Roger Willemsen

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Roger Willemsen (2014)

Roger Willemsen signature.svg

Roger Willemsen (born August 15, 1955 in Bonn ; † February 7, 2016 in Wentorf near Hamburg ) was a German publicist , television presenter and film producer . He was one of Germany's best-known and most popular intellectuals .

Willemsen became known through the mass media of television and features , although he always had an ambivalent relationship with them. He was particularly interested in his travel books and conversations, which were often attested to as having intelligence, education, empathy and passion. After his extensive withdrawal from television in October 2001, reading tours became the medium of his choice, later increasingly music from all cultures.

Life

Youth, training and teaching

His father Ernst Willemsen was an art historian, restorer and painter, his mother Regine, b. Sauveur, East Asian Art Expert and Art Dealer. His uncle Franz Willemsen worked as a classical archaeologist . Roger Willemsen spent the first five years of his childhood together with his older brother Jan and younger sister Eva at Alfter Castle . It is above Bonn , where the family lived in a cheap apartment building at the castle courtyard, as his father was working as a painter at the time, had little money and “found it somehow different”. Willemsen was “very happy” at this formative time, surrounded by park, forest and meadows; he experienced the feudal life of the princely family as "a last sigh of relief for the courtly world ". Then the family moved into their own house in the neighboring village and farming village of Oedekoven .

He started reading at the age of five and then had to read aloud world literature to his mother, who also worked as a seamstress . He grew up in a "reading household" and read up to 400 to 500 pages a day. His family did not have a television because the parents were of the opinion "that television was dangerous and that people were deceiving, etc." He attended the Helmholtz high school in Bonn-Duisdorf with interruptions . When the father died after two years of cancer, his son Roger was fifteen years old.

After graduating from high school in 1976, he studied German , philosophy and art history in Bonn, Florence , Munich and Vienna and received a scholarship from the Evangelisches Studienwerk . In addition to his studies, Willemsen worked as a night watchman, tour guide and museum attendant from 1977 to 1981. He then got a job as an assistant at the Institute for Comparative Literature at LMU Munich . At the same time he worked in adult education in Munich and experienced the “luck of mediation” with both teaching activities. A close friend and roommate at this time became the institute colleague and later literary scholar Joseph Vogl . In 1984 Willemsen received his doctorate with a dissertation on literary theory by Robert Musil . The habilitation thesis on suicide in literature he did not finish. In 1986 his book on suicide was published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch .

From 1984 to 1986 he worked as a translator, editor and freelance author. In 1988 he went to London for three years to work as a correspondent for newspapers and radio stations.

In the 1995/1996 winter semester, Willemsen took on a visiting professorship at the chair for literary studies at the Ruhr University in Bochum . From 2010 he held an honorary professorship at the Humboldt University in Berlin. He was a member of the PEN Center Germany and the editorial advisory board of the magazine Kulturausch .

watch TV

Roger Willemsen, lit.Cologne , 2007

Willemsen began his television career in 1991 with the pay broadcaster Premiere . A former student who worked at the time had remembered Willemsen's teaching style ("I really enjoy mediating, try to prepare things, enrich them with enthusiasm, otherwise they usually remain inanimate."). After initial “moral concerns”, he was finally won over by the concept of the program and he was able to win the casting . He moderated more than 600 issues of the interview series 0137 , named after the telephone code under which viewers could participate in the direct broadcast. Every working day, three interviewees were interviewed in 45 minutes at prime time . The third guest could be chosen via tele-dialogue (TED). In the first two years he interviewed about 1,000 people. The range of topics covered by the magazine ranged from politics to the boulevard. With this program he was able to satisfy his “great appetite for people” “in a very nice way”.

He had talks with actress Audrey Hepburn , her last television interview, and the Palestinian politician Yasser Arafat , both of whom he counted among his most impressive interlocutors. He also talked to prisoners from the Red Army faction , a cannibal and an escaped bank robber. Even the rape of a young man by his mother was not a taboo subject for Willemsen. In 1992, an independent jury of critics awarded him the “Golden Cable” for the most innovative program and the Bavarian TV Prize. From 1992 Willemsen presented the program alternating weekly with Sandra Maischberger . The two moderators then had a private relationship for about a year and a half. For this series, Willemsen received the 1993 Adolf Grimme Prize with gold. This recognized his great empathy and the fact that - as the head of the Adolf Grimme Institute in Marl, Lutz Hachmeister , noted - he was one of the few on German television to be able to speak grammatically correct sentence periods . The book On the Border contains a selection of these conversations . Conversations with assassins, bank robbers, murderers, political prisoners, car crackers, death row inmates and victims of violence (1994). He donated the prize money of the Bavarian TV Prize of DM 25,000 to prisoners as a taz subscription.

In 1993 he founded his television production company Noa Noa - Tahitian : simple and harmonious , and based on Gauguin 's story of the same name. With Noa Noa he produced documentaries, series of interviews, themed evenings and gala events. His co-workers were his friends too. In February 1994 he switched to ZDF . There he moderated the 60-minute talk show Willemsens Woche from October 1994 to June 1998 . A regular musical guest was the jazz musician Michel Petrucciani , who was very good friends with Willemsen .

In 1996 Willemsen presented a nine-part portrait series on ZDF under the title Willemsen's Contemporaries . In it he introduced Robert Altman , Vivienne Westwood , Quincy Jones , Philippe Starck and John Malkovich , among others .

From 1999 he moderated numerous cultural events, including the Echo-Klassik- Gala and the homage Und der Haifisch, der Haifisch, der Haifisch, he has teeth for Bertolt Brecht's 100th birthday . He also interviewed Willemsen's music scene for the ZDF format , including Pierre Boulez , Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea .

In the summit meeting series , Willemsen staged double film portraits of prominent contemporaries; in the night culture with Willemsen , he discussed current topics from art and culture with three to four guests each.

In addition to his work in front of the camera, Willemsen directed the documentary Non Stop - Eine Reise mit Michel Petrucciani (1996), which was then broadcast in 13 other countries. At EXPO 2000 he presented a ten-hour video installation from conversations with 55 artists under the title Welcome Home - Artists See Germany .

