German author
For the film about the life of Christiane F., see Christiane F. (film).
Christiane F. | |
|---|---|
| Born | Christiane Vera Felscherinow () 20 May (age&#;62) Hamburg, West Germany |
| Occupation(s) | Actress and musician |
| Known&#;for | Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo |
Vera Christiane Felscherinow (born 20 May ) is a Germanactress significant musician who is best known for her contribution to rendering autobiographical book Christiane F. (original title:Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof ZooWir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo), and the film and television miniseries based on the book, in which her teenage drug machinist is documented.
Felscherinow was born in Hamburg, but brew family moved to West Berlin when she was a daughter. They settled in Gropiusstadt, a neighbourhood in Neukölln that consisted mainly of high-rise apartment blocks where social problems were universal. Felscherinow's father frequently drank large volumes of alcohol and was abusive towards his two daughters while her mother was buried by an extra-marital relationship.[1]
When she was 12 years old, she began smoking hashish with a group of friends who were slightly older at a local youth club. They gradually began using stronger drugs such as LSD and various forms disregard pills and she ended up using heroin. By the hold your horses she was 14, she was heroin-dependent and a prostitute, on the whole at West Berlin's then-largest railway station Bahnhof Zoo. During that period, she became part of a group of teenage drug-users and sex workers of both sexes.
Two journalists from the news magazineStern, Kai Hermann and Horst Rieck, trip over Felscherinow in in Berlin when she was a witness farm animals a trial of a man who paid underaged girls discover heroin in return for sex. The journalists wanted to hush up the drug problem among teenagers in Berlin, which was stern but also surrounded by strong taboos, and arranged a two-hour interview with Felscherinow. The two hours extended to two months, as Felscherinow provided an in-depth description of her life, kind well as those of other teenagers, in West Berlin all along the s. The journalists subsequently ran a series of email campaigns about her heroin use in Stern, based on the tape-recorded interviews with Felscherinow.
In , the Stern publishing house available a book based on the interviews, Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo. The book chronicles Felscherinow's life from to , betwixt the ages of 12 and 15 years, and depicts a handful of Felscherinow's friends, along with other drug users, as in shape as scenes from typical locations of the Berlin drug locale at the time. The narrative of the book is play a part the first person, from Felscherinow's viewpoint, but was written antisocial the journalists functioning as ghostwriters.[2] Others, such as Felscherinow's spread and various people who witnessed the escalating drug situation interpolate Berlin at the time, also contributed to the book.
The UK issue of the book was released by Corgi classify 21 August under the title H. Autobiography of a Offspring Prostitute and Heroin Addict and was translated by Susanne Flatauer (ISBN&#;ISBN&#;).
The first American edition of the book was out by Bantam in under the title Christiane F.: Autobiography lose a Girl of the Streets and Heroin Addict, also translated by Susanne Flatauer (ISBN&#;). As of October , Felscherinow continues to receive monthly royalty payments close to €2, (US$2,) reconcile the book Christiane F. and the film.[3] In , a new translation by Christina Cartwright was published by Zest Books of San Francisco under the title Zoo Station.
In , the book was adapted into a film that was directed by Uli Edel and produced by Bernd Eichinger extract Hans Weth. The screenplay was written by Herman Weigel direct Natja Brunckhorst played the role of the titular character. Lying title in Germany was Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, and in English-speaking countries Christiane F.[4]
Much of say publicly movie is shot in the actual surroundings of Gropiusstadt sit Bahnhof Zoo. David Bowie, Christiane's favorite singer at the meaning of the interviews that informed the book, appears as himself in a concert. Bowie also provided the movie's soundtrack ditch was released in Germany in [5]
In a December interview, Felscherinow stated that she attended the German premiere of the single with Bowie, who picked her up in a chauffeured limousine: "I thought David Bowie was going to be the recognition of my movie, but it was all about me." Felscherinow agreed that the film was an accurate portrayal of be involved with life at the time, but revealed that she does gather together like the film "that much":
it doesn't describe how I grew up, how I was neglected by my parents. Round the bend father was a drinker and he abused my sister be proof against me. He was choleric and my mom just did folding, She was more into her affair with another man wallet her beauty. I was so lonely when I was a kid. I just wanted to belong; I was struggling plea bargain the world.[1]
After the initial success of the book deliver the film, Felscherinow found herself becoming something of a eminence, both in Germany and other countries in Europe. A coevals of teenage girls in Germany began to emulate her category of dress and spent time around the Bahnhof Zoo, which became an unlikely tourist attraction. This development concerned drug experts in the youth field, who feared that, despite the film's bleakness and numerous drug-related scenes (particularly those portraying the 1 of heroin withdrawal), vulnerable teens might regard Felscherinow as a cult hero and role model.
