Burkhard Hennen

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Burkhard Hennen (born May 31, 1946 in Oedt (Grefrath) ) is a former operator of a culture bar, organizer of jazz festivals and jazz producer. Since 1972, Hennen has directed the internationally renowned Moers International New Jazz Festival on the Lower Rhine for 34 years , also known as the Moers Festival from 1993 , which is one of the most important jazz festivals in the world.

life and work

Hennen attended the Adolfinum Moers grammar school , where he was the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper "Brille". After graduating from high school, he began to study law at the Ruhr University in Bochum and later devoted himself full-time to music. As part of the 1968 student movement, he took part in peaceful demonstrations in Moers against the Springer press and against the school system criticized as authoritarian .

The tube

In order to have a room for political discussions with like-minded people, he and friends rented the empty warehouse of a former hat factory for 800 DM annually in 1968, which had belonged to the Jewish Kahn family until the expropriation (" Aryanization ") during the Nazi era . However, the rent exceeded the budget of the young people, so they wanted to offset the expenses by running a pub. An advisor from the local savings bank granted them a loan of DM 10,000 for the renovation, despite the lack of collateral. On October 11, 1968, Hennen opened a music and culture bar in Moers with Reiner Lindemann and Poncho Schuhmacher. Hennen and Lindemann knew each other from visiting the Adolfinum together , Lindemann was the student representative of this grammar school at the time. They called the bar that still exists today because of its elongated floor plan, Die Röhre . The subtitle “Local and forum for cultural and political discussion” explicitly referred to the political and emancipatory claim. Jazz music, preferably free jazz, was played there as background music and during live music evenings .

After disputes with the brewery and differences of opinion with his colleagues, Hennen took over the operation of the culture bar in 1970. Lindemann finished his law studies and later became a judge. In 1972 Hennen rented the bar and concentrated on organizing the cultural program. In the early years, up to 300 events of all kinds took place in the tube each year. Well-known artists included Kraftwerk , Hanns Dieter Hüsch , Franz Josef Degenhardt , Dieter Süverkrüp and Max von der Grün . Since the then Mayor of Moers Albin Neuse had his apartment across from the tube and was disturbed by the noise in his night's sleep, he had the public order office carry out several checks and tried to achieve several conditions (22 h curfew) and finally the closure with a court case enforce. Since the drug scene there had spread during the five years that the tube was leased, Hennen considered closing the establishment around 1977. Temporarily trading as Quartier 4 , the bar was continued under the old name of Die Röhre with the writer Gotthard Schmidt as a pub . After Schmidt moved to Berlin, other tenants initially ran the pipe until it was finally leased to Hennen's employee, Markus Brinkmann.

Even in Schmidt's time, the tube was so popular as a performance opportunity in jazz circles that Hennen received dozens of offers from international jazz groups to play “for entry” in the few months he was in charge. The price of admission was around two to three DM. Back then, the tube was an attraction for those interested in international new jazz.

Jazz festival in Moers

Jazz festival in the amusement park 1978

Four years after the opening of his cultural restaurant in 1972, on the long weekend of Pentecost , Hennen organized the first German free jazz festival in the open air in the courtyard of Moers Castle in front of about 800 listeners. Soon the courtyard could no longer hold the spectators. Therefore, in 1975 he moved the music festival to the lawn of the adjoining Moers theme park . Walking on the lawn was forbidden until 1970. There was an annually growing tent city of camping holidaymakers, which was lined with more and more mobile traders who offered ethnic jewelry and hippie clothing, exotic fast food, and later also piercing and tattoos. Contrary to the opinion of some journalists, Hennen fundamentally appreciated the atmosphere of the tent city, which could attract tens of thousands of participants in the 1990s. In 1996, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the festival, he said:

"The real trademark of Moers, however, is the free spirit , the tolerance and the togetherness of friends and fans, which is particularly evident in the tent city."

