Night on Demimonde
Nacht im Milieu
The Kölner Ringe, the Friesenviertel, the Eigelstein - in the 1960s these places were considered the "Little Chicago on the Rhine".
At the end of the 1980s, times became quieter; the Cologne milieu is rarely good for headlines anymore. The strongholds of the milieu, dance halls, bars and pubs such as the discotheques "Showboat" and "Love Story", in which the demimonde greats such as "Schäfers Nas" or "Dummse Tünn" used to stake out their territories, have lost their relevance. However, while the milieu still laments the lost legends, the remnants of the trade are going to the basis of existence.
The police and the public prosecutor's office have been replaced by city representatives and the insurance company "Gerling". Via subsidiaries, "Gerling" buys more and more houses and dries up the establishments located there.
Only a few discotheques and cafes in the Friesenviertel and Eigelstein districts have remained in the milieu as an amusement mile.
A documentary journey into the Cologne nightlife in the Friesenviertel and Eigelstein districts at the end of the 1980s. The diploma thesis consisted of about 40 photographs with original quotations of the protagonists of the scene and was taken between 1989 and 1990.
The work was published in the German magazine Stern in 1991 and has been exhibited several times in the context of Sacrament and Sin, as well as part of the cycle Power and Ritual until today.
Click on the photographs for image descriptions
Exhibition Int. Fototage Mannheim Ludwigshafen, Power and Ritual, 2005