Kölsche Originale: Herrmann Götting

In the organizer's words:

Kölsch Originals: Hermann Götting

Film&Talk

Hermann Götting (1939 - 2004) was an emcee and collector of everyday culture. He was well-known and popular in Cologne because of his striking appearance. Many described him as a city original, but he himself distanced himself from this attribution.

He moved to Cologne in the early 1960s and immersed himself in the homosexual scene, which was already differentiated at the time. Götting enjoyed spending time in nightclubs with upscale clothing and a plush atmosphere that was "characterized by a sensitive, culturally interested aesthete". In between, he earned his living as a streetcar conductor for the Cologne transport company. Götting later worked as a waiter, barkeeper and also as an emcee in nightclubs, variety shows and travesty shows.

He lived with his partner in Richard-Wagner-Straße, where he kept parts of his everyday culture and furniture collection. He also regularly invited actors, journalists, fashion designers, dancers, musicians and other artists to his "salon" on Sundays for conversations and performances.

Götting was known throughout the city as a conspicuous figure with expansive robes, huge hats, the ubiquitous fan and always accompanied by two large dogs, Ivo the Great Dane and Wotan the Chow-Chow.

After 1989, Götting celebrated his fiftieth birthday every year, for example in 1992 in the black box of the recently opened Cinedom.

This event in the Couch Talks series is dedicated to this Cologne original.

Film&

"I only ever play myself - a guest of Hermann Götting" (D, 1989, 43 min.)

followed by "New Media" - Couch Talks

In this portrait, Hanno Brühl describes Götting's professional career from conductor at the KVB to his work as a compere in nightclubs and as a collector of everyday objects from the 1950s. His anecdotes about the acquisition of various objects, conversations with acquaintances and Cologne residents as well as comments on the Cologne cityscape, in which he stood out due to his extravagant clothing and the large dogs that accompanied him on walks, provide an insight into the man Hermann Götting.

Talk

Talk guests:

Eric Balzar

Rainer B. Diederichs

Moderation: Jürgen Künz

Price information:

Film&Talk