Our authors

Since 2020, I have been a state-certified tourist guide in Austria. I have thus been able to turn my passion and hobby of exploring new worlds into my profession. My multicultural background and direct access to cultures form the basis of my professional profile.

Interfaces and points of contact between occidental and oriental cultural and art history form the focus of my contributions.

Meike has worked, among other things, as the managing director of an authors’ support group and as a consultant for international relations. In the meantime, she appreciates the independence and creativity of freelancing and writes, edits and translates with lots of coffee and good humour in her own office with a view of the countryside.

In 2020, she published a book about the life of her great-grand aunt, who emigrated from Carinthia via Switzerland to England at the beginning of the 20th century, where she worked as a nun for four decades full of historical and political turbulence and promoted the education of young women.

Meike herself is German-Austrian and lives with her Swedish husband and a small animal welfare dog in the Black Forest and occasionally in Gothenburg. Writing and languages are her passion: she loves books, series and films in English and Swedish and is currently trying to get to the bottom of Japanese.

There I worked as an assistant to the management. After a longer break to have a baby, I had the opportunity to turn my hobby “Munich” into my profession in 2011. After successfully completing the very intensive training as a city guide at Munich’s largest private city guide and event agency, I was able to fulfil my dream and have been working as a self-employed city guide in Munich and the surrounding area ever since. Through extensive training and further education, I am also able to offer various city tours for the Munich Adult Education Centre.

Every day I feel it is a privilege to present my wonderful home city to visitors from Germany and abroad.

2002 – 2003 Language studies in Rome (Italian), International Language School DILIT, courses on Italian art and culture.

2003 – 2005 Modul – Kolleg für Tourismus und Freizeitwirtschaft in Vienna, graduation as tourism businesswoman.

Afterwards work in various hotels and in a travel agency.

2005 – 2010 Studies in Art History and Romance Studies (Spanish and French) at the University of Vienna: specialisation in art around 1900, Austrian, medieval and recent art.

2009 – 2010 Studies at the Université libre in Brussels: art history and French.

In addition to her studies, she worked as a tour guide in Vienna and the surrounding area, and in the summer months in France, Italy, Greece and Malta.

2011 graduation as Magistra in Art History at the University of Vienna.

2011 – 2012: Training and examination as a state-certified tourist guide.

As a tourist guide I have turned my interests in art, culture, history and culinary arts into my profession. I guide people from all over the world in several languages through my hometown Vienna, but also offer excursions to the Vienna Woods, Burgenland, Wachau, Salzburg, Prague and Budapest. In addition, I write articles that will soon be available on my own blog on my website.

Guiding people through Passau allows me to combine my love of history(s) and languages, because it’s mostly crusaders from English-speaking countries or from Spain or Latin America that I bring Passau closer to.

In 2017, we founded our company Passau-Tours Gmbh&Co KG with the aim of offering special tours in and around Passau that will be remembered and manage to touch people.

Geprüft und zertifiziert nach der EU-Norm für Gästeführer DIN EN 15565

Mitgliedschaft
Verband der Berliner Stadtführer BERLIN GUIDE e.V.
Denk-mal-an-Berlin e.V.

Führungslizenzen

• Schloss Cecilienhof, Potsdam
• Neuer Garten, Potsdam
• Marmorpalais, Potsdam
• Neue Kammern, Potsdam
• Bildergalerie Sanssouci Potsdam
• Orangerieschloss Potsdam
• Park Sanssouci, Potsdam
• Schloss Charlottenburg – Altes Schloss, Berlin
• Schloss Charlottenburg – Neuer Flügel, Berlin
• Schlossgarten Charlottenburg, Berlin

After studying at the Institute for Translators and Interpreters at the University of VIENNA (French, Spanish), I ended up in the steel export business, where I dealt with foreign customers and guests for about 7 years.

The time of starting a family then took me out of the pulsating business life and I spent a few years at home, mainly with assignments in the field of technical translations. Since hydroelectric power plants are moderately exciting, I was open to new things.

An “interpreting job” – which wasn’t really an interpreting job – opened my eyes: I was supposed to accompany a South American group in the Wachau for a whole day. “Here is your group, the bus and the programme…” – so much for the work assignment. My question then “and who talks on the bus? I’m just the interpreter!” Conclusion: I told the group for hours about our life in Austria, answered questions about culture and history and everyone went home happy.

As an assignment far more fulfilling than translating a generator operating manual.

It was now only a logical step to take the exam to become a “tourist guide”, a commercial job title, conceivably unwieldy and a marketing nightmare. Thank God the Chamber of Commerce created the AUSTRIA GUIDE brand decades ago.