Roger Willemsen, 2011 in Siegburg

After a break of around two years as a television presenter, from February 3, 2004 to July 2006, as the successor to Elke Heidenreich and Daniel Cohn-Bendit , he moderated the Swiss Television Literature Club , one of the oldest literary programs on German-language television. "That is also the dose of television that is enough for me, I would rather not appear on the telly more than once a month," Willemsen said. He had "not regretted a single second" about saying goodbye to mass television, quota and fame. He was regularly seen on German television as guest commentaries on Sarah Kuttner - Die Show ( VIVA ) and on the follow-up format Kuttner ( MTV ), where he was the last guest on the show in August 2006. Occasionally, he appeared as a council guest on the weekly television show I Have a Big Name .

In episodes 45 and 54 of the comedy series Pastewka , he had a guest appearance in 2011 and 2012, in which he parodied himself self-deprecatingly. In 2014 he was assisted in Bauerfeind ... to be seen, where, accompanied by Katrin Bauerfeind, he gave insights into his personal living environment. A few days before his 60th birthday and before his illness became known, he was a guest on the Thadeusz program on rbb television on August 11, 2015 .

Radio broadcasts

Since 2004 Willemsen has worked regularly as a presenter for the weekly literary magazine SpielArt on WDR 5 . He presented stories and music from different epochs on one main topic (including hunger, gambler, eccentric). Occasionally the program was also devoted to the portrait of a single writer (e.g. André Gide ). Roger Willemsen received the Felix Rexhausen Prize in 2010 together with Günter Frorath and Michael Lohse for the episode Er sucht him - Männerliebe literary . He also moderated the New Year's Eve program on WDR 5 once a year, initially with Elke Heidenreich , then with Anke Engelke . They surprised each other with their personal favorite titles from the past year and reviewed personal and political events. From 2011 to 2013 Willemsen also moderated the “literary summer nights” at Wilhelmstein Castle near Aachen for WDR 5 together with Martin Stankowski .

At NDR Kultur , he started the weekly series Roger Willemsen hangs up - Classical meets jazz in life, in which he presented his favorite music from classical and jazz in 15-minute radio programs. From 2009 to 2015 he juxtaposed a piece from classical and jazz and explained them in a musicological and humorous way. The listener learned the background and life stories of musicians of both genres. In addition to the 279 episodes, 29 direct broadcasts took place in front of an audience around four times a year in the Rolf Liebermann studio of the NDR in Hamburg .

Another musical series in collaboration with Anke Engelke under the title Engelke & Willemsen put on started on October 20, 2012 in Hanover. Here he and his co-presenter from the WDR-5 -New Year's Eve expanded the music spectrum from classical and jazz to the genres of hip-hop , rhythm and blues , world music , songwriter and more. The musical analyzes and spontaneous reactions of the hosts were praised in the Hannoverschen Allgemeine as “ elaborate evening entertainment” “at the very highest level”.

Stage and podium

Willemsen hangs up, “ My favorite things ”, Mannheim, 2008

From the 2000 season to the spring of 2002, he moderated “The Stage Conversation” at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. He invited prominent representatives of cultural life such as Ivan Nagel , Nike Wagner , Robert Gernhardt , Ingo Metzmacher , Carl Djerassi , Meret Becker to the stage and devoted himself to them in a detailed conversation.

Since 2002, Willemsen has been involved with programs, evenings and ideas at the Cologne literary festival lit.Cologne , which had only made its debut a year earlier. In 2007 he started the tour program at lit.Cologne together with Dieter Hildebrandt. I give you my word of honor. The world history of lies .

In 2005/2006 Willemsen was with his two-hour narrative program Und Du so? on a theater tour. In his first solo program he talked about "the beauty of failure". “Because actually we are all much more connected to the experience of failure. I will describe the failure from birth, even famous people are affected. "

From 2007 he also became the patron and moderator of the Mannheim Literature Festival read . From 2013 to 2015 he was also the program manager there, linking the presentation of literature with “other art forms such as photography and music”.

As part of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Festival , an event was held on July 24, 2015 as a project of the Körber Foundation under the title "Pavilion Future - Locating Music in Time - A Future Panorama Around the Landsdorf Manor ". Roger Willemsen kicked off with a lecture on the future. It should be Willemsen's penultimate public appearance (before Thadeusz ). Shortly afterwards he found out about his cancer and withdrew from the public. This speech was published in 2016 as a book Who We Were by his estate administrator Insa Wilke .

He began his last reading tour with music at the end of March 2015 on the subject of landscapes . Together with the violinist Franziska Hölscher , he selected suitable pieces of classical music. After his death, Hölscher continued the tour with the pianist Marianna Shirinyan at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (SHMF) in August 2017 . Instead of Willemsen, the actor Walter Sittler first recited , later Maria Schrader followed .

Publications

In 1990, Willemsen wrote four concrete articles for the left-radical monthly magazine , but was later criticized by him and finally removed from the authors' archive. From the founding of the left-liberal weekly newspaper Die Woche in 1993 by Manfred Bissinger , he wrote a weekly column for nine years until the last issue. Bissinger, who was previously editor-in-chief at Konecu from 1981 to 1985 , was then removed from the author archive from Konec , along with Willemsen . He also published books such as the two art travel guides Die Marken (1987) and Die Abruzzen (1990) as well as the political book Kopf oder Adler - Ermittlungs gegen Deutschland (1990).

Willemsen and Gregor Gysi , 2013

From March to December 2009 he published the interview column Why are you doing that in ZEITmagazin ? . "Little reveals more about a person than information about why they do what they do," says Willemsen. It was a continuation of the conversation on a cigarette with Helmut Schmidt , led by editor-in-chief Giovanni di Lorenzo . Since then, Willemsen has been an advocate of cannabis legalization , which he occasionally revealed in talks. This was followed by the quarterly column Willemsens Jahreszeiten , in which he commented on current politics and culture from 2010 to 2015 in a humorous way.

With a sharply worded column about Heidi Klum's model show Germany's Next Top Model in the sonntaz   , Willemsen hit the headlines in May 2009. In 2013 he reiterated his criticism.