The first serious crisis in the existence of the jazz festival arose in 1982. Until then, the population had tolerated the festival more or less tolerantly, and a considerable number of Moersern people appreciated and loved the festival. Hennen commented on this in 1996:

“We felt one thing at the time: when the festival threatened to tip over, the citizens of Moers declared their love for this event. Just the flood of letters to the editor to the local press would have filled several issues, the loyalty of the Moersers with their festival was overwhelming and we continued in Moers, despite honorable offers from other municipalities. "

But the increasing garbage and nocturnal noise, hashish smoking and the physical freedom of movement of the festival visitors also fueled prejudices and aroused fears for their own children in some of the Moerserinnen. Thanks to the commitment of many Moers citizens and the advocacy of the most famous jazz journalist Joachim-Ernst Berendt at a public meeting of the city council, the festival could continue to take place under certain conditions.

One consequence of the agreement was the relocation of the stage to the Moers ice rink in 1983, which is located on the southern edge of the castle park. The acoustic and architectural atmosphere of the hall made of exposed concrete with shell seats did not meet with approval, but was accepted because of the quality of the music. In 1985, Hennen added a separate music series, the African Dance Night , which also took place in the ice rink, which was now empty and began on the late Sunday evening of Pentecost. The repertoire went far beyond the facets of jazz music. Hennen was able to win over Francis Gay, a music editor for the WDR and an expert on the African music scene, as a presenter and programmer for the African Dance Night .

Moerser Festival Tent, 2004

At Whitsun 1987, Hennen moved back to the amusement park with the festival for which he was responsible, but this time under the rain cover of the largest circus tent in Europe. The tent has a large stage and can accommodate around 2,500 to 3,000 people. In 1994, Hennen renamed the festival the “Moers Festival” after continued press criticism of the increasing deviation from jazz and a lengthy internal debate. As a justification, he stated that the “jazz-typical phenomenon of improvisation has also been cultivated in other musical cultures for centuries” and that the openness to other musical styles should therefore also be documented by name.

At first, Hennen didn't expect to be able to organize the festival for that long. But the more successful, more attractive and more profitable the jazz festival had become for the Moers retail trade, the more the donors of the city and WDR now registered claims and demanded more influence on Hennen's programming.

WDR

A constant feature in the relationship between the festival partners Hennen, Stadt Moers and WDR was a lack of transparency. If the collaboration worked well, there was no public interest in it. In the event of conflict, however, the audience, public and media were presented with a fait accompli, which were only vaguely explained. Hennen relied on his reputation and the city relied on the extensive silence of the two regional daily newspapers, so that hardly anyone was informed about what had really happened.

At first, however, the WDR was interested and open-minded. As early as 1974, two years after the festival was founded, the WDR reported on the music event and from 1979 recorded a large proportion of the concerts for television. The cooperation with radio transmissions and broadcasts in WDR 3 and WDR 5 was later supplemented . The morning experimental groups and jam sessions at the grammar school in den Filder Benden , which journalists and musicians consider to be part of the best part of the festival, were ignored by the WDR “because they were unable to broadcast” . In the 1990s, WDR director Fritz Pleitgen also visited the festival. In 2002, the WDR's program management pushed for a contract change that provided the broadcaster as an equal co-organizer and also as a program designer with the sponsors' own selection rights. These demands were not acceptable to Hennen, as he was able to attribute the success and reputation of the festival to his creative autonomy alone. They parted in a dispute, and even the jazz editor-in-chief of WDR and long-time festival moderator Ulrich Kurth could not do anything against the demands of his superiors. In 2002, the WDR financed the festival with around 100,000 euros. However, Hennen was able to largely compensate for the deficit through sponsorship payments. In 2006, the WDR resumed broadcasting under the new artistic direction of Reiner Michalkes - without asking for a say in the program.

City of Moers

Thanks to the openness and commitment of liberal cultural leaders in the city, the Free Jazz Festival was able to take place in Moers. However, a changing but persistent resistance from the ranks of the council groups and the city administration finally led to the abandonment of Hennen after 34 years. In between he was forced several times to threaten to resign. While Hennen knew that the cultural consultants and deputies were a little more on his side, he had an ongoing dispute with the cultural committee, made up of all representatives of the parties in the city council. As early as 1977, the jazz-friendly music consultant Heiner Müller-Adolphi was dismissed “for incompetence” , and later he became music director (“program director”) at WDR. Hennen praised the head of the cultural affairs department, Hans Gerd Rötter, for a particularly good collaboration in the 1990s. But after Rötter's return, the friendly relationship broke down. By founding a separate festival organization in 2005, the “Festival Moers Kultur GmbH”, Hennen saw himself betrayed, disempowered and offended once more. For example, a week before the Whitsun Festival in 1996, there was again resistance in the city council to a contract extension for hens. Only one day before the start of the festival, at the initiative of the then mayor Wilhelm Brunswick, he was allowed to continue working until 2000 through a special meeting of the city council requested by the Greens .

