Every region in Germany has its stars. The Bergstrasse has Sebastian Vettel and Uwe Ochsenknecht. The Black Forest is represented by Jogi Löw and Til Schweiger. But which celebrities – that you should know or have already seen – actually come from the Palatinate?
Apache 207 (Mannheim)
Born in Mannheim, Volkan Yaman, as Apache 207’s real name is, grew up in Ludwigshafen am Rhein in the Niederfeld district. The now 25-year-old celebrated his first major success with his song “Roller”, which was released in 2019. The rapper, who was initially shy of the media, opened up in the course of his documentary “Apache stays the same” and gave an exclusive interview with RHEINPFALZ.
From Chako Habekost
The comedian was born in Mannheim in 1962. He has been performing with his solo programs since 1996. He primarily uses the Palatinate language, which he reproduces in dialect and deals with. With his program “Life is ä Comedy” he tells stories and sometimes avoids Palatinate themes such as “Schobbeglas” and “Woi”.
Daniela Katzenberger
Born in Ludwigshafen, she became known in 2009 through her participation in the reality show format “Up and Away – My Foreign Diary”. There, the 36-year-old tried in vain to meet Playboy founder Hugh Hefner to apply for a shoot. Appearances in other shows increased her popularity. In 2016 she married Lucas Cordalis, the son of Schlager legend Costa Cordalis, and moved to the island of Mallorca with him. A return to the Palatinate was even a topic.
Helmut Kohl
The Chancellor of Unity was born in 1930 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. Even during his 16-year chancellorship, which he spent in Bonn and Berlin, he remained loyal to the Palatinate and invited state guests to Deidesheim to eat Saumagen. However, the party donation scandal and his wife’s suicide damaged his reputation. Kohl died on June 16, 2017 at the age of 87 at his home in Oggersheim. A monument was erected in Speyer in his honour.
Joy Fleming
The Rockenhausen native made her breakthrough in the late 1960s with jazz, blues and pop music. In 1975, Fleming even took part in the Eurovision Song Contest, where he came 17th. Further attempts to take part in the ESC failed in the preliminary round. Fleming died in September 2017 at the age of 72. A musical describes the life of the singer and celebrates its premiere at the Federal Garden Show in Mannheim.
Manuel Flickinger
The 35-year-old achieved fame throughout Germany through his participation in “I’m a Star – Get Me Out of Here”. The Landstuhler took third place in the 15th season of the reality format. Since coming out, he has been involved in the LGBTQIA community, i.e. for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgender, queer, intersexual or asexual.
Mark Forster
Actually born as Mark Ćwiertnia, the son of a Polish mother and a German father stormed the charts. Songs like choirs, anyway or we are big are some of his numerous hits. The 40-year-old pop singer is also a big fan of the 1. FC Kaiserslautern football club and is said to be married to the singer Lena Meyer-Landruth.
Fritz Walter
The first German world championship title in soccer is closely linked to his name. Thanks to Fritz Walter, the DFB team won the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. The footballer, who was born in Kaiserslautern in 1920, also won numerous German and West German championships. His younger brother Ottmar Walter was always by his side. In 1985 the Betzenberg was renamed the “Fritz-Walter-Stadion”. This also shows the importance of the gifted attacker at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Walter died in Enkenbach-Alsenborn in 2002 at the age of 81. With him went an example for eternity.
Bernhard Hoecker
The comedian Bernhard Hoëcker also has a Palatinate past. The actor, comedian and moderator was born in Neustadt an der Weinstraße in 1970. However, he did not grow up in the Palatinate, but in Frankfurt. At the age of ten his family moved with him to Bonn. There he attended the Clara-Schumann-Gymnasium, at times together with Bastian Pastewka, who was two grades below him. Hoëcker became known above all through his appearances in the television series “Switch” and the guessing format “Genial daneben” or “Who knows something?”.
Kurt Beck
The politician saw the light of day in 1949 in Bergzabern (south of the Wine Route). Beck was not only prime minister (1994 to 2013) of Rhineland-Palatinate, but also national chairman of his party, the SPD, for two years. Criticism of the popular politician because of the so-called “Nürburgring affair” in 2012. At that time, the state had to vouch for the insolvent Nürburgring with over 250 million euros. Beck then apologized in a special session called. He handed over his post to Malu Dreyer.
2023-05-02 10:58:49
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