He justified his article from December 2010 in the zero number of Jürgen Elsässer's monthly magazine Compact between Thilo Sarrazin as the lead story and Eva Herman's theses with the fact that he was only able to check the orientation and seriousness of a new paper after it was published. When confronted with the backgrounds of his co-authors there, he described them as indeed disturbing and cited the fact that he had been too trusting of his middleman. This was an employee of Andreas Abu Bakr Rieger's Islamic newspaper . Rene Martens from the taz felt compelled to draw parallels with interviewees from Junge Freiheit , who subsequently stated that they did not know exactly who they were talking to and referred to the existence of search engines .

For the parliamentary report Das Hohe Haus (2014), Willemsen was an observer of the parliamentary debates in the German Bundestag for a whole year in 2013 . He was not allowed to take pictures there. He neither questioned politicians nor attended committees, but formed his judgment solely from his own experience and from around 50,000 pages of parliamentary minutes.

The proceeds of his book Once Upon a Time or Not. He and S. Fischer Verlag donated Afghan children and their world to the Afghan Women's Association . For some of his books he donated the proceeds from the reading evenings to charity.

filming

With producer Hubertus Meyer-Burckhardt , the director Josef Rusnak brought out a film adaptation of Willemsen's novel Kleine Lichter in 2011, slightly varied . The main actress in the monologue film Valerie is Franka Potente , who plays a woman who uses a handheld camera to discuss a video for her husband , who is in a coma .

social commitment

Roger Willemsen was active in numerous aid organizations, e. B. at Amnesty International and Terre des Femmes since 2005. At the same time, he worked as an ambassador for the Afghanistan campaign Help Infected by CARE International and UN refugee aid .

Since spring 2006, he has been the patron of the Afghan Women's Association. V. , which is based in Germany and for which he was personally very committed. He donated u. a. with charity events for over a hundred drinking water wells, which, depending on the depth and nature of the soil, cost around 800 to 1000 euros and each supply a community of 100 to 200 people. He also campaigned for the establishment of schools for girls. Willemsen's successor as ambassador for the Afghan Women's Association was his friend Herbert Grönemeyer . In spring 2018, the construction of a school in the Afghan capital Kabul with 24 classrooms for around 1,000 pupils was to begin, which will be dedicated to the memory of Roger Willemsen because of his commitment to the Afghan people. Nadia Nashir laid the foundation stone for the Safaa school in May 2019 in the presence of representatives from the Afghan Ministry of Education . This is located ten kilometers north of Kabul and was completed in summer 2020. Willemsen decreed in his will that part of his book income should go to other Afghan school projects.

In 2006, his book Here Speaks Guantánamo was published , for which he interviewed former Guantanamo inmates about their detention conditions. Willemsen supported the " Your voice against poverty" campaign , was a sponsor of the Bethel children's hospice for dying children and a member of the globalization-critical association Attac .

Private

The grave of Roger Willemsen, 2017, Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg

Roger Willemsen was not married and remained childless. He “liked to live alone” and although he had no children he got along “very well with children”. Willemsen had relationships with the actresses Barbara Auer , Marie Bäumer and Dennenesch Zoudé , who supported him at his benefit events. Since Willemsen had a “talent for friendship”, he also had many friends; One of his closest friends was the lit.Cologne founder Werner Köhler .

On August 18, 2015, it became known that Willemsen had cancer . He died on February 7, 2016 at the age of 60 in his house in Wentorf near Hamburg as a result of the disease. The public memorial service took place on February 22, 2016 at the Ohlsdorf cemetery in Hamburg . The subsequent burial took place in the closest circle (grave AE17-24-26, west of Chapel 7). The great Fritz Schumacher Hall of the cemetery was over 300 Ranunculus -Töpfchen - adorned, of which, at the request of Roger Willemsen, each of the mourners was allowed to take one - Willemsens favorite flowers.

On the first anniversary of his death, a natural stone made of gneiss was placed on the grave. The bench next to it was donated by the Afghan Women's Association , whose patron Roger Willemsen had been since 2006. The inscription on the bench in the Afghan Dari language is a quote: “I want to leave people happier than I found them. Roger Willemsen ”.

Roger Willemsen Foundation

Three days before Roger Willemsen's death, eight close friends were gathered around him in his newly acquired villa in Wentorf near Hamburg . The mare publisher Nikolaus Gelpke mentioned his idea of ​​turning Willemsen's villa into an artist's house for scholarship holders, a project that he had planned for his publishing house for a long time. Willemsen enthusiastically welcomed the concept and spontaneous solidarity and cohesion formed in the circle of friends: "Come on, we'll form the board of trustees!"

Gelpke founded the Roger Willemsen Foundation   and bought the house for the foundation, on whose board of trustees Willemsen's “long-time employee” and office manager Julia Wittgens is the honorary chairman. The villa, designed in 1889 by the Hamburg architect Martin Haller for the Hamburg ophthalmologist Karl Gustav Haase and expanded in 1897/98, was renovated and furnished with the furniture that was originally intended for friends of Willemsen's will. His friends donated or lent it to the Roger Willemsen Foundation . In addition there was his personal library and his music collection, “many meters of shelves in several rooms” and “thousands of CDs”.

Up to ten scholarship holders are to be accepted per year, six artists can live and work in the Wilhelminian style villa at the same time . The mareverlag accepts the selection of two participants. The artists can apply and work in the fields of “visual arts, music and composition, literature, film, performance and political cabaret”. The first creative people in the "Villa Willemsen" were the writers Frank Schulz and Claudia Rusch . The friends of the Villa Willemsen e. V. “is looking for partners and scholarship providers to enable ten creative stays annually. The opening of the artist house «Villa Willemsen» took place on May 3, 2018 in the presence of many friends of Willemsen, including the jazz pianist Frank Chastenier and the singer Herbert Grönemeyer .