After extensive consultation with his friends and family, Hennen resigned from his position as artistic director in the spring of 2005. He saw his work "crushed between art, commerce and the harassment of petty politicians". Mayor Norbert Ballhaus said at Hennen's departure in his absence: “The Moers Festival, along with the Berlin Jazz Days, is the most important jazz event in Germany. And in the whole world it is among the top ten. ”When he left, Hennen promised the audience to come back.

Jazz festival near Geldern

Two years later, in 2007, with around 200 volunteers (employees of the training company Integra gGmbH ), he organized the three-day “New Music Festival Gelderland” or OffsideOpen in August 2007 with the support of the communities of Geldern , Straelen and Arcen , but without financial subsidies. From his time in Moers he brought many well-known musicians back to the festival stage, which is located on a forested lake. Hennen's successor in Moers, Reiner Michalke , was happy about his return to active music life. The following year, however, Hennen canceled the program after the program was completed. The reason for his rejection was the lack of financial means for the festival program and because of the smaller budget he did not want to start again until 2009. The other organizers, on the other hand, prefer an annual event. Hennen attached importance to the statement that he was not divorced in a dispute, which contradicts the negative representation of the Rheinische Post . Geldern's mayor Ulrich Janssen confirmed Hennen's view: "We would be very happy if Burkhard Hennen is on board again in 2009." After the managing director of Integra gGmbH and main supporter of the Offside Festival was dismissed in November 2008 due to financial allegations, it took months done nothing for the festival and finally canceled for 2009.

On the future of jazz festivals, Hennen said: “Festivals must have an inner necessity, otherwise they can be abolished. [...] A festival lives not from money, but from the idea and the message. You have to take risks - that's what the musicians on stage do too. "

Private

Hennen runs a music studio in Moers- Repelen and is the managing director of the Moers Music production company in Moers, which has many live recordings of the Moers Festival in its program. Burkhard Hennen has two sons named Leo and Tristan. He lives in south-west France for several months a year.

Quote

"Burkhard Hennen [...] is one of those rare organizers who don't put their program together from the mail-order catalogs of the music industry, but like to go on voyages of discovery themselves. Above all, however, Hennen is one of those incorrigible people who still believe that music not only entertains but also speaks. "

