Hagen Rether (born 8 October 1969 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

) is a Romanian-born German political cabaret artist and

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. The most remarkable features in his performance are usually the presence and use of a

grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. He was a frequent contributor to the German Kabarett TV show

Scheibenwischer (German language, German for ''windshield wipers'') was the name of a long-running Germany, German Kabarett show. It was founded in 1980 by Dieter Hildebrandt and produced by Bayerischer Rundfunk, BR / Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, RBB to be broa ...

. Among the topics Rether relates to are not only federal, state and international politics, but also

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...

and

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

Biography

Hagen Rether spent his early childhood in

and

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

as the son of German, Transylvanian Saxon parents of Siebenbürgen. In 1973, his family relocated to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

settling in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

. He began studying the piano at eight years of age and attended the

Folkwang Hochschule The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in ...

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

, where he still lives today (2008). Prior to touring with his solo show, he was the pianist in Ludger Stratmann's show as well as performing with other artists. Since 2003 he has presented his show "Liebe" (en.: Love), which he constantly updates and varies according to the contemporary requirements of every performance. His show is predominantly political. Sometimes he begins by eating a cup of yoghurt. Throughout much of the show he alternates or accompanies his monologue with the piano modifying song selection, tempo and style according to the topic he is about to cover. Important targets for his satires and biting ironies are, among many others, the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and the German novelist and

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winner

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gda ...

, whom he criticized for not admitting that he was a member of the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

as a teenager. Another target is German pop singer Herbert Grönemeyer, who he alleges for commercially exploiting his own wife's death in his songs. Using

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

, he targets historical and contemporary people using political and medial transcripts for his satires (e.g. Jürgen Rüttgers).

Awards and honors

* 2003 ** Fohlen von Niedersachsen (en., approximately: The

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

Colt awarded by TAK Hannover) ** Tegtmeiers Erben (an award in memory of a local

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

-based persona by German comedian and cabaret artist

Jürgen von Manger Jürgen von Manger-Koenig (6 March 1923 – 15 March 1994) was a German actor and comedian. Early life Manger was born Jürgen Julius Emil Fritz Koenig in the Koblenz district of Ehrenbreitstein. His stage pseudonym as comedian was ''Adol ...

) * 2004 ** Stuttgarter Besen in ''Gold'' ** Prix Pantheon - Jurypreis ''Frühreif & Verdorben'' (award shared with Serdar Somuncu) ** Paulaner Solo ** Tollwood-Festival München - ''Kleinkunstpreis'' ** Passauer Scharfrichterbeil ** Zeck-Kabarettpreis - Newcomer award ''Fresh Zeck'' * 2005 ** Bavarian Cabaret Prize ''Senkrechtstarter'' (en. approximately: High-flyer) ** Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis ''Förderpreis der Stadt

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

'' ** Goldener Spaten ''Senkrechtstarter'' Spaten-Brauerei
''Hagen Rether (Kabarett-Senkrechtstarter)''
/ref> ** Sprungbrett (Förderpreis des

Handelsblatt The ''Handelsblatt'' (literally "commerce paper" in English) is a German-language business newspaper published in Düsseldorf by Handelsblatt Media Group, formerly known as Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt. History and profile ''Handelsblatt'' was es ...

es) *2008 ** Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis in der Kategorie ''Kabarett'' * 2011 ** Asteroid 233653 Rether, discovered by German amateur astronomer Rolf Apitzsch in 2008, was named in his honor. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

on 15 June 2011 ().

Discography

* 2005: ''Liebe'' * 2007: ''3. Politischer Aschermittwoch 2007'' * 2007: ''Liebe Zwei'' * 2010: ''Liebe 3''. Random House Audio, * 2012: ''Liebe 4''. Random House Audio, * 2014: ''Liebe Fünf''. Random House Audio, * 2016: ''Liebe 6''. Random House Audio,

References

External links

Homepage von Hagen Rether
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rether, Hagen 1969 births German satirists Living people German entertainers Kabarettists German cabaret performers Transylvanian Saxon people German people of German-Romanian descent Entertainers from Bucharest Musicians from Freiburg im Breisgau German male comedians Comedians from Baden-Württemberg German comedy musicians German satirical musicians German male pianists