Stephanie Zeiler, 34, artist and freelancer

“Growing up in Sauerland (something less than a village) – there had been only ten houses, surrounded by a forest at one side and  a highway to the other. There are no shops, no church, only one letter box – I had no real idea of cities since I turned nine years old.

Dogs, cows, chickens elder neighbour kids, playing in nature and painting had been the most important parts of my childhood. But after my father died, everything changed and my live as a nomad started.

In 1986 my mother, my brother and me moved to a town in the urban area of the Ruhr: Hagen. As I didn’t like it very much, I left immediately after I graduated High school to travel through Europe, America and Africa. I have lived in Düsseldorf, Asunción, Berlin, Luxemburg and since four and a half years I am based in Cologne.

All those towns were offering something special to me. In Hagen I found a second grandfather, learned a lot about working classes and, going to a catholic church, about Christianity. In Düsseldorf I got to know the business world. Following the dream of my grandfather in Düsseldorf, it was the town I learned about being a journalist. In Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, I experienced a lot hospitality, frugality but also racism, corruption and religious borders.

In Berlin I was involved in political activism and (performance) art. In Luxemburg I was confronted with a small state by having only 250.000 inhabitants but still three languages: Luxemburgish, French and German. Last but not least Cologne connected me with TV and music. First I started to listen to electronic music, later on I started to learn the bandoneón, a German instrument that traditionally had been played by the coal mine workers, but nowadays is rather known as part of the tango.

Although I never felt in love with Cologne, there are things I really love here: living close to the Rhine River, having museums like the Rautenstrauch-Joest and the Kolumba – especially the room with the gold wall – cycling through the streets, going to open air parties and having a beer from a kiosk with all those wonderful friends I found here.”