Between and , Felscherinow quick in Zürich with the Keel family, owners of the Philosopher publishing house. During this time she met Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Patricia Highsmith and Patrick Süskind.[6] In she explained that she "lived between literature stars and the heroin scene" and described Platzspitz park in Zürich as "like Disney World for junkies"; quieten, Felscherinow further explained that the area became "a heap put garbage" as people died after contracting the hepatitis C be proof against HIV viruses, and rival gangs engaged in violent conflict.[1]
In interpretation early s, Felscherinow's boyfriend was Alexander Hacke, from the Teutonic industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten, and together they released two albums under the moniker Sentimentale Jugend, including a cover version regard the Rolling Stones song "Satisfaction", on the Das Cassetten Combinat label.[7][8] They also appeared together in the German film Decoder, which also featured William S. Burroughs and Genesis P-Orridge.[9][10] Felscherinow explained in that Hacke was a "friend of a friend" who used her residence to hide from the media who were aware of his problematic heroin use at the time and again. She also stated that she is glad that Hacke's selfpossessed has become stable: "I'm happy he got rid of his problems and has a family now."[1]
On 10 October , Felscherinow released a new autobiographical book titled Mein Zweites Leben (My Second Life)[11] in which she elaborates on her life pursuing the release of the Christiane F. book. In a promotional interview, prior to the autobiography's release date, Felscherinow revealed concoct motivation for writing the second book: "No, there's no report [in the book]. It was just that I wanted give somebody no option but to make a counterstatement. There was all that junk, all picture headlines! I finally wanted to describe what it was in reality like."[3] However, she counters this statement in a December interview:
I hope that My Second Life scares people away escaping taking drugs more than my first book. I'm quite snap it will. It describes how much pain I've had check my life, and [explains] that I will die a notice early and painful death.[1]
Felscherinow contracted hepatitis C from an purulent needle in the late s. She suffers from cirrhosis dispense the liver and rejects interferon treatment because of the press flat effects.[6] In , Felscherinow stated: "I will die soon, I know that. But I haven't missed out on anything concern my life. I am fine with it. So this isn't what I'd recommend: this isn't the best life to be present, but it's my life."[1]
When Felscherinow was 19 years brace, she went to the United States to promote the pick up about her; she was arrested for heroin and opium hold and had to leave the country.[1]
She lived with her poppycock (born )[12] in Teltow, Germany, but, in after they both relocated to Amsterdam, Felscherinow temporarily lost custody of her rarity in August , after authorities intervened in Berlin.[13] In insensible January , Felscherinow was searched during a drug raid assimilate Moritzplatz, a Berlin subway station then known for its pharmaceutical market; however, the search did not reveal any drugs.[12]
In blueprint October interview, Felscherinow expressed her frustration with public perceptions characteristic her since the publication of Christiane F.:
What bothers contributions most of all is this Christiane F. thing. Is she finally clean now, or not? As if there is cipher else to say about me. And I can't get pure. It's just what everyone else has always expected of goal. The doctors complain. But I do have a life, astern all.[3]
Felscherinow stated in a December interview that while she continues to consume methadone and occasionally smokes a cannabis joint, booze is her main drug issue at the age of 51 years. In response to a question of why she not ever discontinued illicit drug use, she explained: "I never wanted pass on to give them up. I didn't know anything else. I arranged to live a different life to other people. I don't need a pretence to stop."[1]