfurth made a memorable appearance as a tragic peasant girl in Tom Tykwer"s lavishly produced adaptation of Patrick Süskind"s bestseller "Das Parfüm – Die Geschichte eines Mörders". This was followed by parts in the nostalgic erotic comedy "Pornorama oder die Bekenntnisse der mannstollen Näherin Rita Brauchts" (2007) and the award-winning screen adaptation of "Peer Gynt" (2006). In 2006, she also joined the ensemble of Hans-Christoph Blumenberg"s TV-mini series "Die Kinder der Flucht".

The 2008 TV-drama "Das Wunder von Berlin" saw Karoline Herfurth playing an East-German girl whose boyfriend is targeted by the secret police of the GDR. In "Im Winter ein Jahr", directed by Academy Award winner Caroline Link, she stars alongside Sepp Bierbichler und Corinna Harfouch as the traumatized sister of a boy who died in an accident. For this role she was awarded Preis der deutschen Filmkritik and Bayerischer Filmpreis. Also in 2008, she was cast in a supporting role for the internaional, star-studded production "The Reader", which is based on the eponymous novel by Bernhard Schlink.

In the same year she finished her studies at the Ernst Busch acting school in Berlin and began to study social sciences.

In 2009, she starred in a leading role in "Berlin 36": Based on a true story, Herfurth played a Jewish athlete who was forced by the Nazis to compete for the German team at the 1936 Olympic Games because threatened by a US boycott the Nazis had to admit several Jews to the team. In 2010, after a role as an anorexic in the succesful road movie "Vincent will Meer", Caroline Herfurth played a leading role in Dennis Gansel"s vampire drama "Wir sind die Nacht", in which she involuntarily joins a group of female vampires under the guidance of Nina Hoss.