He made an impression on the Austrians as the butcher Karl Bockerer in Franz Antel’s films and as Edmund “Mundl” Sackbauer in Reinhard Schwabenitzky’s TV series “A real Viennese doesn’t go under”: two rough but warm-hearted proletarians.
In his more than 150 stage roles, Merkatz played mainly Nestroy, Raimund and Shakespeare characters. In the course of his career, Merkatz appeared in more than 250 film and television productions, making local film and television history.