Where would you like to live?
Right here, where I am, in Hamburg.
What is the perfect earthly happiness for you?
Riding a bike with my wife somewhere by the water.
What mistakes do you most easily forgive?
Those made in good faith.
What is the greatest misfortune for you?
War.
Your favorite literary heroes?
George Smiley, Vito Corleone.
Your favorite figure in history?
Jean Monnet.
Your favorite hero in real life?
My mother.
Your favorite hero in literature?
Sisyphus.
Your favorite painter?
Max Liebermann.
Your favorite author?
Hans Fallada.
Your favorite images?
Photographs by Thomas D. Mangelsen.
Your favorite composer?
Antonio Vivaldi.
What quality do you value most in a woman?
Intelligence.
What quality do you value most in a man?
Intelligence.
Your favorite virtue?
Keeping calm.
Your favorite activity?
Creating order (see favorite hero in literature)
Who or what would you have liked to be?
No one else.
Your main character trait?
Difficult; probably curiosity.
What do your friends appreciate most about you?
No idea.
Your greatest mistake?
Probably any lack of ambition.
Your dream of happiness?
To see my grandchild grow up.
What would you like to be?
What I already am.
Your favorite color?
Blue.
Your favorite flower?
Rose.
Your favorite bird?
Sea eagle.
Your favorite lyricist?
Wilhelm Busch.
Your heroes in reality?
My parents.
Your heroes in history?
Kurt von Hammerstein, Konrad Adenauer, Jean Monnet.
Your favorite name?
The names of my children.
What do you despise the most?
Emulation, know-it-all attitudes, and greed.
Which historical figures do you despise the most?
All those who sacrifice the lives of their fellow human beings without external necessity or out of a lust for recognition or power.
Which military achievements do you admire the most?
The landing of the Allies in Normandy.
Which reform do you admire the most?
The abolition of the monarchy.
What natural gift would you like to possess?
To fly.
How would you like to die?
Peacefully and consciously surrounded by my family, alternatively by lightning strike in the toilet.
Your current state of mind?
Pretty awake.
Your motto?
Above the clouds, the sun shines again.