Dirk Zöllner & Manuel Schmid

For Dirk Zöllner, they are childhood memories: Songs by Lift, Karat, Biege, Biebl, Bartzsch and Lakomy. In the final days of the GDR, he started his own music career in Berlin with his band "Die Zöllner" - around the same time, Manuel Schmid was born in Altenburg. The German attempt at a social alternative was already a long way off when Manuel discovered the soundtrack of the East for himself. The discovery becomes an obsession and makes him the frontman of the "Stern Combo Meissen", a band that was already celebrating its 20th anniversary when he saw the light of day.

Now, 35 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the two singers join forces to present the most beautiful ballads from the land before our time. Not a nostalgia show, but the cultivation of a high-quality cultural heritage that they love.

Manuel Schmid, who is now causing quite a stir in the German-speaking music scene himself, is also bringing keyboardist and saxophonist Marek Arnold into the project. He is an established name in the international progressive rock scene and has released albums with Steve Hacket (GENESIS), Ion Anderson (YES) and Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER).

Dirk Zöllner is joined by his partner André Gensicke, with whom he founded "Die Zöllner" in June 1988. Seventeen albums have resulted from this creative collaboration. Zöllner has also published three books and, as a columnist for the "Freie Presse", is committed to peaceful social cohesion.

The raw and the delicate, improvisation and strict structure - during the lockdown in the spring of 2021, the very different voices of Dirk Zöllner and Manuel Schmid came together in a symbiosis. At a living room concert, they performed the songs they love for the first time in a streaming concert. On the tour, this interplay can now be experienced live.

Tickets are available at the Stralsund Tourist Office, online via Reservix and at the box office.