About me

 

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Thinking for oneself is not selfish.

Those who do not think for themselves do not think at all.

Oscar Wilde

 

 

Born in Hamburg in 1950, I have been enjoying life in the Touraine region of France since 2009. I suppose that’s what they call retirement. For me, however, it has little to do with ‘retirement’ and more to do with being active: tending the garden, the house and the yard; singing along to the guitar and even writing a song or two myself; meeting friends; and taking part in the social and cultural life of the small, vibrant, cosmopolitan town of Richelieu, where I have lived since 2025 with my French wife, Claudie Pront. Before that, we lived for a long time in the nearby little village of Tavant.

 

 

It was here that I resumed my video work and, as a sort of town chronicler, documented village life. Only I didn’t write the stories down; I filmed them. I called it ‘videography’. I deliberately used the old ‘ph’ spelling, because it’s done in a traditional, tranquil way.

 

 

When I first learnt about the work of the Zeitzeugenbörse in Hamburg in 2006, my commitment to the work of eyewitnesses and the video documentation of their stories began: they recount their experiences under National Socialism. There are not many left who can provide first-hand accounts of this. This made it all the more important for me to record the stories of those who were still able to speak about that period, particularly in Hamburg. For me, this was a contribution to preserving our collective memory.

 

We can only understand history if we know about people’s lives, their everyday existence, and their perception of political and social processes.

 

 

In my previous life in Hamburg, after studying education and social sciences, I worked as a sociologist, project manager and lecturer in adult education. I spent the bulk of my working life at the "Stiftung Berufliche Bildung". As an institution of the City of Hamburg, we used federal funding to provide vocational training to people who were unemployed or at risk of unemployment, and to get them back into the labour market. Ironically, it then affected me personally when public funding began to dry up and our foundation had to downsize radically. But I was lucky: due to my advanced age, I was able to take early retirement and had time to undertake further training in video technology.

 

The way was clear for Touraine...

 

 

My friend, Josef Mönninghoff – management consultant, everyday philosopher and painter – says: “Everything is new when I look at it anew.” So, let’s get going. Let’s look at and rediscover the world, others and ourselves anew, whenever we feel like a change of pace, a bit of variety and something new. I’m up for it.

 

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