Born in Hamburg, 1970. Raised in Germany's far north and south. Childhood boring, youth eventless. Army service for 16 weary months, reenlistment. Night school in Reutlingen, parallel careers as bakery deliveryman, tour guide, mover, postman, garbage sorter, temporary building superintendent. University of Tübingen: Islamic studies followed by geography and history.

Freelance journalist since 1994. Learned writing at Tübingen's ambitious, eccentric daily Schwäbisches Tagblatt before joining the somewhat more conventional Zeitenspiegel Agency/Baden-Württemberg Stern office. Since 2001 Focus feature writer with regular assignments until the liquidation of the feature desk in summer 2010. On the route for the DIE ZEIT /Dossier, Neon/Nido, Greenpeace Magazin, Geo and National Geographic." Home near Stuttgart in medieval downtown Reutlingen.