Ambassador Hosts Special Event for Hape Kerkeling
Ambassador Scharioth invited special guests to a private event to welcome the German comedian and author Hape Kerkeling to Washington, DC. The event, which was held in the intimate atmosphere of the “Berlin Bar” of the Residence on Friday, September 4, 2009, was organized to present Hape Kerkeling’s bestseller, Ich bin dann mal weg, which recently was published in English under the title I’m Off Then. Kerkeling read excerpts from his bestseller, which has now sold more than 3 million copies in Germany and occupied the first place on the German bestseller list for many months.
-
- Enlarge image
- Ambassador Scharioth (left) hosted an event for German comedian and author Hape Kerkeling.
- (© Germany Embassy Washington, DC; by C. Avril)
In his book, Hape Kerkeling, who has received the Adolf Grimme Award (one of Germany’s most renowned television production awards), describes his experiences on the Camino de Santiago. He undertook the well-known pilgrimage through northern Spain to the shrine of St. James, a journey that lasted 32 days, in 2001. The catalyst for his pilgrimage, he said, was a combination of having just recovered from the removal of his gallbladder and a temporary hearing loss as well as his desire to reflect on his own religious beliefs.
True to the Camino’s reputation, Kerkeling found himself confronted with both physical and psychological challenges en route. In his book, which is based on his diary of the trip, he writes of his encounters with others and of his self-reflections in a humorous way, allowing the readers to take with them his “insight of the day.”
Hape Kerkeling also presented his book before a full-capacity audience in a free event hosted by the German Embassy on Thursday, September 3, 2009. This event was broadcast as a live stream and can be viewed in its entirety via the following link:
