Michael Wendler
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Michael Wendler (born Michael Skowronek, 22 June 1972; legal name after his marriage in 2009 Michael Norberg; also known as ''Der Wendler'') is a German pop schlager singer, television personality and conspiracy theorist. Since his breakthrough in 1998, he has won several awards such as the prestigious Crown of the Folk Music 2012. He has been under contract with
Sony Entertainment Sony Entertainment, Inc. is the umbrella entertainment division of Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation and managed by its American subsidiary, established in 2012 to oversee the corporation's ventures in film, televisio ...
for many years and has a total of six gold records and one platinum. Wendler also writes songs and lyrics for other Schlager singers under the pseudonym Mic Skowy.


Life

Wendler was born in
Dinslaken Dinslaken () is a town in the Wesel (district), district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known for its harness racing track, its now closed Coal mining, coal mine in Dinslaken-Lohberg, Lohberg and its wealthy neighborhoods ''Hi ...
. He is of Polish origin. In March 2009, he married his partner of many years, Claudia Norberg in a civil wedding on
Sylt Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Fris ...
and in April 2009 had a church wedding on Mallorca. He sold the image rights to the wedding to women's magazine Die Neue. They have a daughter, Adeline, born in 2002. On 9 January 2010, he was presented with the Crown of Folk Music Award. He settled in Dinslaken, building a compound with horse stables, which was completed at the end of 2010. In September 2011, Wendler and Markus Krampe opened the "Nina", a discothèque in
Bottrop Bottrop () is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr area, Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and ...
, where pop artists perform live. Another offshoot of the successful nightclub was opened in Cologne. In 2016, Wendler moved his family to Cape Coral, Florida, where he continues to write and perform in both the US and Germany. In 2020, he divorced Claudia Norberg and married 20-year-old Laura Müller, whom he had been in a relationship with since 2018. She left school without graduating and decided to move to Florida with him. They have two sons, Rome Aston and Ocean Amor, born in June 2023 and December 2024, respectively.


TV appearances

In January 2010, The Wendler Clan was aired on the popular German television network
Sat.1 Sat.1 () is a German free-to-air television channel that is a part of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media Group. It is considered the first privately owned television network in Germany, having been launched in January 1984 as ''PKS'' ''(Programmgesell ...
in a six-part reality soap broadcast featuring Wendler. In January 2014, Wendler took part in German reality show '' Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!'' on the
RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...
(TV network). In 2015, he participated in the TV show '' Ich bin ein Star – Lasst mich wieder rein!'' Although he was injured during the taping of an episode and had to pull out, he still got the most votes in the final show. He was hurt in a bungee cord accident and broke his right wrist suffering a compound fracture, which required an emergency operation. From 15 August 2014 to 29 August 2014, Wendler participated in the ''
Promi Big Brother ''Promi Big Brother'' is a German television reality show based on the Dutch show '' Big Brother'', created by producer John de Mol in 1997, which is airing from 2013. The show followed a number of celebrity contestants, known as Promis (lit. ' ...
'' reality programme and finished in fifth place. In 2021, he was a judge in talent show ''
Deutschland sucht den Superstar ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show ''P ...
.'' Due to conspirancy theories about the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, he left the panel after the auditions were filmed. After being criticized again for his views, the broadcaster decided to cut the singer out of all episodes.


Conspiracy theories

In 2020, Wendler was the centre of a public debate due to his remarks about the COVID-19 pandemic. He accused the German government of 'gross and severe violations' of the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
. He suggested that all German TV channels, including RTL (whom he worked for), were '' gleichgeschaltet'' (a term associated with Nazi Germany) and politically controlled. He urged his followers to create a
Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
account, claiming that this would be the only opportunity to exchange views without censorship. Following the introduction of more restrictive policies to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in January 2021, Wendler compared the German state with a
concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...
.


Discography


Albums

* ''Best Of – Vol. I'' (2008) * Respekt (2009)


Singles

* ''Das ist ja wohl ein Ding'' (2001) * ''Das haut mich um'' (2001) * ''Nicht mehr in diesem Leben'' (2001) * ''Dein kleiner Prinz'' (2001) * ''Alibi'' (2002) * ''Außer Kontrolle'' (2002) * ''Verlier sie nie'' (2002) * ''Oh lieber Gott'' (2003) * ''Seitensprünge'' (2003) * ''Warum lügen die Sterne'' (2003) * ''Traue keinem über 30'' (2004) * ''Unsterblich'' (2004) * ''Marterpfahl'' (2004) * ''Zauberer'' (2004) * ''Sie liebt den DJ'' (2005) * ''Wenn alle Stricke reißen'' (2005) * ''180 Grad '' (2005) * ''Heuchler'' (2006) * ''Prinzessin'' (2006) * ''Mein letztes Gebet'' (2007) * ''Das schönste Girl der Welt'' (2007) * ''Sie liebt den DJ'' (2007) * ''Dennoch liebst du mich'' (2007) * ''Nina'' (2008) * ''Echolot'' (2008) * ''Häschenparty'' (2008) (with
Schnuffel Schnuffel (; English: ''Snuggle'', French: ''Lapin Câlin'', Italian: ''Kikolo'', Spanish: ''Snufi'') is an animated rabbit created in 2007 by the German media company Jamba!. Conception and creation The first concepts of the Schnuffel charact ...
)
* ''Ich denk an Weihnachten'' (2008) (production by Luis Rodriguez) * ''I Don't Know'' (2009) * ''Nina – Reloaded'' (2009) * ''Wer weiß warum'' (2010) * ''Piloten wie wir'' (2010) * ''Wir sind Tänzer'' (2011) * ''Sie liebt ihn immer noch (DJ Teil 2)/In the Heat of the Night'' (2011) * ''Was wäre wenn'' (July 2012) * ''Nie mehr'' (February 2013) * ''Honey Kiss'' (April 2013) (with Anika) * ''Unser Zelt auf Westerland'' (January 2014) * ''Die Maske fällt'' (2015) * ''Wie beim ersten Mal'' (2016) * ''Gut, dass Männer nie weinen'' (2017) * ''Wir war'n, wir sind, wir bleiben'' (2017) * ''Egal'' (2017) * ''Was soll ich im Himmel'' (2019) * ''Was man liebt, gibt man frei'' (2020)


Autobiography

*


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wendler, Michael German schlager musicians People from Wesel (district) 1972 births Living people 21st-century German male singers German expatriates in the United States German conspiracy theorists German people of Polish descent COVID-19 conspiracy theorists