In spring 2019, the City of Hamburg's cultural authority agreed to accept grants for artists from Hamburg every summer of each year. In June 2019, three Hamburg artists were selected for the first time, to whom the cultural authority awarded a residency grant for four weeks in the villa.

reception

Willemsen's popularity and reach extended not only to a small group of like-minded people, but also to people from all walks of life and cultures. What is remarkable for his colleagues from the cultural and media sector is the phenomenon that an intellectual of all people could receive so much sympathy. “Roger Willemsen stepped onto a stage and after just a few minutes an almost sensually perceptible, collective transmission took place: Everyone wanted to be like him. Quick-witted, well-read, widely traveled, committed and intelligent. ”Since he largely withdrew from television productions from October 2001 onwards, the sympathies for him could not be the result of permanent mass media presence.

According to his friends and acquaintances, his popularity was based on the fact that he maintained a high-intensity and positive exchange in all his speeches and conversations. This positive intensity was passed on to both television viewers and conversation partners in private: “Roger Willemsen was able to get carried away, inspire, arouse curiosity, captivate and inspire new things. He had a presence that was second to none. ”Both writing while traveling and reading aloud and discussing on reading tours were always geared towards intensive dialogue.

His intelligence, which his few opponents such as Kay Sokolowsky from Concrete or Reinhard Mohr from Spiegel did not deny, was not limited to the intellectual realm, but also encompassed the social and emotional level: “Having your emotional intelligence , your unique presence me, have always inspired and driven us. He was considered a wise man from an early age, ”said the publicist Manfred Bissinger . In addition, he characterized him as an "extremely warm-hearted person, [...] a homo intellectus, who bestowed us all with his unconditional - in the sense of completely unconditional - love." As an intellectual with a high level of emotional intelligence, he remained until today an “exception in our cultural life”.

Working method

When writing, he combined his enthusiasm and the intensity that he cultivated in meeting people with accuracy. In the travel stories Die End der Welt (2010) he wrote of his "intoxication of accuracy", others of "overwhelming descriptive intensity" of his prose. “The principle is accuracy. I have the feeling that I live focused in the moment when I live more precisely. This means that reality then very quickly becomes linguistic. I want to be able to formulate for myself what I'm seeing at the moment so precisely. ”A pen and a Moleskine notebook, which he always carried with him, were indispensable for the precision of his descriptions . In his literature he limited himself to the small form, such as the short story , the essay , aphorism and speech, but he still wanted to write the one “big” novel all his life.

The intense striving for truthfulness and accuracy was not limited to his literature, but was also present in his interviews and conversations. Viewers and journalists are of the opinion that he succeeded in combining truth and respect to a high degree in his interviews. Bissinger considers Willemsen's attitude to be “his life principle” and describes it as “love in truth”.

Willemsen was a highly productive writer who did not see his many activities as work. Friends describe him as a “ workaholic ” or monomaniac who got by on four hours of sleep and always ran several projects at the same time. “He has lived at least seven lives in the far too short time that was his life. He was everywhere at the same time. 2000 interviews, 36 books, hundreds of television programs, radio works, countless audio books, newspaper articles, scripts, directing work, teaching assignments, speeches, travel. Everything in excess. We will never find out where he got the inexhaustible fuel for all of this. "

In addition to writing, Willemsen also considered “successful communication” to be “the best thing there is”. Concentration and intensity in written and personal communication were one and the same means for him to experience and give happiness and affection.

Fonts

Sound carrier (selection)

Audio books

Roger Willemsen with the German Audio Book Prize 2015

Audio CDs

Music CDs

Awards (selection)

Acceptance speech by Roger Willemsen for the Julius Campe Prize 2011

Literature (selection)

- Alphabetical -

Willemsen in conversation (selection of films)

Films about Willemsen

Web links

Commons : Roger Willemsen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Roger Willemsen  - Quotes

