Runze started his career at the age of 23 as an actor. But already at 26 he was manager of the avantgardistic "Theater in the British Center". Later he worked as a writer and director for dubbing foreign movies to German. His first jobs as director were at various theaters in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. In parallel he started to make movies himself, 1972 he took over the aurora television in Hamburg. His first big success as director was Der Lord von Barmbeck (1974), for which he got his first Bundesfilmpreis (German federal movie award). His two following movies concluded the trilogy and again brought him awards. These films, as most of his work, focused on crime, guilt and penance. In his movies he questions justice of governmental judgment, points out flaws in imprisonment and in our view of criminals.