A Few Words About My Journey

Cologne

Born in Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, or as the locals call it, “Kölle”, a city with deep Roman roots, I spent my early years there. I cherished the unique blend of historic landmarks, like the Cologne Cathedral, and the bustling city life. But when I was ten, my family moved to the Oberbergische Land - a calmer, nature-rich setting where I stayed until my A-levels.

Aachen

Before choosing to unravel the mysteries of the universe with a Physics degree, I toyed with the idea of studying aviation. But why aim for the skies when you can gaze at stars billions of miles away?

Heidelberg

And where better to study the stars than in Heidelberg? But thanks to a ticket from Deutsche Bahn and a scholarship from the Max Planck Society, I found myself at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, where I contributed to projects for the Very Large Telescope. How smashing is that?

Mannheim

After five years, I swapped my telescope for the 9-to-5 grind and became a software engineer. Sounds a bit mundane, but someone had to make sure those online adverts find their way to you lot. And if that wasn’t enough, I even trained teachers to impart their knowledge over webcams. Who would’ve thought it’d work out so well?

Weinheim

Back on terra firma, life’s a tad less thrilling, but still quite fulfilling. My wife, Susanne, and I have created our very own universe. She’s a power woman from the North, who never ceases to amaze me daily. We’ve had a delightful journey across various towns before settling down in Weinheim, where we have our own house. And to make matters even more interesting, on Christmas Eve 2000, our son, Paul Jannik, was born. He’s our very own “Big Bang”.

And if all that wasn’t enough, in our spare time, we pretend we’re actors. No, we’re not doing improv in the lounge, but performing in real plays on real stages. And although it’s worlds apart from Physics, it’s quite the roller-coaster ride and brings us closer together.

Darmstadt

After a while, I realised I was missing my true passions - namely ensuring satellites don’t plummet from the sky. So, I ended up at EUMETSAT in Darmstadt, where I control Meteosat satellites to keep your weather forecasts bang up-to-date and detect tsunamis in the Indian Ocean in the nick of time. Sounds quite heroic, doesn’t it?

Photography has now got a hold of me - and how! Looking through the viewfinder, it feels like an entirely new dimension. And I thought, why keep all this to myself? So, here you go, welcome to my website. Let’s get cracking, and follow me on my photo safari.

So, that’s me - a loving husband, father, scientist, engineer, occasional actor, and amateur photographer, a tad eccentric but quite chuffed with his life.