Heinz Ratz

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Heinz Ratz (born July 16, 1968 in Bad Godesberg ) is a German poet , writer and songwriter .

Heinz Ratz (2014)

Life

Heinz Ratz was born in Bonn in 1968 as the son of a German doctor and a Peruvian of Indian origin. He spent his early childhood in Peru , Wegberg (North Rhine-Westphalia), Dortmund and Saragossa (Spain). At the age of 6 he started school in Ehingen (Danube) . At the age of 8 an odyssey began via Tabuk (Saudi Arabia), Amman (Jordan), Lima (Peru), La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland) to Waldshut (Baden-Württemberg). Another 40 moves and sixteen school changes followed. Together with his parents and later also alone he has lived in 8 different countries.

As an adolescent, he was particularly influenced by his stay in the slums of Peru and Argentina . Ratz had to leave most of the schools, boarding schools and homes because of "authority problems". At the age of 18 - back in Germany - he decided to drop out of school after the twelfth grade. After conscientious objection to military service and community service, Ratz lived on the streets for a year and tried to earn a living as a street artist, with Spanish translations and in independent theater groups. Stations during this time were mainly Bonn , Pforzheim , Augsburg and Bremen . In 1994 he began to set his own lyric texts to music and taught himself to play the bass. At that time he lived mainly in Glasgow , Karlsruhe and Heidelberg . After the birth of his first child, he endeavored to market and organize his art more seriously.

In 2002 Ratz founded the band Strom & Wasser as a songwriter, singer and bassist . With this formation he played more than 1500 concerts in almost 10 years. His music is characterized by changing line-ups and a high musical range. It's often referred to as a wild mix of ska, punk, polka, waltz, and rock, with a heavily cabaret list. At the same time, Ratz has been initiating projects for human rights and environmental protection for years. Heinz Ratz currently lives in Kiel (as of July 2015).

Moral triathlon

In 2008, Heinz Ratz started the Moral Triathlon with the first stage - The run against the cold.

The run against the cold

This action against the cold in the heart began in January 2008 and was deliberately held in the coldest month of the year. Heinz Ratz covered the 1,000-kilometer route from Dortmund to Munich, including many detours, on foot. Many people joined him and some musicians supported him with guest appearances, e.g. B. the songwriters Stoppok , Wenzel and Götz Widmann and the cabaret artists Anka Zink , Gerburg Jahnke , Arnulf Rating and Bodo Wartke . During this time he played more than 30 concerts, the net proceeds of which went to various homeless organizations.

The leeward of the rivers

In the following year, Ratz swam stretches of the largest German rivers to promote species protection and to collect donations. In total it was more than 800 kilometers that he covered by swimming. Sections of 20 to 30 kilometers were not uncommon. After swimming, he gave concerts in the evening in which he informed the audience about the situation in the rivers. After 52 concerts in 52 cities, he went ashore in Kiel in August and thus ended the second stage of the moral triathlon. He was supported again by many artists, u. a. by Konstantin Wecker and Manfred Maurenbrecher . All collected donations went to regional species protection projects and the environmental and nature conservation organization BUND - The Lee (h) re of the rivers.

The tour of the 1000 bridges

The third stage took place in close cooperation with Pro Asyl and the German refugee councils. He rode a total of 7,000 kilometers across Germany on his bicycle to encourage human interaction. He asked refugees to take part on stage, but again had well-known supporters, such as B. Hannes Wader or Dota . Together with his band Strom & Wasser and many refugees, improvisations on this tour resulted in many new songs. Ratz set an audible signal for the respectful treatment of those in need and refugees. On this tour he stopped in almost 70 cities and visited the camps established there. Ratz reported on the harrowing images in countless press conferences and on stage in the evening. All collected donations went to PRO ASYL .

Strom & Wasser feat. THE REFUGEES

During the tour of the 1000 bridges, Ratz had met countless people in the refugee camps who were famous musicians in their countries of origin, but who often couldn't even afford an instrument behind the walls of the refugee camps. Ratz invited the musicians to Hamburg for a joint CD production. A tour with the new project was planned at the same time. Strom & Wasser feat. THE REFUGEES gave their first concert in Osnabrück on April 20th, 2012 despite countless hurdles such as travel bans and problems with the immigration authorities . Another 150 concerts followed in front of more than 200,000 spectators. In summer 2013 the second CD Freedom is a Paradise was recorded. The band with their fellow musicians from abroad soon caused a sensation.

Politicians also reacted to Heinz Ratz's commitment. On October 24, 2012 he was awarded the Integration Medal by the Federal Government . The medal honors people who have made a special contribution to integration through outstanding personal commitment . He was proposed for this honor by the two Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen politicians Jürgen Trittin and Renate Künast . This was followed by international press releases ( Great Britain , USA , Brazil , South Korea ) and many radio interviews and TV reports, often one hour long, and even a cinema documentary with the title “Can't be silent”. With this film, the director Julia Oelkers achieved a mixture of music film and politically committed documentary. The film was awarded the DGB film prize.