Portraits

Obituaries

Interviews

Podcasts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tilman Spreckelsen : Roger Willemsen is dead. To the end of the world and beyond. In: FAZ , February 8, 2016.
  2. ↑ lk / kiru / dpa : At the age of 60: bestselling author Roger Willemsen died. In: Focus , February 8, 2016: “Roger Willemsen, one of the most popular intellectuals in the country ...”.
  3. ↑ Andreas Stock: Smart and passionate. In: St. Galler Tagblatt , February 9, 2016: “Roger Willemsen was one of the most famous intellectuals in Germany. And one of the most popular, as evidenced by numerous bestsellers. "
  4. ^ Axel Schröder: "Villa Willemsen" opened. "Encourage people to do their art." In: Deutschlandfunk , May 3, 2018: "Roger Willemsen was one of the most popular intellectuals in Germany."
  5. ↑ Literature. Prolegomena: The company. In: Die Welt , April 21, 2018: "He later became one of the most famous and popular intellectuals in the country."
  6. ^ Künstlerhaus Villa Willemsen. In: mare , May 3, 2018: "Roger Willemsen, who died in 2016, was one of Germany's best-known and most popular intellectuals."
  7. ↑ Roger Willemsen: Faded Myths: The Feuilleton. Review of the history of a genre. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , September 25, 1997, beginning of the article .
  8. ↑ Gregor Dotzauer : Even the ideal world has its cracks. In: Tagesspiegel , February 8, 2016: “This man apparently had many sides that did not want to be absorbed in the softened telegenic. And so Willemsen knew early on that he didn't want to go under with television and his chatter. "
  9. ↑ Roger Willemsen: “... that the high-circulation German journalism - apart from concrete and Titanic - is largely in need of harmony and has never been guilty of much criticism. The published opinion is of a uniformity, the political criticism of a balance, the popular satire of a harmlessness that can hardly be found in Europe. ”In: Kopf oder Adler. Investigations against Germany , Edition Tiamat , Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-923118-47-3 , quoted by René Martens: Altpapier. In: evangelisch.de , February 10, 2016.
  10. ↑ Roger Willemsen is dead. In: LVZ , February 8, 2016: "Willemsen became popular primarily with essayistic travel books ..."
  11. ↑ Manfred Bissinger : Funeral speech for Roger Willemsen. In: Literaturhaus Hamburg , February 22nd, 2016: “I think it was above all the empathy that held him together. And his overwhelming ability to be compassionate. With Roger Willemsen it was not a question of the journalistic-technical tactics of the so-called »empathy«, but nothing less than a principle of life. "
  12. ↑ z. B. Karin Großmann: The passionate one. ( Memento from August 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). In: Sächsische Zeitung , February 9, 2016.
  13. ↑ a b Matthias Wulff: Roger Willemsen: He entertained without demanding too much. In: Berliner Morgenpost , February 8, 2016: "In October 2001, Willemsen announced his departure from the screen after 11 years of television work."
  14. ↑ Michael Schmitt: Always interested and open. Remember Roger Willemsen. In: 3sat , February 16, 2017.
  15. ↑ Gregor Dotzauer : Even the ideal world has its cracks. In: Tagesspiegel , February 8, 2016: “Television has never done more for jazz in such a short time. In general he was a music connoisseur, to whom nothing was alien between old Europe, the Orient and New Music . "
  16. ↑ a b c d e Kirsten Haake: "0137" moderator Roger Willemsen. The Musil man. In: Medium Magazin , 1992, No. 5, pp. 4–7, (PDF; 3.44 MB), cover picture. ( Memento from November 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ).
  17. ↑ Obituary in: A Hommage: Roger Willemsen - We condense for you! {Obituary}. In: behmannsblog.de , March 31, 2016.
  18. ↑ Helga König: Helga König in conversation with Prof. Dr. Roger Willemsen. In: interviews-mit-autoren.blogspot.de , September 2012.
  19. ^ Se: Roger Willemsen. In: Munzinger Archive , November 10, 2015, only beginning of article.
  20. ^ Franz-Josef Hanke: His floating enthusiasm: Farewell to my school friend Roger Willemsen. In: fjhmr.wordpress.com , February 9, 2016.
  21. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Conversation text: alpha forum: Roger Willemsen, author and moderator. In: Bayerischer Rundfunk , 2001, manuscript , (PDF; 17 p., 58.5 kB).
  22. ↑ Insa Wilke : Conversation 1. In: Der passionate Zeitgenosse , S. Fischer, ISBN 978-3-10-002422-0 , pp. 15–39, (PDF; 109 kB).
  23. ↑ Bettina Thränhardt: The castle in Alfter had famous guests. In: General-Anzeiger (Bonn) , September 5, 2017.
  24. ^ A b c d Peter Brandt: Epiphany of educational happiness. Roger Willemsen about thirsty learners and sad ways. In: die Zeitschrift , 2006, interview.
  25. ↑ Prominent people who stayed there. I was lazy and disinterested. In: FAZ , May 31, 2014.
  26. ↑ D. v. Hoerschelmann: Former Helmholtz student Roger Willemsen has died. In: helmholtzblog , February 8, 2016.
  27. ↑ Mariam Schaghaghi: Why are you crying, uncle? In: Berliner Zeitung , March 18, 2006, interview with Willemsen.
  28. ↑ Willemsen's scholarship proof in: Max-Alexander Borreck, Jan Bruckmann, Das Insider-Dossier: Der Weg zum Scholarship , p. 220: Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst. Satzweiss.com, 2013, ISBN 978-3-940345-55-4 .
  29. ↑ Willi Winkler : He could do everything better than anyone. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 8, 2016, (restricted access).
  30. ↑ Katja Kraus : Roger Willemsen / Joseph Vogl : "Friendship is a long-term project." In: dies .: Friendship. Stories of Proximity and Distance , S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2015, ISBN 978-3-10-002196-0 , pp. 239–253, excerpts in Google books .
  31. ^ Joseph Vogl : Roger Willemsen becomes honorary professor at the Humboldt University. In: Humboldt University , June 24, 2010.
  32. ↑ Heide-Ulrike Wendt: The art of the question: Sandra Maischberger. In: heideulrikewendt.de , 2000.
  33. ↑ Who we are. ( Memento from September 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: noanoa.com , 2016: "The name Noa Noa means 'simple and harmonious' in Tahitian".
  34. ↑ Noa Noa. ( Memento of March 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). In: roger-willemsen.de .
  35. ↑ My big little friend - The pianist Michel Petrucciani. In: NDR Info , February 12, 2016, accessed December 20, 2017.