And here I am: AUSTRIA GUIDE with heart and soul, manager of a 4-man household (3 sons who are theoretically already grown up and my dear husband).

I get to do what I enjoy and I really enjoy everything I do!

I would be very happy to inspire you for the Wachau through this wonderful platform Leiermann. Perhaps I will be allowed to welcome you on site one day. Until then, let my contributions show you the beauties of the region!

• Studium der KunstgStudied art history, classical archaeology and journalism in Münster and Cologne.
  Doctorate 1988 at the University of Münster with Prof. Anton Legner, former director of the Museum Schnütgen, Cologne
  Research assistant at the Institute for Art History at the University of Münster
  Since 2002 press and public relations work for exhibitions and projects at the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg, Potsdam
  Freelance academic activity
  Member of the Association of German Art Historians e.V.eschichte, Klassischen Archäologie und Publizistik in Münster und Köln
• Promotion 1988 an der Universität Münster bei Prof. Anton Legner, ehem. Direktor des Museums Schnütgen, Köln
• Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Institut für Kunstgeschichte der Universität Münster
• Seit 2002 Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit für Ausstellungen und Projekte in der Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Potsdam
• Freiberufliche wissenschaftliche Tätigkeit
• Mitglied im Verband Deutscher Kunsthistoriker e.V.

For over ten years, he has been working at one of Germany’s largest open-air museums, the Freilichtmuseum Hessenpark. Since 2015, he has been in charge of the museum theatre here, responsible for research, authorship and direction. He also performs on stage himself and is actively involved in the realisation of museum exhibitions.

Maser has been working as a freelance historian, director, author, actor and curator for various projects and clients since 2014.

…..

Professionally, I initially took a different path. As a textile chemist, I was in charge of a textile chemistry laboratory as part of an international chemical company. Later I was a company spokeswoman and attended a part-time course in public relations at the University of Vienna’s Institute of Journalism and worked in various PR agencies. So, in addition to musical notes and chemical formulas, I had now added copywriting, writing and publishing for others. Founding my own agency in 2002 was the logical next step.

Besides my passion for music, I am also passionate about literature. I can’t be anywhere in the world without a good read. With a good book, however, I can be anywhere. And that’s where the next love comes in: Writing about books: For several years I have been working on a book project that has all the Nobel Prize winners in literature as its theme. Isn’t it nice to pursue a project that grows every year?

At the age of 55, I decided to go back to university and since 2019 I have been attending the course for Music Education in Context at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz.

This is where the round dance comes to a close: My aim is not only to listen to and experience music, but also to make it more accessible to others. I am enthusiastically continuing on my journey, which began at the age of eight and has led me through musical notes, formulas and words. And I want to pass on this enthusiasm.

As a semi-professional musician, Mirko Rechnitzer strives for versatility. Over the years, he has taken lessons in drums and percussion, piano, organ, singing, accordion, music theory and composition, as well as on the Turkish flute Ney. From 2013 to 2016 he trained as a part-time church musician, and in September 2019 he began studying the organ with Martin Sander in Basel. He has participated in concert projects with a wide variety of formations. These also include self-conceived discussion concerts.

In addition to music from various epochs and countries, his interests include music psychology, cybernetics, transpersonal psychology, personality development, evolutionary psychology, religious studies, mysticism and physiology. Interdisciplinary research opportunities between musicology and psychology as well as between musicology, liturgical studies and cultural history hold a special attraction for him.

Since 2012, he has occasionally taken part in various psychotherapeutic training courses. He was not only motivated by the idea of working as a coach, but also by the conviction that the formation of one’s own personality and the understanding of human relationships are of great value for a deeper understanding and experience of art and culture.

On his blog, he publishes weekly shorter articles on musical works, topics from music history, philosophy or psychology, or aphorisms on personality development.

When he needs time off from all this work, he likes to go for walks alone or with friends, cook or watch films, work in the garden, or try something completely new.

In the 1980s, during the GDR era, I completed a degree in foreign languages at the University of Leipzig. After a family break, I started my own business in 1995 as a tour guide in and around Dresden, where I have since taken great pleasure in presenting my city and its precious art treasures, as well as its charming surroundings, to visitors from all over the world in guided tours of various kinds.

It is a matter close to my heart to pass on my enthusiasm for the city and the region and their exciting history and culture in a lively and competent, but also entertaining and creative way. In order to continue this concern even in the all-changing Corona pandemic, I have, in a sense, switched to the written form and find much joy in dealing with Dresden-relevant topics in blog texts, tracking down interesting stories and incorporating my own experiences.

As a Dresden city writer for the Leiermann, I am very much looking forward to also getting you interested in my city and its region and perhaps welcoming you here in person soon!

After my Abitur, which I completed at the Waldorf School with a focus on art and French, I studied European art history, as well as medieval and modern history, first in Heidelberg and later in Munich, passed the Latin exam and then learned Italian.

As part of the ERASMUS university exchange programme, I spend two semesters at the Università degli studi di Pisa in Italy. This stay strongly influenced my further professional orientation. First, however, I was awarded the academic degree of Magistra Artium by the Ruprecht Karls University in Heidelberg.

During my time at university, I was already involved as an intern at Sotheby’s in Munich and the Art History Institute (Max Planck) in Florence. As a freelancer, I gained my first professional experience at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, the Baroque Gallery in Schloss Ludwigsburg, the Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, the Strachschule Il David in Florence, the adult education centres in Stuttgart and Mannheim; and worked as a tour guide for Studiosus Reisen Munich for hiking and study tours in Tuscany, the Cinque Terre and Umbria.

Another freelance assignment leads me to a new field of work: as author and translator first of an internet project on Italian art history and language, then as translator for the Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon AKL and for Baudry’s Handbuch der Frühchristlichen Ikonographie.

With my exclusive agency “Kunstführung” for artful travel under the motto “Art & Landscape” in Tuscany, I have been organising art tours and day programmes entirely according to the individual wishes of my travel guests since 2010. Through my experienced and thoughtful organisation, the personal charm of my art-historical tours and the personal tips, my clients’ holidays become an overall experience of Italian art of living.

My first reading book has been on the market since 2012. Under the pseudonym Katja Kirschstein, I write with much humour and eloquence about my life in Italy “From the land where not only the lemons…”, the ups and downs of Italian politics, culture and history, everyday life in Italy and my special very personal experiences.

During the 2020 pandemic, I entertain my clients with “online art tours” of art and history in Tuscany. This involves making films with my own photos and texts on exciting topics such as Michelangelo, episodes from the Second World War and insider tips in Tuscany.

He worked at various cultural institutions of the city of Augsburg on a part-time or honorary basis, for example at the Municipal Art Collections and Museums. He was also a research assistant at the former Architekturmuseum Schwaben (branch of the Architekturmuseum der TU München in the Pinakothek der Moderne), at the Chair of European Ethnology / Folklore and at the Chair of European Regional History and Bavarian-Swabian Regional History at the University of Augsburg.

He works part-time as a museum cultural mediator and officially certified city guide. He is also doing a doctorate in the field of cultural studies of cities, authenticity and sustainability.

She also attended international master classes and chamber music courses with Prof. Paul Meisen, Prof. Karlheinz Zoeller, Prof. Günter Ludwig and Prof. Albert Aigner, among others.

After graduating as a musician and state-certified music teacher at the University of Music Würzburg, she was a participant and finalist in various national and international competitions, including the International Vienna Competition and the Young Concert Artists Competition in New York.

Her lessons with Prof. Eckart Haupt, Dresden and Prof. Erich List, Leipzig were particularly formative.

Ute-Gabriela Schneppat is a scholarship holder of the Hessian Cultural Foundation and the German Music Council.

In addition to her studies, she completed a training course in Dispokinesis at the International Institute for Dispokinesis with G.O. van de Klashorst from 2006 to 2008, which she concluded with the instructor’s diploma DIRP (Dispokineto – Instrumental Re – educational Processing). Her further training in the field of musician’s health complements her training as a stress management trainer, in spiraldynamics and in pain therapy according to Liebscher & Bracht.

Ute-Gabriela Schneppat gives concerts with various chamber music partners at home and abroad. In 2021, she produced the CD “La Flûte Femme” with her duo “Flute on Keys”, featuring works by female composers of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

Her heart’s desire is to make the music of female composers known.

She is voluntarily involved as the second chairperson of the DTKV Hessen and as editor of the DTKV Three Countries page in the Neue Musikzeitung (nmz).

During her studies of an engineering science it became a valuable balance and an integral part of her life. Since then she has attended writing seminars to hone her craft. She has also successfully accompanied several projects as a test reader. Her stories range from many areas and varieties of fantasy to science fiction. In recent years, she has also become more and more involved with the classics and the origins of modern fantasy and science fiction, as well as philosophical works.

