In 2003, Catterfeld made her musical breakthrough when her fifth single, "Für dich", became an international number-one hit and produced the equally successful album Meine Welt.

Catterfeld continued booking success with follow-up albums Farben meiner Welt (2004) and Unterwegs (2005), which spawned the hit singles "Du hast mein Herz gebrochen" and "Glaub an mich".

Following her departure from GZSZ and a starring role in the short-living telenovela Sophie – Braut wider Willen, she released her fourth album Aura, which was less successful commercially and led to a decline in her musical career.

[2] After her high school graduation from Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium in Erfurt, she relocated to Leipzig to study pop and jazz at the Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Theatre for two years.

[3] After her studies in Leipzig, Catterfeld participated in the second season of the MDR singing competition series Stimme 2000, where she performed under her short-lived pseudonym Vivianne.

[5] A critics' favorite, she finished second in the competition, losing to duo UC, consisting of singers Danny Heims and Kathrin Jantke, both of whom failed to sign a recording deal after the final show.

[4] Catterfeld, on the other hand, earned a management and recording contract with BMG sub-label Hansa Music by Stimme 2000 jury member and label boss Thomas Stein.

Though generally unenthusiastic about an acting career at the time, Catterfeld accepted RTL's offer to join the cast as character Julia Blum.

[14] In October 2003, Mariah Carey invited Catterfeld to be the opening act for the German leg of her Charmbracelet World Tour in Hamburg, Berlin, and Munich.

[15] Also in 2003, Catterfeld hosted the MDR singing competition Lucky Star 2003,[16] and became a regular co-host on the music event series The Dome.

[18] "Du hast mein Herz gebrochen", the lead single from her second album, was released in January 2004 and became another number-one success for Catterfeld.

[14] Mousse T., Walter Afanasieff, and Max Herre contributed to the project which took Catterfeld's work further into the R&B genre and introduced an adult contemporary edge to her pop sound.

[24] The same year, Catterfeld made a cameo appearance as herself in Til Schweiger's Rabbit Without Ears, which became a surprise box-office hit and has since ranked among the most successful German films in Germany since the beginning of the audience census in 1968.

[28] Volcano [de], a two-part disaster film about volcanic caldera lake Laacher See, was broadcast to generally mixed reviews from critics.

[29] Engel sucht Liebe, a Christmas comedy film, inspired by Wim Wenders's Wings of Desire (1987), was broadcast to moderate ratings.

[30] Also in 2009, Catterfeld had a minor role in Lilly the Witch: The Dragon and the Magic Book, a children's film directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, and again played herself in Til Schweiger's Rabbit Without Ears 2.

[9] Also in 2010, Catterfeld appeared in the Sat.1 television film Die Frau des Schläfers, in which she played a call centre operator, whose son is abducted by his Iran father.

[34] Catterfeld portrayed a soap opera actress in Dani Levy's comedy film Life Is Too Long [de], which received a theatrical release in late 2010.

[39] Catterfeld reunited with Stephan Luca for Am Ende die Hoffnung (2010), a romantic drama revolving around German submarine U-864 in World War II.

[14] Catterfeld rejected the offer to appear in Fast & Furious 6 (2013) to portray a princess in the Franco-German romantic film Beauty and the Beast starring Léa Seydoux and Vincent Cassel.

[51] Based on a treatment by Irish novelist Cecelia Ahern, the films were broadcast to strong ratings as part of ZDF's Herzkino series.

[14] Her rendition of Andreas Bourani's song "Hey" reached the top twenty in Germany based on downloads alone and became highest-charting release in years.

[56][57] Catterfeld starred alongside Eliza Bennett, Rosemary Harris, and Matthew Macfadyen in the international co-production The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music, released in November 2015.