  36. ^ Willemsen's contemporaries. ( Memento from January 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: roger-willemsen.de .
  37. ^ Willemsen's music scene. ( Memento from March 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: roger-willemsen.de .
  38. ↑ Night culture with Willemsen. ( Memento from March 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: roger-willemsen.de .
  39. ↑ a b biography - Roger Willemsen. In: author page of S. Fischer Verlag s.
  40. ↑ Welcome Home - Artists see Germany. ( Memento from June 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: roger-willemsen.de .
  41. ↑ a b Roger Willemsen - biography. ( Memento from April 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). In: roger-willemsen.de .
  42. ↑ see Roger Willemsen: Does television make you stupid? Roger de Weck in conversation with the new " Literature Club" presenter. In: SF DRS , series of talks Sternstunde Philosophie , first broadcast: February 1, 2004, 60 min., Repeated in 3sat , February 7, 2004, ( reference ); z. T. printed in: The dwarf must go! , Fono Forum , 2012, No. 2, p. 47, ( source ).
  43. ↑ Harald Suerland: The clever observer. In: Westfälische Nachrichten , February 8, 2016.
  44. ↑ Bauerfeind assists Roger Willemsen. ( Memento from February 17, 2016 in the web archive archive.today ). In: 3sat , February 13, 2014.
  45. ↑ Thadeusz. Guest at Jörg Thadeusz: Roger Willemsen, publicist. In: rbb / ARD , August 11, 2015, repeated on February 9, 2016, online video .
  46. ↑ a b Felix Rexhausen Prize for "He is looking for him - literary love for men". In: Association of Lesbian and Gay Journalists (BLSJ), July 18, 2010, accessed on March 9, 2017.
  47. ↑ WDR 5 special at the turn of the year: New Year's Eve with Anke Engelke and Roger Willemsen. ( Memento from January 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). In: WDR 5 , December 31, 2014.
  48. ↑ Photo: WDR5 Literary Summer Night 2012 in Würselen, Wilhelmstein Castle. Moderation: Martin Stankowsky and Roger Willemsen. In: Burg-Wilhelmstein.com , accessed on March 8, 2017.
  49. ↑ Classical meets jazz. ( Memento from January 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: NDR Kultur , November 3, 2015, with video: 7 questions to ... Roger Willemsen , 2:49 min.
  50. ↑ Willemsen hangs up. In: NDR Kultur , December 19, 2017, with a series of pictures.
  51. ↑ Margarete Zander: Roger Willemsen's passion for music on CD. ( Memento from January 6, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). In: NDR Kultur , February 23, 2017.
  52. ↑ Engelke & Willemsen hang up. ( Memento from August 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: NDR , October 20, 2012.
  53. ↑ Bernd Schwope: It's just music. Anke Engelke and Roger Willemsen offer a show of two virtuosos of words at the very highest level - more elaborate evening entertainment is not possible! In: Hannoversche Allgemeine , September 28, 2014, with photo series.
  54. ↑ Portrait: Roger Willemsen. ( Memento from December 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). In: literra.info .
  55. ↑ a b We mourn our friend Roger Willemsen. In: lit.Cologne , March 2017.
  56. ↑ Roger Willemsen † How about you? In: Münchner Lustspielhaus , accessed on December 18, 2017.
  57. ^ A b Doris Banuscher: Willemsen's tradition of storytelling in the St. Pauli Theater. In: Die Welt , January 17, 2006 and An Evening for Roger Willemsen. ( Memento of October 7, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). In: NDR Kultur , February 27, 2017, picture 2.
  58. ↑ read.hear - literature festival in Mannheim. In: City of Mannheim , February 22, 2015, accessed on December 18, 2017.
  59. ↑ Sabine Scheltwort: Mannheim Literature Festival: It gets funny and sad too. Roger Willemsen selected the program for "Reading.Hearing 8". ( Memento from February 22, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ). In: RNZ , December 18, 2013.
  60. ↑ Future Pavilion - Positioning Music in Time. In: landsdorf.de , February 1, 2015.
  61. ^ Tom R. Schulz: Landsdorf. The future of music in the “Pavilion of the Centuries”. In: Hamburger Abendblatt , July 28, 2015.
  62. ^ Helmut Zimmermann: Oranienstein concert. Willemsen made for a great premiere in Diez. In: Nassauische Neue Presse , March 31, 2015.
  63. ↑ News. ( Memento from January 21, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). In: franziskahoelscher.com , August 2017.
  64. ↑ Monika Klein: Walter Sittler: "I never drank wine with Roger Willemsen - unfortunately". In: Rheinische Post , September 15, 2017, interview.
  65. ^ Walter Sittler: Landscapes. In: kultur.bayer.de , September 21, 2017.
  66. ↑ Roger Willemsen: "There the whole person steps out". ( Memento of March 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: specifically , 1990, issue 3.
  67. ↑ The Elders of Zion are not dying out. In: specifically , 2008, issue 2.
  68. ↑ Cut & paste. In: specifically , 2008, issue 7.
  69. ↑ a b Search for authors. In: concrete .
  70. ↑ Ulrike Simon: "The week": shadow plants. In: Tagesspiegel , February 19, 2000.
  71. ↑ a b c Manfred Bissinger : Love in truth. In: Hundredvierzehn.de - the literary online magazine from S. Fischer Verlag , February 22, 2016.
  72. ↑ Series: Roger Willemsen asks. In: Zeitmagazin , March - December 2009, registration required.
  73. ↑ Quoted by Jochen Voß: "Zeit Magazin" column: Willemsen follows Helmut Schmidt. In: DWDL.de , February 26, 2009.
  74. ↑ Christoph Forsthoff: Anne Will is shipwrecked with the pirates. In: stern , September 22, 2011: "... apart from Roger Willemsen's commitment to smoking weed without punishment, the group did not bring any new insights."
  75. ↑ Maximilian Plenert: Roger Willemsen: "Frau Bätzing, I smoke weed." In: Alternative drug policy , August 19, 2015.
  76. ^ Roger Willemsen: Willemsen's seasons. In: Zeitmagazin , from April 29, 2010 - 2015, registration required.
  77. ↑ Roger Willemsen: Is “Germany's Next Top Model” misogynistic? In: taz , May 16, 2009.
  78. ↑ pad / ddp : exchange of blows goes into the second round. In: Spiegel Online . May 28, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2009 .
  79. ↑ Christian Ihle: Best Of Schmähkritik: # 16 - Roger Willemsen about Heidi Klum. In: taz , August 14, 2012, with a comment by Willemsen from the SZ .