She also loves to travel and explore new places, which is why she can always be found at the odd con or book fair.

www.tuerkisgruen.de (art and culture)

Instagram: tuerkisgruenbyines

Podcast “Kulturglitzern – your podcast from Lake Constance about art, culture and history”.

www.gruessevomsee.de (recipes, books, travel and much more)

Growing up on beautiful Lake Constance, my studies led me to Freiburg im Breisgau. While searching for the right subjects to study, I finally chose art history/Scandinavian studies, as they best reflected my interests.

A semester abroad took me to Tromsø in northern Norway. I had already been enchanted by Norway on a holiday when I was 15, and since then my heart has beaten for the north of Germany and for Scandinavia. That’s why I wrote my thesis on “The Vasamoument in Uppsala Cathedral by Willem Boy (1520-92) – Studies in Scandinavian funerary art in the 16th century”. I’ve put my doctoral thesis on the late medieval funerary monuments of Constance Cathedral on hold for the time being – there are too many topics I want to deal with: theatre, art and culture, Scandinavia. But maybe I’ll pick up the thread “doctoral thesis” again sometime…

In my work as an art historian, culture blogger and author, I convey art and culture in an entertaining way in sound, image, text and video.

Art, culture and history(s) from the far north

Scandinavian design, coffee culture, Hugin & Mugin, cinnamon buns. Stave churches, breathtaking scenery, fika, Nordlys and köttbullar, sauna, waffles and dark detective stories. Edvard Munch, Karin Larsson and the Ice Sea Cathedral. Funerary monuments, arts and crafts, trolls, dwarves and elves, Nidaros Cathedral and Hurtigruta, the Vasa, Snorri and the Edda. All this and much more is part of Scandinavian art and culture.

Immerse yourself in exciting and diverse topics full of art, mysticism, design, culinary delights, history and culture from the far north.

As a commercially self-employed tourist guide, she is a one-person business and practices a regulated trade according to Austrian law.

She studied acting and theatre, film and media studies.

He was interested in music from a very early age.

At the age of 13 he played the organ for the first time in a church service, at 15 he gave his first solo recital on the piano – with exclusively his own compositions and improvisations.

In 1980 he began his musical studies: first piano at the Zurich Conservatory with a diploma in 1983 and further training in the master class of Vitalij Margulis in Freiburg i. Br., 1984 – 1988 choral conducting at the Basel Music Academy with Hans-Martin Linde with a diploma, 1986 – 1994 organ studies at the Zurich Conservatory and the Zurich Conservatory of Music, first with Rudolf Scheidegger (organist diploma), then in the concert training class with Bernhard Billeter.

1994 – 2007 harpsichord studies with Bernhard Billeter (diploma 2001), then concert training with Jörg-Andreas Bötticher in Basel (lecturer at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis) until 2007.

International master classes complemented his training.

From an early age, Daniel Ungermann was interested in music from the Middle Ages to the Baroque, and he pursued ever more consistently the path of historical performance practice with the corresponding historical stylistic means and playing techniques. A rich study of sources accompanied his musical development.

Since 1995 Daniel Ungermann has been the full-time organist at St. Martin’s in Meilen (on Lake Zurich), and he also works as a choir director.

He has performed as a harpsichordist, organist and conductor in Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic and has collaborated with renowned soloists and orchestras.

In addition, he has been writing articles for the press since the age of 16 (1978 to 1982 critic of the “Rapperswiler Schlosskonzerte”), as well as various essays for specialist journals.

In addition, he has been studying medieval sacred architecture autodidactically for several decades.

I published my doctoral thesis in 2019 under the title “Kunst. Power. Image. Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici (1667-1743) in the Mirror of Her Portraits and Spaces of Domination” published by Böhlau-Verlag. Based on archival sources from the Florentine State Archives, I investigated the German-Italian exchange of art and culture between Florence and Düsseldorf and the beginnings of public museums in the 18th century.

During my time as a research assistant at the Chair of Medieval and Modern Art History at HU Berlin (2010-2016), I was responsible for editing and proofreading monographs and anthologies with essays on various art and cultural studies topics from the Middle Ages to the present. Lectures on Italian Baroque sculpture, the Medici dynasty and female interiors in the 19th century took me to Canada, Italy and Switzerland. I also led excursions to Florence and northern India.

Afterwards, I worked as a research assistant at the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Schloss (2016-2019) for the Founding Directorate. Here I was responsible for writing texts of different genres and collaborated on exhibition concepts and on the organisation of expert meetings and workshops.

In my current research project on the “(Syn-)aesthetics of pictorial pastry”, I am investigating the connection between baked images (especially Springerle, Spekulatius), votive offerings and rituals. The publication of a book is planned – more information will follow soon on this page!