Foto: Roland Owsnitzki
He was called a satirist, but Wiglaf Droste (1961-2019) wanted to be a writer, poet and singer. As a great stylist, he could be as hard as he was tender. And so he lived, restless and incorruptible, searching for freedom and happiness. It bothered him “that the world often refuses to show me its most beautiful side” and had lost his childish belief that everything would be okay. He made fun of Ratzinger and Biermann, the Toten Hosen and the Bundeswehr, Thomas Müller and Arafat.
What we don’t know anymore: Droste had his first permanent column in “Neues Deutschland” from 1992 to 1994. In it he did a funny educational work about Petra Kelly, Joachim Gauck, the PDS and Jesus Christ – and divided the readership loved or hated. “It’s strange how easy it is to forget that everything you do is forever,” he sang in 2000.
Christof Meueler has now written the first biography about the wild life of Wiglaf Droste: “Keeping the world in check”. Meueler, who heads the nd feature section, will present it on Thursday evening in FMP1, moderated by literary scholar Vincent Sauer.
Thursday, May 30th, nd-Salon, FMP1, 7 p.m., Franz Mehring Platz 1, Berlin
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