As of: March 17, 2024 3:00 p.m
“The Noise of Life” is the story about his parents and grandparents, about the family and the Ruhr area. The noise is not always just noise, but also hustle and bustle, reveals Jörg Hartmann in an interview.
For many he is simply: Peter Faber. For over ten years, Jörg Hartmann has played the angular, grumpy investigator in the olive green parka in the Dortmund crime scene. Cult, not just in the district. Others probably still immediately think of Falk Kupfer, the Stasi officer from the ARD series Weißensee. But Jörg Hartmann has also been connected to the Berlin Schaubühne for decades, sometimes a little more closely, sometimes a little less closely. He played many big roles there. Now he has written a book, an autobiography: “The Noise of Life”, a kind of search for clues. Jörg Hartmann goes back to his childhood, goes to the Ruhr area and talks about his beginnings as an actor. He talks about this with Katja Weise on NDR Kultur à la carte.
I was a bit surprised by the title of the book “The Noise of Life”. What do you mean by this noise? The rush of time? I actually associate it with noise. How is it for you?
Jörg Hartmann: Of course it is for me too, because life often means a lot of noise. Life is a construction site, as that beautiful film title said. The book tells about such moments again and again. There’s a lot of noise, there’s a lot going on, there’s overwhelm, everything that goes with it. But for me the noise is also hustle and bustle. I’m Westphalian and Westphalians aren’t the quietest, at least not where I come from. You can always hear the Westphalians relatively quickly and it also has something lively about it. For me, the noise doesn’t just have a negative connotation. Life is rarely silent, as a rule, at least compared to death, where it is likely to be completely silent. I like the possible associations and also the sound of the title.
You grew up in Herdecke, deep in the Ruhr area. How would you describe the atmosphere in which you grew up? When I read your book, it seemed to me as if you were in a great mood.
Hartmann: That’s the dominant feeling that remains, definitely. Of course we always had our little arguments, but nothing beyond normal, I would say. I had or still have very loving parents. Thank God my mother is still alive and in excellent health. It was only later, when I started my own life, that I realized how humorous this whole life was with my parents. My father was an extreme clown, actually all of his brothers, they absorbed that with their mother’s milk. My deaf grandfather was quite the star and made Susanne Mennekes. He was a colorful dog in Herdecke. Half of Herdecke knew him and still knows him today. He was a really warm person, very atypical for his generation. Not a man with a tank who builds up the Federal Republic and doesn’t let any feelings get to him and doesn’t even hug his son. I think that also has to do with his story, with his deaf parents, where these boys learned that language is ultimately a mask and that it is much more important to listen to your feelings and your intuition.
Would you say that this has also been implanted in you? After all, you work with language, became an actor and have now written a book.
Hartmann: I don’t know it. I’ve often asked myself this. My wife always says that you actually have a feel for people and know what makes them tick. Maybe my father had it even more. Maybe I adopted a bit of that and hopefully have something from these antennas too.
The conversation led Katja Weise.
Further information
He became world famous with “The Reader”. Writing is a place of escape for him, he tells NDR Kultur à la carte. more
In an interview, the podcaster and mother of two talks about her own experiences with the taboo topics of anxiety disorders and depression. more
The Kiel artist Arne Rautenberg juggles with words and is also inspired by children. more
This topic in the program:
NDR Culture | NDR culture à la carte | 18.03.2024 | 1:00 p.m