  80. ^ Anne Vorbringer, Marcus Weingärtner: Interview with Roger Willemsen: "God help Zehlendorf!" In: Berliner Zeitung , June 23, 2013: "Scrap is still Heidi Klum. Basically I don't want to say that again, but I find Germany's next top model really disgusting. 16-year-olds are supposed to undress under the pretext that otherwise they will miss their world careers. And Heidi Klum watches over it with the face of a greedy ferret . No girl, saying no is a good answer. "
  81. ↑ Rene Martens: Roger Willemsen writes for “Compact” - With Thilo and Eva in one sheet. In: taz , November 17, 2010.
  82. ↑ Majid Sattar: Parliament observer Roger Willemsen: You are sovereign who chooses the spectator's bench. In: FAZ , March 14, 2014.
  83. ↑ a b Nadia Nashir: Book premiere with Roger Willemsen in Hamburg on Saturday, August 24, 2013 in the Magazin-Filmkunsttheater at 8 p.m. Guest: Barbara Auer. In: afghanasamai.com , August 3, 2013, accessed on December 19, 2017: "With this book, Roger Willemsen and S. Fischer Verlag support the Afghan Women's Association."
  84. ↑ Susanne Bernstein: Thanks to Nordhäuser donation, two wells in Afghanistan. In: Ost-Thüringer Zeitung (OTZ), December 17, 2011.
    Good after-stories in the clothing magazine. Roger Willemsen reads for the benefit of the German Children's Association. In: Ladage & Oelke , June 4, 2015 and bedtime stories for pajamas. In: Deutscher Kinderverein , May 28, 2015.
    Today at the Elysee Hotel: Reading for dark figures. In: Hamburger Abendblatt , February 27, 2006.
  85. ^ Johanna Zimmermann: Film review: "Valerie": Impotente poetry. In: Focus , September 20, 2011.
  86. ↑ Harald Gesterkamp: Man with attitude. In: Amnesty International Journal , March 18, 2016.
  87. ↑ Balance of the benefit art auction of Terre des Femmes: Advice center secured for the long term. In: Terre des Femmes , February 25, 2013.
  88. ^ Voices for Afghanistan - Quotes from the campaign ambassadors. ( Memento of April 4, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) In: The CARE project - Education for girls and women , 2005.
  89. ^ A b Prix ​​Pantheon 2012 - “Passionate Contemporaries” - an evening with special award winner Roger Willemsen on November 4th, 2012 in the Pantheon Bonn. ( Memento from September 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). In: Afghan Women's Association .
  90. ↑ Roger Willemsen. In: Afghanischer Frauenverein e. V. and
    Gerd Keller: A more than successful evening for Afghanistan. In: campus-web.de , November 12, 2007, accessed on December 19, 2017.
  91. ^ Well construction - a project initiated by Roger Willemsen. In: Afghan Women's Association , accessed December 19, 2017.
  92. ↑ Sarah Brasack: "Happy about every new school". In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , May 3, 2012, interview with Willemsen and Nadia Nashir-Karim.
  93. ↑ About us: 25 years of the Afghan Women's Association: Herbert Grönemeyer becomes ambassador. In: Afghan Women's Association , September 2017, accessed on December 19, 2017.
  94. ↑ Nadia Nashir: School in memory of Roger Willemsen will be built in Kabul (Afghanistan) in spring. In: Afghanischer Frauenverein e. V. , February 19, 2018.
  95. ↑ Thomas Wübker: In memory of Roger Willemsen. Afghan women's association from Osnabrück builds school in Kabul. In: Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung , February 3, 2018.
  96. ↑ epd : Afghanistan: Roger Willemsen School for 1,000 children completed. In: evangelisch.de , July 23, 2020.
  97. ↑ Thomas Wübker: Osnabrückers provide education. Afghan women's association builds school near Kabul. In: NOZ , July 7, 2019.
  98. ↑ Review of the G8 concert in Rostock 2007. ( Memento from October 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: Your voice against poverty .
  99. ↑ Sponsors. Roger Willemsen: "The epitome of a humanitarian feat". ( Memento from February 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: Children's Hospice Bethel .
  100. ↑ Roger Willemsen. In: attac , accessed on March 9, 2017: "Willemsen has been an Attac member since May 7, 2009."
  101. ↑ Ulla Heyne and Pascal Faltermann: Roger Willemsen speaks in an interview before his reading in Scheeßel about the end of the world and speechlessness. “The traveler never arrives”. In: Rotenburger Kreiszeitung , March 31, 2011.
  102. ↑ Dirk von Nayhauss: Questions to life. Roger Willemsen on love: "Love is the greatest, everlasting dream." In: chrismon , August 2012, accessed on March 9, 2017.
  103. ↑ Katja Scholtz: An ideal friend. In: Hundredvierzehn.de - the literary online magazine from S. Fischer Verlag , February 2016.
  104. ↑ Werner Köhler : "He ain't heavy - he's my brother". In: Hundredvierzehn.de - the literary online magazine of S. Fischer Verlag , February 22, 2016. He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother is a song by the Hollies ; see. Lyrics in songtexte.com .
  105. ^ Dpa : Roger Willemsen suffers from cancer. In: HAZ , August 18, 2015.
  106. ↑ Roger Willemsen's funeral service. In: Hundredvierzehn.de - the literary online magazine from S. Fischer Verlag , February 2016.
  107. ↑ Photos: The grave of Roger Willemsen. In: knerger.de .
  108. ↑ red / dpa : funeral service for Roger Willemsen. Friends and companions say goodbye. In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten , February 22, 2016, with a photo gallery.
  109. ↑ Iris Radisch : Roger Willemsen: How to give presents to mourners. In: Die Zeit , March 10, 2016, No. 10.
  110. ^ A b Jan C. Behmann: Visiting Roger Willemsen [at the grave]. In: behmannsblog.de , February 13, 2017, inscription translated by Nadia Nashir, accessed on February 13, 2019.
  111. ↑ Nadia Nashir: Your chair is empty. (Funeral speech) In: Hundredvierzehn.de / S. Fischer Verlag , February 22, 2016, accessed on March 9, 2017.
  112. ↑ Nikolaus Gelpke in: A house for cultural and artistic professionals: The Roger Willemsen Foundation. In: NDR , Kulturjournal , May 7, 2018 and online video from ARD .
  113. ^ A b Nina Poelchau : Wentorf near Hamburg. Two years after the publicist's death: This is how new life comes to Roger Willemsen's villa. In: stern , May 4, 2018.
  114. ↑ a b c d Axel Schröder: "Villa Willemsen" opened. "Encourage people to do their art". In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur , May 3, 2018.
  115. ^ Roger Willemsen Foundation.
  116. ↑ Peter Intelmann: "Villa Willemsen". Roger Willemsen's house becomes an artist's villa. In: HAZ , May 3, 2018, with many photos.
  117. ^ Matthias Wiemer: Roger Willemsen's villa is an artist house. In: Lübecker Nachrichten , December 22nd, 2018, with picture gallery.
