Düsseldorf: An homage
It is with great honour to interview this special lady who has played a very important role in my life since moving here. She is woman of the quirky variety, with individual glory, sometimes bashful and with willful feminist strength. This well travelled, cultured woman has cycled across the world, has fought cancer and continues to live with the most youthful heart 20 years on after her deceased Lawyer Husband passed away. A German teacher, she has tought German for Japanese businesses here and nowadays Japanese children who are wanting to better their German for school (Düsseldorf as has the third largest Japanese community in Europe in case you are wondering). Then there is of course me! Introduced by a family friend, I have been having lessons with Dörte on a weekly basis and a lesson is never dull. Besides from learning German, we laugh, she tells me about her latest trips, culture events, contemporary art, culinary insights, latest purchases (often for her small students), latest gossips and more recently her life story! And in return, I help her with her iPad, iPhone apps and travel bookings! Accompany her to a cafe and everyone will know her. If anyone has a pre-conception of a strong German Frau – I think Dörte meets it. A tough cookie, her fearless approach to life is empowering and uplifting. And of course a quirky woman comes with a quirky cat, my big buddy named Oskar. I asked her a few questions about her life and I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I enjoyed interviewing...(written in both English and German) English: You have a huge collection of art in your home, sculptures in particular. Can you explain about some of the sculptures you own? Most of them are from sculptress Josef Mössmer, a good friend of my deceased husband. He decided in honour of my husband, to donate a sculpture for my husbands grave, but now, for special reasons it is in my living room. I love this abstract form and can touch this often and think of my husband. It is better here, than on the grave!
As an avid collector of Contemporary Art, if you had unlimited space and money, what would you still collect? I would not collect anything different to what I already have. I have the art that I have paid for and that I really love. If you could meet any designer/artist living or dead, who would they be? This is difficult to answer because the person (the artist) is often different to my view of them in my mind. I think it would be disappointing. You have told me many stories about your friendship with Photographer Lewis Morley (who is famous for creating many of the era-defining images of the 1960s) and your brother, who is also a photographer. What are your best memories of Morley? We visited many exhibitions in Köln and it was always beautiful to hear what he thought too. As a Woman of the world, what inspires you? Young/Contemporary Theatre, when they show our world and I can resonate myself in it. You have been a teacher in the Japaneses Community for sometime. What brought you to teaching and what have you learnt about the Japenese Culture? I love the German language and I would like to communicate and share with others. I have seen many things in Japan and within their culture that have astounded me, their beauty can be found in the simplest of things. As a lover of the German language, which tips can you recommend for learning and understanding the complexities of it's Grammar? Read books and listen to the radio! As a fellow Düsseldorfer, what do you find are the best things about living here? I love living here because I like the 'Rheinländer' people. On the other side, man can visit many places in no-time such as (Opera, Theatre, Museums etc), it is such a good city to easily get around. Also, the 'Rhur' area (an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia) lies near Düsseldorf where there is a large cultural industry – festivals, museums, exhibitions etc. There is always something on! Although you are well traveled, which countries would you still like to visit? I would like to visit Brazil again. I have had the desire since 1981 maybe because the last time I was there, I was young!
Deutsch: Du hast eine große Kunstsammlung zu Hause, vor allem Skulpturen. Kannst du etwas über die Skulpturen sagen, die du besitzt? Die meisten sind von Josef Mössmer, ein guter Freund meines verstorbenen Mannes. Er entschied in Angedenken seines Freundes eine Skulptur auf das Grab zu setzen, die nun aus besonderen Gründen in meinem Wohnzimmer steht. Da sind aber noch 4 von J.M. Ich liebe die abstrakte Form und fasse sie oft an, denke an meinen Mann. Hier ist es besser als auf dem Grab! Als große Bewunderer zeitgenössischer, wenn du unbeschränkt Platz und Geld hättest, was würdest du sonst noch sammeln? Ich würde nichts anderes tun als ich tat, ich habe nur die Kunst gekauft, die mir sehr gefiel. Wenn du einen Designer/Künstler lebend oder tot-treffen könntest, wer würde es sein? Das ist schwierig zu beantworten, denn die Person (der Künstler) ist anders als ich ihn mir vorstelle. Ich denke, ich wäre enttäuscht. Du hast mir viel von Deiner Freundschaft mit dem Fotografen Josef Mössmer erzählt und von Deinem Bruder, der auch Fotograf ist. Was sind deine schönsten Erinnerungen an Mössmer? Wir haben viele Ausstellungen in Köln besucht und es war immer sehr schön. Als eine Frau von Welt, was inspiriert Dich? Junges Theatre, wenn es mir unsere Welt wie einen Spiegel vorhält, das heißt ich erkenne mich auch darin. Seit geraumer Zeit unterrichtest du in Düsseldorf lebende Japaner. Was hat dich zum Unterrichten bewegt und was hast du über die japanische Kultur gelernt? Ich liebe die Deutsche Sprache und ich möchte sie anderen vermitteln. Ich habe in Japan und in der japanischen Kultur viele Dinge gesehen, die mich erstaunt haben. Ihre Schönheit kann sich in den einfachsten Dingen widerfinden. Als Liebhaber der deutschen Sprache, welche Tipps kannst du zum besseren Lernen und Verständnis der anspruchsvollen Grammatik geben? Bücher lesen und Radio hören! Als Düsseldorferin, was gefällt dir am besten am Leben in Düsseldorf? Ich lebe hier gern, weil ich die Rheinländer mag. Außerdem kann man alles in kurzer Zeit erreichen (Oper, Theater, Museum usw). Auch liegt Düsseldorf in der Nähe als Ruhrgebiets, wo das kulturelle Angebot sehr groß ist. Obwohl du viel gereist bist, welche Länder möchtest du noch besuchen? Ich möchte einmal nach Brasilien. Ich war 1981 da und habe seither Sehnsucht danach, vielleicht weil ich Jung war!