From the beginning of my medical studies, I had the desire to dedicate myself to both medicine and music. However, during my medical studies, I lacked the time for regular organ lessons. Therefore, I had no choice but to continue my education self-taught. After passing my medical state examination and receiving my doctorate, I began studying music in Cologne and completed my studies with a concert diploma in organ playing.
Dr. Olaf Zenner and his wife with the President of the GdO, Prof. Dr. Matthias Schneider, on the occasion of the award of honorary membership of the GdO. (Photo: Roland Behrens)
Nadeem Elyas (Arabic: Nadīm Ilyās; born September 1, 1945 in Mecca) is a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar and physician. He served as chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany from 1994 to 2006.
Elyas is a Sunni Muslim of Hanafi persuasion. Elyas left Saudi Arabia in 1964, studied medicine and Islamic studies in Germany, and practiced as a gynecologist. He lives in Eschweiler (North Rhine-Westphalia), is married, and has four children, including the comedian Ususmango, who became known as part of the comedy ensemble RebellComedy.
He was Secretary General of the Union of Muslim Student Organizations in Europe and spokesman for the Islamic Center Aachen, which is under surveillance by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.[2][3] He is a founding member and board member of the Islamic Cooperation Council in Europe and a partner in working groups and advisory boards such as the Islamic-Christian Working Group, the Intercultural Council and the Round Table of Religions. Between 1993 and 1996, he trained his later successor, Aiman Mazyek, in his Islamic studies program.[4] The “Islamic Charter”[5] – a declaration of principles by the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD) on the relationship between Muslims and the state and society – was presented to the public under his chairmanship. In the 2005 kidnapping of the German archaeologist Susanne Osthoff, Elyas offered to exchange her for the hostage.
Born in 1945 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, living in Germany since 1964. Medical studies in Frankfurt, specialist training in gynecology, obstetrics, and cytology in Bad Soden, Krefeld, and Aachen. Parallel studies in Islamic studies.
Functions: Former Chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD) since 1995 and long-time spokesperson for the preliminary committee of the Islamic Working Group in Germany. Former Secretary General of the Union of Muslim Student Organizations in Europe (UMSO). Council member of the Islamic Center Aachen (IZA). Founding and board member of the Islamic Cooperation Council in Europe. Initiator of the nationwide Open Mosque Day. General Commissioner of the Islamampavillon at EXPO 2000 in Hanover.
Member of the Intercultural Council in Germany. Member of the Supporters’ Circle of the Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance. Member of the Alliance for Tolerance and Civil Courage Member of the Forum Against Racism and the Network Against Racism
Member of the Advisory Board for Overcoming Xenophobia, Racism, and Violence – Working Group of Christian Churches in Germany (ACK) Member of the Ecumenical Preparatory Committee for the Week of Foreign Citizens Co-initiator and member of the Mainz Round Table of Religions Member of the Christians and Muslims Discussion Group at the Central Committee of German Catholics Co-founder of the Abrahamic Forums in Germany
Karl Maria Udo Remmes (born 2 July 1954 in Tübingen, West Germany – 25 November 2014 in Köln[1]) was a German photographer and physician. He has become known especially for his work in backstage photography specializing in opera, ballet and musicals. The leading idea of Remmes’ photographic work is not the documentation – he wants to capture the moments when the hard work of acting transmutes into art.
Remmes’ first photo exhibition “Operaria” at the University of Düsseldorf[5] presents a portrait of backstage operations of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. Remmes worked at various European opera and ballet theatres such as the Teatro Regio of Turin, the Graz Opera, the English National Opera in London, the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland and at the Chang’an Grand Theatre in Beijing, China.[6] In 2002, the Theatre Museum Düsseldorf established the “Remmes Collection”. Remmes was elected a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society (FRPS), Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Medicine. He represented the City of Düsseldorf at the World Exhibition EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, showing his work in an exhibition on the interface between theater work and theatrical stage art in Liu Haisu Art Museum Shanghai[7]
Remmes ‘ photographic style is based on pictorialism. His “Intrinsic Photography” (Remmes about his work) is contrary to the New Objectivity of the Düsseldorf School of Photography founded by Bernd and Hilla Becher. He captures multiple dimensions of theater reality by including diverse temporal, spatial, contextual and reality layers in one image. His pictures tell stories of the theatre machinery. He shows the backgrounds and unwritten laws, the union of scientific and superstitious components behind the scenes.[8] Remmes writes small notes and poems with light to show different realities: the world outside and the artificial world on stage, when actors and singers swap from one world to the other.[9] He represents modern theatre photography but he’s not interested in personality cult or in documentation of the action on stage.[10] He uses unusual prospects, i.e. bird’s eye view.[11] The photographs carry emotion in a different way, by blurred and strong contrasted sujets.[12] Remmes manages to bring the sensitive balance between theatrical work and art to perceptibility
2003 – Leica Gallery Tokyo, Japan – Theatrical Museum Dusseldorf – Foundation „Collection Remmes“ related to Dumont-Lindemann-Archive by the City of Dusseldorf – Photo-Art Setting new foyer of the Dusseldorf Theatrical Museum
Lüder Wohlenberg has been a successful cabaret artist for many years. He currently has two full-length cabaret shows in his repertoire. A native of the Hanseatic City of Rhineland, Wohlenberg is a doctor by profession, specifically a radiologist.