Escape ship - the big summer raft tour 2014 for and with refugee women

Ratz regretted that the projects were mostly men. After more than 150 visits to German refugee camps, he found that the main victims are very often women fleeing alone or with their children. For this reason, Ratz took up the refugee topic again in 2014: On July 14, 2014, Ratz set off on the 2014 summer raft tour with his band Strom & Wasser, volunteers and refugee women. With two self-built rafts that were converted into refugee boats, the collective first drove down the Main , Neckar and Rhine and then along the Mittelland Canal to Berlin . The vulnerability of these means of transport in direct contrast to the luxury yachts and excursion steamers of the inland waters used for tourism drew attention to the dramatic situation of refugees in general. The concerts that take place in the evenings highlighted the particularly tragic and threatening situation of fleeing women and children. This tour was also organized and implemented in close cooperation with PRO ASYL and the state refugee councils. In addition to the concerts, a children's program with clowns, artists and puppeteers took place in the refugee accommodation in the afternoon. Artists like Sarah Connor and Dota performed together with refugee women and the band Strom & Wasser in the evening.

Offensive culture office

Ten years after their Antifa tour, Heinz Ratz and Konstantin Wecker founded the “Office for Offensive Culture”, a musical intervention force for humanity and democracy. As early as 2017, Ratz and his band Strom & Wasser gave 165 free-entry concerts, only on a donation basis, and mainly in politically "difficult" regions in order to present the BOK and to create a network of supporters.

Books

  • 1993: doubly loud, poems
  • 1994: Dance Death! Heinz Ratz! The clocks hammer !, poems
  • 2000: On the brink of all good reasons, poems
  • 2000: The great pregnancy, short stories
  • 2003: Hitler's last speech: a bitter satire
  • 2004: The Raven City, epic
  • 2004: Apocalyptic songs, poems
  • 2005: The man who stood still, 30 monstrous stories
  • 2006: tour stories, short stories
  • 2010: ... to be there for your resistance: a lyrical carousel of defiance, consolation, love and relationships
  • 2013: The love of Dr. Leik, fantastic stories
  • 2017: Taumel is my life, poems

Discography

The following albums were published by the Berlin music label Traumton Records .

  • 1993: Krakatit - beautiful area
  • 1994: Krakatit - throwing up joy
  • 1998: Krakatit - Gray man dances
  • 1999: Krakatit - The Devil travels first class
  • 2004: Strom & Wasser - Randfigurenkabinett
  • 2005: Electricity & Water - Doesn't matter
  • 2006: Electricity & Water - Gossenhauer
  • 2007: Electricity & water - color cool
  • 2008: Electricity & Water - Live in Rudolstadt
  • 2009: Electricity & Water - Emotional Design
  • 2010: Electricity & Water - Moonpunk
  • 2011: Heinz Ratz - Billy the Kid, the resurrection of a western hero
  • 2012: Strom & Wasser featuring THE REFUGEES
  • 2013: Electricity & Water featuring THE REFUGEES - Freedom is a paradise
  • 2014: Electricity & Water - Anticool
  • 2016: Electricity & Water - Reykjavík
  • 2016: Electricity & Water - Heartwash
  • 2019: Electricity & water - falling and rising

Experimental audio books

  • 2002: I'm Accused of the Rainbow, Anti-War Poetry
  • 2002: The RR project, texts by Lutz Rathenow
  • 2002: the invented life, texts by Dieter Wellershoff
  • 2006: Does your clock light up at night ?, texts by Klabund
  • 2010: Ratz reads Ratz, Tour Stories & The Great Pregnancy
  • 2015: Die Kieler Blechmusikanten, a staged reading with 13 cars, texts by Heinz Ratz

Awards

Heinz Ratz received several awards with electricity & water:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.traumton.de/label/artists/?id=ratz& accessed on June 11, 2015
  2. ↑ laut.de accessed on July 4, 2015
  3. ↑ http://www.traumton.de/label/artists/?id=ratz& accessed on July 4, 2015
  4. ↑ strom-wasser.de ( memento from January 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on July 4, 2015
  5. ↑ The run against the cold ( memento of the original from August 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.laufgegendiekaelte.de
  6. ↑ triggerfish.de Run against the cold . Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ bund.net accessed on July 4, 2015
  8. ↑ flussprojekt.de . Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  9. ↑ bund.net ( memento of January 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  10. ↑ http://www.flussprojekt.de/
  11. ↑ Interview Radio Saarbrücken . Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  12. ↑ Report on the tour of the 1000 bridges . Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  13. ↑ http://www.1000bruecken.de/the-refugees/ accessed on July 4, 2015
  14. ↑ Interview on deutschlandradiokultur.de accessed on August 7, 2014
  15. ↑ proasyl.de . Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  16. ↑ a b bundesregierung.de ( Memento of the original from June 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved August 5, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundesregierung.de
  17. ↑ 1000bruecken.de . Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  18. ^ Documentary film Can't be silent . Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  19. ↑ dgb.de . Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  20. ↑ Summer raft tour 2014
  21. ↑ fluchtschiff.de . Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  22. ↑ fluchtschiff.de , accessed on April 1, 2019
  23. ↑ Home. In: Office for Offensive Culture. June 2, 2016, accessed on May 13, 2019 (German).
  24. ^ The German poetry library . Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  25. ↑ traumton.de accessed on August 7, 2014
  26. ↑ liederbestenliste.de ( Memento of the original from April 1, 2019 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.liederbestenliste.de
  27. ↑ schallplattenkritik.de accessed on August 5, 2014
  28. ↑ schallplattenkritik.de accessed on August 5, 2014
  29. ↑ schallplattenkritik.de accessed on August 5, 2014
  30. ↑ liederbestenliste.de ( Memento of the original from February 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on January 2, 2015  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.liederbestenliste.de
personal data
SURNAME Ratz, Heinz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German poet, writer and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH bad Godesberg