Music

For centuries, music has been one of the most powerful forms of human expression - a unifying element between cultures, generations and individual lives. It creates order and emotion at the same time, conveying comfort, structure and inspiration. Whether in the simplicity of a single theme or in the complexity of a fugue: music shows how clear patterns give rise to living energy. It accompanies us in our everyday lives, shapes our memories and opens up spaces for inner reflection. Especially in a time when many things have become fast-paced, music remains a reliable anchor that guides, moves and connects people - from baroque sounds to modern compositions.

Johann Sebastian Bach - Order, attitude and the foundation of our music

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Johann Sebastian Bach Portrait

As a child and teenager, I grew up in a family of musicians. Both my parents are music teachers. My mother plays the flute, my father the piano. Music was not a decorative background in our home, but a natural part of everyday life. We practiced, taught, discussed, sometimes even wrestled. Sheet music was laid out on the piano, not in the cupboard.

I played the piano myself, and later also the saxophone. And like so many people who go through classical training, I ended up with Johann Sebastian Bach at some point - more specifically the first prelude from the „Well-Tempered Clavier“. I can still play it. Maybe not flawlessly, I would have to practise again. But the structure of this piece is still with me today. This calm sequence of broken chords, the clear harmony, the self-evident order - even as a pupil you can sense that something important is happening here. This portrait is dedicated to my mother on her 70th birthday, who made it possible for me to take piano lessons at that time.

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Helge Schneider: Attitude, humor and the freedom of not having to explain yourself

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Helge Schneider Portrait

I noticed Helge Schneider very early on. Not because he was particularly loud or pushed himself to the fore - on the contrary. It was this peculiar mixture of intelligent absurdity, linguistic sideways thinking and musical matter-of-factness that stuck with me. Something about it seemed different right from the start. Unexcited. Unimpressed. And above all: not in need of explanation.

This portrait is therefore not a fan text. Nor is it an ironic wink or an attempt to pigeonhole Helge Schneider into a cultural category. Rather, it is an attempt to look at a personality who has consistently resisted any form of appropriation for decades - and who shows attitude precisely because of this.

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What our grandfathers told us about the war - and why these voices are missing today

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War memories of the grandfathers

There is a lot of talk about war. In the news, talk shows, commentaries, social media. Hardly any other topic is so present - and at the same time so strangely abstract. Figures, maps, frontlines, expert assessments. We know where something is happening, who is involved and what is at stake. What is almost completely missing are the voices of those who have experienced war rather than declared it.

Perhaps it is because these voices are slowly falling silent. But perhaps it is also because we have forgotten how to listen to them.

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More than punk: Nina Hagen, Cosma Shiva and the art of not letting yourself be taken in

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Portrait of Nina and Cosma Shiva Hagen

When you approach a portrait of Nina Hagen, it's tempting to talk about music first. About punk, provocation, shrill performances. About everything that is loud and visible. This portrait deliberately begins differently. Not with songs, not with styles, not with images. But with something quieter - and more important: attitude.

Attitude is not a label. It cannot be put on like a costume, pasted on afterwards or explained with marketing. Attitude is evident in early behavior, long before someone becomes famous. It can be seen in how someone reacts to limitations, to contradictions, to power. And this is where Nina Hagen becomes interesting - not as an icon, but as a personality.

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Dieter Hallervorden - More than Didi: Portrait of an uncomfortable free spirit

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Dieter Hallervorden and the Wühlmäuse in Berlin

There are figures that stick to you for the rest of your life. Some like an ill-fitting suit, others like an old friend who keeps popping in without being asked. In Dieter Hallervorden's case, this friend is called „Didi“. And he doesn't ring, he bangs. On an imaginary gong. Palim, Palim! - and almost everyone knows who is meant.

But this is where the misunderstanding begins. Because anyone who reduces Dieter Hallervorden to this one moment, to the slapstick act, the stumbling face and the exaggerated naivety, misses the real person behind it. The joker was always just the surface. Underneath was a mind that was more alert than many gave him credit for - and a character who never liked to be told where to go. This portrait is therefore not a nostalgic look back at the television entertainment of past decades. It is an attempt to take seriously an artist who deliberately did not want to be taken seriously for decades - which is precisely why he was so effective.

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Jan-Josef Liefers: A portrait of attitude, origins and artistic freedom

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Jan-Josef Liefers

When you see Jan-Josef Liefers today as the eccentric Professor Boerne in „Tatort“, it's easy to forget how long it took to get there. I myself have always enjoyed seeing him in this role: as a mixture of subtlety, narcissism, humor and astonishing clarity. But this mixture doesn't come out of nowhere. It is the result of a life that began in a completely different Germany - in the GDR, in a country with narrow borders and clear guidelines.

To understand why Liefers takes such a consistent stance today, you have to go back to his childhood, to his parents' theater world and to a time when criticism of the system was anything but without consequences.

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Why Dieter Bohlen speaks when others remain silent: A portrait of diligence and clarity

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There are personalities that you only really understand when you detach yourself from their public image. Dieter Bohlen belongs exactly in this category. Musically, I myself am not a big fan of his shallow, often very simple melodies - and yet, to be fair, it has to be said that what he created was extremely precise, target group-oriented and clearly structured for the 1980s. Bohlen was never the great artist in the romantic sense. But he was an outstanding businessman, a hard worker and someone who understood his craft in a way that few do today.

What makes him interesting for me is not so much his music - but the fact that he remained successful for decades, while whole generations of artists came and went around him. And that today - after many years of silence - he is suddenly taking a clear stand on social issues. This is the reason why it is worth looking at Dieter Bohlen as a person beyond the usual media image: not as a pop titan, not as a TV pundit, but as a craftsman, businessman and mirror of a time that understands itself less and less.

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Dieter Bohlen in plain language: Why Germany is failing because of its own bureaucracy

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Dieter Bohlen in conversation with Dominik Kettner

This article highlights a recent, remarkably candid conversation between Dieter Bohlen - the longtime music producer, entrepreneur and one of the most recognizable faces of German pop culture - and Dominik Kettner, a precious metals expert, YouTuber and financial entrepreneur who has been studying wealth protection and economic trends for years.

At first glance, the meeting of the two seems unusual: here the entertainer with decades of international experience, there the financial analyst who primarily addresses security-conscious savers and entrepreneurs. But it is precisely this mixture that makes the interview so exciting. Bohlen speaks freely, without a PR filter, while Kettner drills down and makes complex developments tangible. Together, they create a space in which undesirable political developments, economic risks and personal experiences are interwoven - clearly, directly and without excuses.

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