Born in Hamburg, he attended school in Neuss and studied medicine in Cologne. He trained as a radiologist in Düren and Mönchengladbach. There, he also worked as a certified emergency physician until, not least due to the success of his alter ego “Mr. Raderscheid,” he decided to work primarily as a cabaret artist and presenter.
Wohlenberg and his portrayal of the professional patient, Mr. Raderscheid, are always welcome guests on radio and television. Among other things, he has gained many new fans over several years as Mr. Raderscheid in his weekly radio column on SWR radio.
Numerous health care reforms, two traffic accidents, and a shoulder joint dislocation have not diminished him, the over two-meter-tall stage giant. Wohlenberg knows the health care system from both sides of the needle and knows what medicine can do and where it’s better to keep the scalpel in the package.
Today he lives in Cologne with his family doctor, his two children, and a few fish. Wohlenberg is also a proven football expert. As the coach of a youth football team, he has found another true passion. He enjoys analyzing, philosophizing, predicting, and commenting, even on these topics, entertainingly and with his usual competence and reliability.
You can find out more about him and his programs as well as his work as a cabaret artist, presenter and speaker here on his homepage.
Uhlenbruck’s family wasn’t supposed to know that their Gerd was running, because to them he was ill (sarcoidosis). So he chose Urbach’s GSV Porz, a slightly out-of-town club, as his club. He has completed 36 marathons and a 100km race, which he ran on his birthday. Twice he finished the 42.195km in the age group 70. His personal best of 3:18 hours is astonishing considering his lung history. Once (1984), he even became German Marathon Champion for cross-country doctors and pharmacists. He demonstrated athletic versatility by taking runner-up titles for cycling doctors, both in the road and time trial categories.
From Reader to Writer
“The aphorism condenses the quintessence of an experience into the sentence of an insight.”
During his hospital stay, Gerhard Uhlenbruck wanted to set himself a task to combat giving up, not only physically; he sought a challenge for body and mind. While he gained physical fitness with his “therapy of small steps,” he kept himself mentally fit with a “therapy of small sentences.” He began writing poems, exploring “life, love, and the love of life.” They were published in 1975 under the pseudonym Gerhard Günther (“Not Forever”).
Subsequently, he presented himself entirely as an aphorist. The number of his “rich fragments of thought” has risen astronomically over the decades. Whether medical aphorisms or sports aphorisms, with which he launched a new genre, Uhlenbruck was not only the most prolific writer of this genre, but also impressed with his quality and originality. “An insightful understanding of human nature emerges everywhere, which, despite all social criticism, does not result in cynicism or pessimism, but rather expresses hope for a better order of this fragile world” (Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Mieder).
Dozens of volumes of his aphorisms have been published since 1977, including “An Educated Sick Person,” “Blows to One’s Neighbor,” and “The Smarter One Doesn’t Give Up.” His flashes of inspiration, thought-provoking ideas, and observations can be found in satirical and specialist magazines, on calendar pages, and in illustrated books. H.-H. alone contains 1,000 volumes of aphorisms. Skupys’ “The Complete Handbook of Quotations from A to Z” (2004) included over 300 of his witty remarks. In recognition, the Narrenakademie (Fools’ Academy) in Dülken awarded him the title of “Dr. humoris causa” in 2001. The German Aphorism Archive in Hattingen elected him its honorary chairman. Finally, in 2017, he was awarded the Lehrer-Welsch Language Prize for Literature in Cologne.
Uhlenbruck also addressed running in countless aphorisms. It’s difficult to choose just one. “In the end, a marathon just drags on and on,” might particularly appeal to marathon runners. Running therapists might appreciate the following statements: “Running as therapy: What moves you internally can be processed through external movement.” “Running is psychotherapy without psychotherapists – with the help of your legs.” Or: “Running is the only therapy that costs nothing, except time! A one-person company like the AOK: Everything free of charge!”
Like running, for Uhlenbruck, laughter was medicine, a stress reliever, and an immune fitness booster. And because his interest in humor knew no bounds, he participated, whenever his time permitted, in an amateur drama group at the adult education center (VHS) and in the book project “Humor as Cologne Philosophy” (Cologne 2003). He also spoke perfect Cologne dialect.
Athletic Awards
Uhlenbruck began his athletic career in high school, first as a boxer, then as a runner. He was:
German Physicians’ Marathon Champion
German Physicians’ Cycling Runner-up (road race & time trial).
Citations of his Aphorisms (naturally in German):
Manche halten einen ausgefüllten Terminkalender für ein ausgefülltes Leben.