- Schaffhauser Nachrichten , 2004

Award

  • 2000: Ring of honor of the city of Moers

literature

  • Frank Schemmann: Photography. Moers Festival 1995-2004. With a foreword by Burkhard Hennen. Köhler Labonté Osnowski (KLO), Cologne 2004, ISBN 978-3-933357-25-0 , 8 picture examples, ( Memento from August 29, 2004 in the Internet Archive ).
  • Thomas Meiser: 4 days of anarchy: 23rd Moers Festival. Thomas Meiser spoke to Burkhard Hennen . In: Marabo , 1994, 5, pp. 56-58.
  • Guido Fischer: New Jazz Festival Moers 1992. Bärenreiter , Kassel. In: Musica , Vol. 46, No. 5 (1992), pp. 319-320, ISSN  0027-4518 .
  • Eva-Maria Zacharias: Burkhard Hennen has two reasons to be happy at the 20th Jazz Festival. A music marathon man from Moers . In: Moerser Month , 8 (1991) 5, pp. 3-5, 4 Ill.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jürgen Stock: MoersFestival founder Hennen is turning 70. In: Rheinische Post , May 30, 2016.
  2. ↑ Ulli Tückmantel: Geldern: “We are now Jazz!”  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.rp-online.de   In: Rheinische Post , May 29, 2007.
  3. ↑ Heinrich Oehmsen: Philistines have to stay outside. A look back at the New Jazz Festival Moers . In: Hamburger Abendblatt , June 3, 2004.
  4. ↑ a b Norbert Ballhaus quoted in: Manfred Lachniet: Spektakel zum Abschied . Neue Ruhr Zeitung , May 16, 2005.
  5. ↑ a b Hartmut Boblitz: Dear Burkhard . In: Program, 25 years of the International New Jazz Moers Festival, Whitsun 23. – 27. May 1996, p. 59.
  6. ^ Christian Schwerdtfeger: The moving tube .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Rheinische Post , June 20, 2007: “Schoolchildren took a trip into the past. In the Moers city archive they searched for traces of the 1968 movement in the county. ” Maximilian Böhm, Julian van Essen ( high school in the Filder Benden ):. In: Körber Foundation , 2007.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.rp-online.de  
  7. ↑ Anja Katzke: Moers: The old spirit of the tube. ( Memento of the original from October 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rp-online.de 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. In: Rheinische Post , October 10, 2008, interview with Claudius Albustin, leaseholder of the tube.
  8. ↑ a b Dorothee Wolke: Pub in the middle of life. ( Memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ). In: Stattzeitung (Moers), November 9, 2003, copy of the article in the DerWesten readers' forum from section “Review”.
  9. ↑ Anja Katzke: Moers. Offensive for culture .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Rheinische Post , March 24, 2007, interview with Claudius Albustin.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.rp-online.de  
  10. ↑ Anja Katzke: Moers. Partner for cultural workers .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Rheinische Post , December 5, 2007, interview with Hartmut Hohmann.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.rp-online.de  
  11. ^ Rainer winner: Letter to the editor. ( Memento of April 4, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) In: JazzMexx.com , March 4, 2005.
  12. ↑ Burkhard Hennen: Moers 97 or elsewhere? In: program booklet, Whitsun 23. – 27. May 1996, p. 6
  13. ↑ Burkhard Hennen: Moers 97 or elsewhere? In: program booklet, Whitsun 23. – 27. May 1996, p. 6.
  14. ↑ Thomas Meiser: The grail of rock despairers . 2003
  15. ^ Holger Pauler: Whitsun festival for existentialists . In: taz , June 2, 2006.
  16. ↑ Lutz Debus and Holger Pauler: Moers has the pole position . In: taz , March 18, 2006, interview with Reiner Michalke.
  17. ↑ Burkhard Hennen: Moers 1994 , in: program booklet, Pentecost, 20. – 23. May 1994, p. 3.
  18. ^ Rainer Weichert: 25 Years Moers Festival , in: Program, Whitsun 23. – 27. May 1996, p. 56.
  19. ↑ z. B. Markus Müller: Moers . In: Jazzthetik , 1996, No. 7/8, p. 11:
    “Then there are the projects and wg. I go to Moers again and again… Of the… four '96 projects I have only seen three… namely the so-called Tokyo , NRW and Chicago projects… the three… projects were (snap shot) intellectual energy ([Frank] Schulte and his), ritual energy (the Japanese [ Taiko ] drummers) and physical, sexual energy ( Ken Vandermark and the whole of Chicago in the world) so Hegel ... Yes. Definitely greater than anything. Hearing three worlds for three mornings, falling from one dream into the other, there is still no comparison to this happiness. "
  20. ↑ Uwe Plien: " Fresh, smart enjoyment for all the senses ". In: neue musikzeitung , 1997, No. 7:
    “ Cora had received a“ Wild Card ”from the festival's artistic director, Burkhard Hennen, and was allowed to design project workshops with musicians of his choice on three festival mornings. “It's these projects, they make Moers what it is,” the cellist later confessed. "The audience does not come there just to listen, but to find out something about music." Indeed: Cora in Moers - that was a pleasure for all the senses. "
  21. ↑ a b c 34th Moers Festival. An era is coming to an end . ( Memento of February 9, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 530 kB) In: ExtraBlatt , Pentecost 2005.
  22. ^ Stefan Pieper: Moers Festival without WDR. Departure on the Lower Rhine with new accents . In: JazzZeitung , 2003, No. 6, p. 10.
  23. ↑ Anja Katzke: Moerser Klanggewalten. ( Memento from September 9, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Rheinische Post , May 29, 2007:
    “That the WDR, after its withdrawal from the festival five years ago, is back in Moers not as a co-organizer, but only as a cultural partner committed, the organizer warms up more than real sunshine. All of this was of little interest to the visitors. "
  24. ↑ a b Holger Pauler: Festival is looking for its director . In: taz , March 16, 2005.
  25. ↑ E.g. with Dr. Jürgen Smits (CDU): Moers. Suitcases and boxes are packed .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Rheinische Post , March 8, 2007: “In 1981, the then CDU parliamentary group leader, Karl-Heinz Brohl, appointed the chemist with a doctorate as an expert citizen to the culture committee of the city of Moers. From 1994 Smits was a council member, most of the time in the culture and planning committee. “The most striking memory is the regular gossip with Burkhard Hennen about the jazz festival. It was about money and other things "."@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.rp-online.de  
  26. ↑ Burkhard Hennen: Moers 1994 , in: program booklet, Pentecost, 20. – 23. May 1994, p. 3:
    “Here I would like to thank the outgoing Moers head of culture, Hans Gerd Rötters, who was the last official act to secure the festival and thus also to fix the budget up to and including 1996 has taken care of. "
  27. ↑ Anja Katzke: Wilhelm Brunswick: I only wanted to be mayor. In: Rheinische Post , June 18, 2015, interview.
  28. ^ Markus Müller: Moers . In: Jazzthetik , 1996, No. 7/8, p. 11
    Burkhard Hennen: Moers 97 or elsewhere? In: program booklet, Whitsun 23. – 27. May 1996, p. 6:
    “The calm lasted for more or less 15 years and while I am writing these lines, 7 days before the festival, the continued existence of the festival is in danger. Those who want to tip it are the same as 15 years ago, only 15 years older, and the arguments are the same. "
  29. ↑ a b sst: You have to be and stay stubborn .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Schaffhauser Nachrichten , May 23, 2008.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / beta.shn.ch  
  30. ↑ Anja Katzke: Moers: Burkhard Hennen is back .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Rheinische Post , August 16, 2007, interview with hens.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.rp-online.de  
  31. ↑ Anja Katzke: An invigorating input .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Rheinische Post , May 21, 2007, interview with Reiner Michalke.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.rp-online.de  
  32. ↑ a b Bruno Ropertz: Kleve: OffsideOpen without Burkhard Hennen.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.rp-online.de   In: Rheinische Post , June 30, 2008.
  33. ↑ Claus Schwichtenberg: "Press statement" by Hennen ( Memento of the original from July 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. in: Niederrhein-tipps.de , August 2008. Thomas Meiser: In: Ruhrbarone , 23 August 2008. Quote B. Hennen: “The money raised for 2007 could not be made available this year to support the program and to implement the associated concept. That is why I and my friends have decided not to present an OffsideOpen Festival under my artistic direction until the fundamental conditions are reliably in place. This is the only way to implement our artistic standards. " @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.niederrhein-tipps.de
  34. ↑ a b c Markus Peters: Is it over for the Offside Open? In: Neue Ruhr Zeitung , June 30, 2008
  35. ↑ Offside. ( Memento from September 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) In: Internationales New Music Festival Gelderland , 2008.
  36. ↑ Integra managing director suspended . ( Memento of the original from December 6, 2008 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. In: Rheinische Post , November 1st, 2008 Michael Klatt: Integra temporarily saved .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Rheinische Post , November 15, 2008 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rp-online.de
    @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.rp-online.de  
  37. ↑ SPD: Lack of commitment for Offside Open . ( Memento of the original from June 29, 2009 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. In: Rheinische Post , June 27, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rp-online.de
  38. ↑ a b Christian Schroeder: Earthquake caused panic . ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2009 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. In: Rheinische Post , December 12, 2007 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rp-online.de
  39. ↑ Burkhard Hennen: Moers 1993 , in: Program booklet, Pentecost 28–31. May 1993, p. 3.
  40. ↑ Moers, a high seat for curious listeners.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / beta.shn.ch   In: Schaffhauser Nachrichten , June 3, 2004.
  41. ↑ Wolf Kampmann : Jazz Festival Moers: wide-screen orchestra on the border between pop and folklore . In: Tagesspiegel , June 14, 2000.
personal data
SURNAME Hens, Burkhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hens old (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German organizer of jazz festivals and jazz producer
DATE OF BIRTH May 31, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Oedt (Grefrath)