Stawrula Panagiotaki, 29, dramatic advisor at Schauspiel Köln

“Originally I was born and I grew up in Berlin, having Greek origins. My parents came to Germany in the beginning of the 70’s as guest-workers and, as many foreigners did, they staid here. I studied literature, German mainly, and some other things at the Berlin University. I am living in Cologne for almost three years now. I’m working in the municipal theatre of Cologne, in the department of Dramaturgy. It is a really challenging job, but I constantly learn new things in each production.

In the beginning I didn´t like the city very much. The architecture seemed so patchwork, so after war put together. But little by little I started finding out things about the city which were new to me, taking a closer look at the electronic music art scene from the 60’s, finding out about the architecture and the special charm of the 50”s.

Another thing everyone says, but which is really true is that the people here are very friendly and helpful. And I really found friends in this city.”