  118. ↑ a b c Thomas Andre: Künstlerhaus. Herbert Grönemeyer is surprised in Roger Willemsen's villa. ( Memento from May 11, 2018 in the web archive archive.today ). In: Hamburger Abendblatt , May 4, 2018.
  119. ↑ Scholarships. In: Roger Willemsen Foundation .
  120. ^ Enno Isermann: Residence in the house of poets. The cultural authority awards residency grants for literature and fine arts in poets' houses. In: Authority for Culture and Media Hamburg , April 17, 2019.
  121. ↑ Silke Geercken: Creative break in the Villa Willemsen in Wentorf. In: Lübecker Nachrichten , July 10, 2019.
  122. ↑ "Hamburg Summer Residence". Awarded artist grants. Hamburg scholarship holders are given a four-week work stay in Villa Willemsen. In: Authority for Culture and Media Hamburg , June 27, 2019.
  123. ↑ a b Nils Minkmar : The anti-philistine. In: SpOn , February 8th, 2016: “The people trusted him, not just his colleagues, the urban connoisseurs, academics and hipsters - his following went far beyond that. [...] Family entrepreneurs loved him just as dearly as craftsmen and pensioners. "
  124. ↑ Berlin mourns the world citizen Roger Willemsen. ( Memento from March 11, 2017 in the web archive archive.today ). In: rbb , February 8, 2016: "As a clever curator and moderator, he made the diverse world of other cultures tangible for all of us and showed what great gain and what insight, especially nowadays, lies in ongoing cultural curiosity."
  125. ↑ Marc Reichwein: The smartest man on television is dead. In: Die Welt , February 8, 2016: “He was popular. [...] Anyone who has ever seen him, whether at events or in his own talk show, was enthusiastic about his assiduous nature - and knowledge. It just sprayed and gushed out of him. "
  126. ^ Dörte Staudt: Roger Willemsen: Playing with the collective yuck feeling. In: Kölnische Rundschau , November 15, 2011, about his reading in the Siegburg City Museum .
  127. ↑ "that he has already said three clever sentences before you could discard your own stupid one that you have on your tongue." Matthias Altenburg , quoted by Gottfried Böhmer ( NDR ): Somehow he made everyone happy. Roger Willemsen, every word a hit, every sentence like a wave. In: Society of Friends of the Arts (GFDK) , February 11, 2016.
  128. ↑ Kay Sokolowsky : Willemsen's World - more critical review of "Here speaks Guantánamo". In: concrete , March 2006.
  129. ↑ Reinhard Mohr : The servant of prominence. In: Der Spiegel , January 13, 1997.
  130. ↑ Lothar Schröder: Obituary for Roger Willemsen. Entertainer of the mind. In: Rheinische Post , February 6, 2016: "Until you just put up with accepting it as an exception in our cultural life."
  131. ↑ Lea Bernsmann: Von Flegeln and Liebe: Willemsen in Oldenburg. In: Nordwest-Zeitung , May 21, 2014, interview. Question: “Is the observer the role of your life?” Willemsen: “Perhaps the strongest. I love the accuracy, the precision. For me, describing and putting into words is the happiest of all forms of existence. "
  132. ↑ Daniel Haas: Roger Willemsen: The ends of the world. Away with me. In: FAZ , October 2, 2010.
  133. ↑ Timo Stein: “There is an Eros of ideas.” In: Cicero , September 12, 2012, interview.
  134. ↑ a b c Iris Radisch : Obituary Roger Willemsen: Everything in excess. In: Die Zeit , February 25, 2016.
  135. ↑ Clemens Reisbeck: "Roger Willemsen is my role model". In: prreport.de , December 1, 2017: "He had this very virtuoso way of being able to formulate very ugly and mean things very nicely."
  136. ↑ Manfred Bissinger : “Willemsen had, and I have never experienced that before or after with anyone, he had an incredible gift for responding to people. And to create a unity with people. ”In: Memories of Roger Willemsen. In: DLF , May 12, 2017, p. 9, (PDF; 24 p., 421 kB).
  137. ↑ "He was a loyal friend". ( Memento from January 6, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). In: NDR Kultur , February 6, 2017, interview with music editor Hendrik Haubold.
  138. ↑ Rosvita Krausz: Memories of Roger Willemsen. Free spirit and philanthropist. In: Deutschlandfunk , Radio-Feature , May 12, 2017, 50 min., Manuscript as PDF; (24 p., 421 kB) , text file in RTF (without umlauts ) and as an audio file, 50 min.
  139. ↑ a b Julia Abach: "Happy communication is the best there is!" In: N24 , December 21, 2004.
  140. ^ Review by Richard Schroetter: Verborgener Grund. Samuel Pepys: "The Secret Diaries". In: Deutschlandfunk , September 1, 2004.
  141. ↑ Sandra Kegel : Smile despite small scratches. In: FAZ , December 20, 2008, No. 298, p. Z5, review of Der Knacks .
  142. ↑ Review by Iris Radisch : Who we were. In: Die Zeit , December 22, 2016.
  143. ↑ Discussion of music! About an attitude to life - Florian Zinnecker: In reconciled melancholy. In: Die Zeit , October 10, 2018, No. 42.
  144. ↑ Manuel Brug: Katja Riemann goes classical. "It's not kid's fun here." In: Die Welt , March 12, 2018, interview with Katja Riemann and the Jussen brothers.
  145. ↑ Roger Willemsen - Willemsen hangs up. In: NDR , 2017, accessed on January 5, 2018 and review by Margarete Zander: Roger Willemsen's passion for music on CD. ( Memento from January 6, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). In: NDR Kultur , February 23, 2017.
  146. ↑ The Golden Cable. In: Kulturpreise.de , accessed on May 6, 2017.
  147. ↑ Excellent! Roger Willemsen receives the Julius Campe Prize. In: Book Journal , September 7, 2011.
  148. ↑ His speech for Hildebrandt. ( Memento from March 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) In: tz , only introduction, and our rose bouquet winners. ( Memento of March 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). In: tz , December 23, 2013; see. Roger Willemsen would like a museum for Hildebrandt. In: Focus , December 2, 2013.
  149. ↑ 2015 | Roger Willemsen. In: Heinrich-Heine-Gesellschaft , 2015, accessed on March 11, 2017 and dpa / lnw: Honorary gift of the Heine-Gesellschaft goes to Roger Willemsen. In: Die Welt , February 18, 2015.
  150. ↑ Berg und Geist : 26. Roger Willemsen - journalist, moderator, man of letters. Season 3, episode 6. In: fernsehserien.de , accessed December 19, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Willemsen, Roger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publicist, author, essayist, television presenter and film producer
DATE OF BIRTH 15th August 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Bonn
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 2016
Place of death Wentorf near Hamburg