“Schröder always had his driver stop at ‘Hahnchen-Ingo'”

Mr. Wischmeyer, the FAZ has a kompromat against you. Before the 2002 state elections, Sigmar Gabriel published a book entitled “We are Lower Saxony”. The man on the cover with the two beer-drinking blondes, that’s you!

I can not believe it. Where did you find that? After all, the book achieved its goal, and Gabriel lost the election. That was a really embarrassing number. But it was fun, I also wrote all the lyrics in the book. I still remember that Gabriel was extremely unreliable at the time and hardly kept any agreements. Only at the very end of the book launch, that’s when he was there. But not because of the book, but because of the blonde presenter.

How did the collaboration come about?

This was done via another occult figure in Lower Saxony politics, Heino Wiese. This is one of the really tough frogs (“Friends of Gerhard Schröder”).

You write about yourself: “Will live in Lower Saxony voluntarily and with pleasure.”

And that’s true to this day. I grew up near Osnabrück, in the up-and-coming west of the country. In Schaumburg, where I live today, there is less industry. That’s why the towns here are manageable, with a lot of half-timbered houses and small parts, the old principality lives on. Overall, western Lower Saxony suits me better than eastern Lower Saxony.

Why?

Because I grew up there. And the Hanover-Brunswick-Salzgitter triangle is an industrial region. People lived in a dependent relationship from an early age. In western Lower Saxony, freelancers tend to set the mood: farmers, small craftsmen, the Emsland was Germany’s poorhouse until the 1950s. I’m a big fan of this region. Everywhere in Germany there are demonstrations against autobahns, the Emslanders are building their own autobahn.

Have you ever thought about moving away?

I can imagine living somewhere else. But without need. . .? I have a map of Germany on which I use an Edding to cross out the regions in which I definitely don’t want to live. The map is getting blacker and blacker. The Kraichgau, for example. Sounds tranquil, but it’s one of the most built-up areas in the world, with a carpet center lurking on every corner. I blacked out immediately. There are also black areas in Lower Saxony.

Where?

Hanover is at least partially blackened. Basically, the city is nice and worth living in, at least more than Hamburg and Cologne. But Hanover is also partly a failed city. It has too much debt and too high a government quota and has become immobile in its politics as a result. Now the Hanover region wants to replace these crazy yellow rubbish bags with yellow bins, at the very least. But of course these Verdi ski jumps can’t do that either. I see parallels to Berlin. If I wanted to move to a city in Lower Saxony, then it would be more likely to be Osnabrück or Oldenburg. That’s the right size. Probably more Oldenburg, although: the weather . . .

What do you appreciate about the Lower Saxony?

The humor here is more open than in other regions. Black, anarchic and above all: It doesn’t all have to be reduced to a point. I get around a lot in Germany through my performances. Lower Saxony, Bavaria, East Germany, these are good humor regions. Franks are rather difficult to convince of my humor. People from Cologne love to laugh at other people from Cologne.

I notice the politeness of the Lower Saxony. It’s rare to get teased. You keep the shape.