Zeitungsenten bringen die Leser zum Schnattern.
Die ungeschminkte Wahrheit bringt immer Farbe ins Gesicht.
Wenn man Spaß an einer Sache hat, dann nimmt man sie auch ernst.
Frisch gesagt ist halb gewonnen.
Wir sind alles Nichtsnutze, das heißt, wir tun nichts, was uns nichts nützt.
Neidhammel = Ehrgeizige Schafe.
Man empfindet es oft als ungerecht, daß Menschen, die Stroh im Kopf haben, auch noch Geld wie Heu besitzen.
Inzwischen wissen wir, was uns noch blüht – nämlich immer weniger!
Das wirklich Rührende an der Liebe ist der Kochlöffel.
Karrieristen = Leute, welche andere vor ihren Karren spannen.
Auf dem Gipfel des Erfolgs steht auch ein Kreuz: für die Leichen, über die man gegangen ist. (Als Betriebsrat/Sozialpolitiker/Manager wissen Sie, wovon ich rede. Von der Rücksichtslosigkeit. Vom Egoismus. Als Christ sage ich: Wer sich so verhält, kann kein Christ sein. Denn das Christentum kreist im Kern um den einen Satz, der da lautet: “Liebe deinen Nächsten wie dich selbst!”)
An Karneval maskiert man sich, damit man die Maske fallen lassen kann.
Unsere Leistungsgesellschaft ist nicht eine Gesellschaft, in der nur Leistung gilt, sondern eine, welche bestimmt, was Leistung ist und wer sie leisten darf.
Manches wäre anders in der Welt, wenn man an manchen Dingen nichts verdienen würde.
Fanatiker lassen sich schon aus Überzeugung nicht überzeugen.
Ehrgeiz schafft viel, sogar einen selbst.
Sein Pferdefuß bestand darin, daß er nicht beschlagen war.
Wir sind ein Volk der Denker, denn wir denken immer daran, was andere wohl von uns denken.
Eine Änderung des Bewußtseins verändert unbewußt auch das Sein.
Guter Rat ist teuer, schlechter Rat kann teuer zu stehen kommen.
Man muß sich dauernd beherrschen, um die Beherrschung nicht zu verlieren.
Das Geheimnis des Autos: Man ist in seinen eigenen vier Wänden.
Erst haben die Menschen das Atom gespalten, jetzt spaltet das Atom die Menschen.
Aller Anfang ist leicht – wenn man ihn mit dem Ende vergleicht.
Zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen sind “mit Abstand” die besten.
Detlef Fastré enjoys being a doctor. But when the Cologne-based anesthesiologist isn’t on duty, he has another passion: cycling. He doesn’t just ride the ten kilometers to work on his racing bike. When he’s out and about on weekends, he sometimes covers 100 kilometers in a day. His favorite ride is in the Bergisches Land region. “Cycling is a wonderful counterbalance to his medical career,” he says. His workload at the anesthesiology practice where he works currently amounts to about 50 hours a week. “On my bike, I can relax mentally and stay physically fit at the same time.”
For Fastré, however, sport is also a social experience. And so, in 2002, he became a member of the “Cycling Association of German Doctors and Pharmacists” (RVDÄ). (now dissolved). The association had around 200 members. They all shared a passion for cycling. Fastré is a board member and serves as treasurer. The motivation for his commitment: the friendly contact with colleagues from other disciplines. The association organizes road bike and mountain bike tours and training events on medicine and cycling.
Claudia Czerwinski is a general practitioner who is committed to women-centered healthcare at various levels. She worked for many years as a doctor at pro familia and has published several books on women’s health. She was the managing director of the Medusana Foundation (Bünde), which held information and training events on health promotion, sexuality, and addiction prevention in the educational sector and with representatives of communities and municipalities. She now only provides support. Her focus is health promotion, particularly for children and adolescents, through interdisciplinary and gender-specific work. Claudia Czerwinski chaired the Federal Coordination of Women’s Health (BKF) project committee within the AKF. She was also on the board of www.medicamondiale.org
The soprano Jana Marie Gropp studied classical singing at the Robert Schumann Music Academy in Düsseldorf with Prof. Michaela Krämer. Whilst studying she had already great success wich several famous orchestras and she sang onboard the MS Europa.
In the classical field she convinced with parts as „Mae Jones“ in Kurt Weills „Street Scene“, „Morgana“ in G.F. Händels „Alcina“ and „Clarice“ in J. Haydns „Il mondo della luna“ and „Minerva“ in C. Monteverdis „Il ritorno d’ulisse in patria“.
She loves the recitals, as well as musicals and she performed at the side of prominent Musical Stars as Gino Emnes and Drew Sarich. In soloshows of musical singer Patrick Stanke she is welcomed often as Special Guest. Her bandwidth displays also pop music and film music.
Jana Marie studied medicine at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf and works with young people.
