Born 1965 - not in Strangeville,

but in Jena/Thüringen, GDR. At the Other Side, so to say.

Raised in the projects of

Neulobeda/East. After a few failed attempts to find contentment in this environment, I decided to find

a new way of defining myself. I moved from my parent’s apartment into a shared flat, which caused my

parents to insist even stronger on my doing something ‘decent’ with my life…

I passed my

education as a toolmaker, although not without trouble. At least I knew, I didn’t ever want to go back

into the halls of VEB Carl Zeiss, Jena. The only kind of alternative was provided by learning how to

sew in the Women’s-Brigade and ending up as mechanic for camping furniture.

I’ve refused to be

drafted and applied for exit permit to the west. I lost all rights as a citizen in the GDR, gained self

esteem and was eighteen. It was time to face the aptitude test for the State Ballet Academy. Since the

course’s duration had shrunk from five to three years, conditions weren’t too hard to get in (they

didn’t mind experimenting with the likes of me), and I was accepted at the Academy in Leipzig, without

ever having done anything more than a somersault.

After the three years I was reintegrated, able

to do the split, and I’d realized what I really wanted to do; although being pretty disillusioned from

my ‘Fame’-dreams at the same time.

Thus I went to Berlin. Not all was easy at the ensemble, but

it kept me from being drafted again.

Then the Wall came down, and I was there, climbing and

dancing over those bricks. Money was earned by performing in the last couple of GDR shows like ‘Glück

muss man haben’ (‘Just have to be lucky’).

And once again - I knew exactly what I did not want

to do any longer, I accepted the offer to work as a booker for Berlin Models. Five years of models,

models, models and the model competition ‘Das Gesicht…’ (‘The Face…’), by now the most successful in

Europe, for which I did PR, sponsor hunting, music etc.


This was the beginning of getting in

touch with the stars and wizards in showbiz. After the concept and way of dealing with things and

people had changed at Berlin Models I just wanted to get away from them as fast as possible, and as far

as possible. South Africa was an option…

But sometimes life’s resembles a fairy tale, and out of

nowhere new partners and new money appeared; we married courage to madness and in July 1995 a child was

born. Her name was M4 Models Movies Music Management GmbH, Berlin. Madness turned into megalomania, and

several months later we opened a second office in Hamburg: M4 Models GmbH.

After several

changes, developments and steady growth, the idealistic gaps became apparent, and my partners and me

parted company. I changed the name from M4 Management to DAS IMPERIUM MANAGEMENT GmbH.

Despite

all the satisfaction I get from running this agency, my greatest happiness derives from having become

father to my daughter in July 2000. I believe that the only thing I have to do is to do it, and

whenever I face a new challenge, my answer usually is: Why not?