Or: Wahnsinn!

Outside my family life, the great event of my adult years has been the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was after all there – among the very first to climb up onto the Wall itself, to marvel at history unfolding, and to say what everybody else was saying: “Wahnsinn” – which translates as madness, but also evokes a sense of utter bewilderment. I’ve become obsessed with the question of which figures in contemporary history could claim the most credit for this momentous event. And who better to ask than a man who himself made a major contribution? He’s Egon Bahr – my latest guest on Talking Germany.

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Egon Bahr has two favourite movies. Both epics: the historical romance Gone with the Wind and Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas. And there’s a real gleam in his eye when he tells me: “I once flew by helicopter from Cape Canaveral to New York with Henry Kissinger and Kirk Douglas on board.” I amuse myself by trying to imagine Kirk Douglas as US Secretary of State and HK fighting for his freedom in Spartacus.

“A film?” Yes, a film – your favourite movie of all time. “Well,” he says, “I’ve got many films – I often go to the movies twice a week.” Name me one. And then he comes up with a surprise: “What about a movie directed by Robert Redford? A River Runs Through It.” It’s a pick that we’ve never had before. Then Andreas goes on to recommend The Fighter with Christian Bale. “In fact,” he adds, “just about any movie with Christian Bale!”

Tough outer shell; soft core

He turns up dressed all in black. Including a rather stylish leather jacket. (I later learn that he has 13 others!) So what’s it all about? The black look? “Armani,” he fires back, “says that black is a state of mind.” The man with the black state of mind is my latest guest on Talking Germany: the writer and traveller Andreas Altmann. Among the things he’s written about are the bleak, bleak days of his childhood, which were plainly what Germans call grausam: horrible, tortured … black.

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Or: fathers and sons

He’s a man who’s tried to change the way that Germans watch TV – and perhaps even the way they approach their own dark history. His quest began with his troubled but very fruitful relationship with his father. He’s Nico Hofmann, who used be a film director, and is now a very influential producer. And he’s my latest guest on Talking Germany.

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