Dear reader,
there is a photograph of King Charles III and myself. When the photo was taken, Charles was still a prince, and otherwise there is little royal about the shot. It’s badly blurred because it had to be flashed really quickly, and technically I can only be seen with a tiny corner of my head somewhere behind Charles’ shoulder. I pushed myself into the picture, it cannot be overlooked. Charles was visiting Munich, the well-known world politician Markus Söder had organized a banquet for him, for some reason that was difficult to understand, I was also on the guest list. But I do remember that we both have red cheeks, I’m so excited, with Charles I can only speculate about the reason. What also stuck with me was that the prince said a few sentences in German, so well that the guests at my banquet table whispered happily that somehow we also had a German king.
Which leads me to our current cover story. In it we address the question of how German this Charles III – formerly in full beauty: Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick and Baron Renfrew, Lord of the Isles , Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich – is actually the one who pays his first major state visit as king to the Germans. The French were supposed to be the first, but they preferred to go on strike, which in turn shows that German union bosses at least have respect for kings. Charles, with whom the star has often dealt, will visit an eco-village in Brandenburg in the coming days. At the time of going to press, we were unable to find out whether he spoke to flowers there and then did it in German.
Charles, now 74, has been waiting for more than half a century to finally start his intended job. It cannot be said that he reached the peak of his career early. With Julian Nagelsmann it may be the other way around. At the age of 33, the football coach achieved the most dazzling coaching position in the republic, and FC Bayern had paid a fee of 25 million euros for him. Now, at the age of 35, he is also an ex-Bayern coach forever. Some murmur that he has lost “the dressing room”, the support of the stars. The others say he simply couldn’t satisfy the picky bosses, despite the prospect of a treble. Now many questions arise: Will FC Bayern become FC Hollywood again? Will the new coach Thomas Tuchel suddenly be easy to care for? And do Bayern actually collect a fee for Nagelsmann if he starts another job?
When it gets brighter and warmer outside, we want to look good, and that goes for the star too. Over the past few months, a graphics team headed by Christiane Kapaun, Susanne Söffker, Felix Bringmann, Andreas Nyland and Derik Meinköhn has gently but decisively revised the look of our magazine, with new fonts, newly designed categories and a new three-part division of the magazine. In the first part of each issue you can expect current information and research as well as the “questions of the week”. The “heart” of the stern beats in the middle with large reports and talks that are also visually even more opulently staged. And at the back, a completely redesigned culture section awaits you, which we call the “Journal”. We hope you like the new old star.
Cordially you,
Gregor-Peter Schmitz
