In love with literature
Gunter Keil is a journalist, presenter, blogger and above all: a passionate reader. He enjoys writing and talking about literature that he enjoys and that inspires him. This also applies to authors whose skills he finds remarkable. Keil regularly feeds a blog with his thoughts on new publications, but he is not one of the literary critics like Marcel Reich-Ranicki, who destroys books and their authors with verve if they don’t like them. He is more of a person who recommends what he has enjoyed reading. That’s how he does it in his Saturday afternoon show on egoFM, which is produced live every fortnight.
Now Keil can be seen on stage with a new concept. Of course, this will also be about writing. However, it is interactive, which means that the audience is involved, reveals Keil. The premiere on Wednesday, May 15th at Heppel & Ettlich will show how he imagines it. He invited three writers to the first issue of “Literaturrausch”: Anne Freytag, Yasmin Shakarami and Alexandra Blöchl, also known under the pseudonym Anne Sanders. All three are from Munich and successful. You shouldn’t expect a reading, says Keil, but rather an exchange about the book industry and the passion of writing, how to find words for literary sophisticated sex scenes or what is fascinating about Tokyo, Adelaide and St. Ives. The new series of events, which is sponsored by the cultural department, is intended to be a stimulating, personal and humorous round of discussions. Feilitzschstraße 12, starts at 8 p.m.
Cyclist friendly
She likes to cycle a lot, not only in her private life, but also on tours and even in some roles. The actress is because it motivates others to imitate her Michaela May was named the “most bicycle-friendly personality” in Germany – an honor that also includes, among other things Christian Ude and Wigald Boning was granted.
Although this award was eleven years ago, it is obviously extremely lasting, as befits this topic. She has now registered the actress as a patron for the “Bici-Bus”, which rolls through Schwabing on Friday. School children cycle to class as a group, with various “stops”, accompanied and protected by representatives of the General German Bicycle Club, parents and the patron. “Cycling to school together is fun, and the children can then concentrate better,” says Eva Mahling from the ADFC, who initiated the campaign: “To put it in exaggerated terms – cycling makes you smart.”
Luxury oriented
The Munich Mandarin Oriental has a new boss. The Swiss Marc Epper, 39, is now general manager of the luxury hotel in the valley. Epper has been with the company for eleven years and, according to a statement from the company, was previously responsible for the catering department in the hotels in Bangkok, and later in hotels in the Middle East and Europe. Most recently he managed the hotel in Geneva. Epper comes at an exciting time: the number of competing properties in the luxury segment in Munich continues to rise and next year the Munich Mandarin Oriental will be 25 years old.
Suitable for boards
The German wakeboard stars Nico von Lerchenfeld, Julia Rick and Nils Ritzmann will be at the MASH sports festival in the summer. Under the motto “coming home”, the “Munich Action Sports Heroes” (MASH) are coming to the Olympic Park from August 2nd to 4th. The sporting event premiered in Munich ten years ago. In addition to the wakeboard competitions, contests for BMX bikers, skateboarders and street dancers have been announced. For the first time, Germany’s best 3×3 basketball players will also compete. And you can expect a lot from Nico von Lerchenfeld: in 2022 he won the competition and in 2023 he was second.
Addicted to collecting
Stones, minerals, stardust – this is the scientist’s specialty Wolfgang Schmahl, who has now retired. For 20 years he headed the Mineralogical State Collection and the Chair for Structural Research on Inorganic and Biogenic Geomaterials at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. As a long-time member of the board of directors, he also helped shape the development of the Bavarian State Natural Science Collections (SNSB), which are among the oldest and largest research collections in the world. This also includes the Botanical Garden in Munich, the Museum of Man and Nature and branch museums throughout Bavaria such as the Giant Crater Museum in Nördlingen. In the Museum Mineralogia Munich, which Schmahl renamed because he no longer found the old name “Empire of Crystals” appropriate, visitors learn the basics of mineralogy and crystallography. And every stone in the countless drawers of the collection, said Schmahl as he left, “tells a story – about the geological processes that shape the earth, or about the history of the people in Bavaria and around the world.”
Schmahl’s particular research interest was the study of biologically formed minerals in bones, shells and teeth. The General Director of the SNSB, Joris Peters, thanked his colleague for his commitment. Schmahl will represent the chair until a successor is found. His deputy takes over the management of the collection and the museum on an interim basis, Melanie Kaliwoda.