“We have enough jugglers and trappers ourselves!” – to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Achim Mentzel’s death

As part of my research work for the book “Spreewaldoriginale”, I was able to accompany Achim Mentzel from Cottbus during performances in the Spreewald and also visit him in Gaglow.

“Special characteristics: Apocalyptic glee on the verge of insanity, somewhere between Toni Marshall, a yeti and a roadkill hamster. If you see him, report it to the city dog catcher or catch him yourself, but be careful, this guy is armed with a cucumber pot!” You could see Achim Mentzel’s excitement when he quoted Oliver Kalkhofe, who portrayed him like this on his TV show “Kalkofes Mattscheibe” in 1996. And at prime time, on Sunday evening. Achim had just made himself comfortable with his family in his Cottbus home when this came over the radio. “My wife Brigitte was horrified: ‘They’re out to get you’, she exclaimed. But to her astonishment, I remained completely calm and even rejoiced inwardly: bad news is better than no news at all, sometimes it turns into good news in the end. The entertainer and folk music star knew that anyone who is “ennobled” in this way on Kalkofe’s show must have earned it somehow. He was proved right with this interpretation, as his own show on MDR television, “Achim’s Hit Parade”, suddenly became increasingly popular. The East German star suddenly became an entertainer known throughout Germany – certainly one of the reasons why he was allowed to present this program for a total of 17 years. A record in the fast-paced world of TV!
Born in 1946 in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district, his father wanted him to learn “something proper”. Upholsterer was more up his street, but Achim actually wanted to be a footballer. But music also gradually entered his life and alongside his apprenticeship he rocked out with his bands in Berlin dance clubs. The later folk musician was initially a very “bad rocker”, as he describes himself in retrospect, someone who took on all the popular titles and later had to pay 6,000 marks in tax debts for doing so: “Ignorant as he and his young musician colleagues were, they played titles without asking and collected income without paying tax. “Something like that teaches you for life, and the demands were justified,” says the insightful musician. He gradually grew into the professional musicians’ guild and soon became a permanent fixture in the Alfons Wonneberg Orchestra. Until June 1, 1973. He took advantage of a performance by the orchestra in West Berlin to make a quick escape. (“I had trouble at home with my wife, she caught me with someone else!”) He found shelter with relatives in his mother’s native Saarland. He became very disillusioned when he registered with the employment office and wanted to continue his music career in the West with, of course, even greater success and even more (Western) money. “We already have enough jugglers and trappers here,” he was told by the officer. He offered him a welding course to learn how to weld exhausts: “We might be able to use you for that.” The inevitable happened: work was dull, his relatives were no longer quite so obliging, his wife was ready to forgive him and Achim returned to the GDR after six months, repentant. Here he founded “Fritzens Dampferband” with Nina Hagen and toured the country, ultimately becoming the man everyone knew: A thoroughbred musician who increasingly turned away from rock and pop and more and more often made folk or light music. “If you look like me, you can only do funny things,” said Achim Mentzel, who is proud of his pounds. This is how “Gott sei Dank ist sie schlank” and “Hier fliegt heut’ die Kuh” and many other titles became hits on television programs and at folk festivals, where he still enjoys performing. “I’m only something because of my audience, I need them. But they can manage quite well without me,” is his credo. From 2005, he also made regular appearances at Lehd’s “Café Venedig”, where he liked to sing his “Sauer macht lustig”: “I’m a lively cucumber and love the Spreewald …”
“The Spreewald is uniquely beautiful, I love being here and showing my guests, celebrities and not so celebrities alike, my home, which for me from Cottbus includes the Spreewald. Through my TV shows and not least through Oliver Kalkofe, with whom I am now friends, which I would never have believed, many of my acquaintances want to get to know the Spreewald better.”

When Achim Mentzel invited the family to the Spreewald, he could hardly manage with just one boat. In four marriages, he had eight children and nine grandchildren. With the corresponding appendix, a lot of things come together. In his scarce free time, he preferred to work on his Cottbus property and sometimes worked up a sweat. During a break, we got to talking about his favorite meal (it was just before noon) and he dictated his favorite recipe to me off the top of his head, calling it “Achim’s upright carp”:

“Wash the carp, which should be as large as possible, and then dry it thoroughly inside and out, preferably by dabbing it with kitchen roll. Rub thoroughly with salt and pepper and place upright with the belly opening over a large cup that is already on the baking tray. Place pieces of butter around the fish and place the dill, parsley, salt and pepper around the carp. Wrap the whole tray with the fish tightly in aluminum foil and steam in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 45 minutes.”

Achim Mentzel passed away on January 4, 2016 in Cottbus.

Peter Becker, 30.11.10, revised 09.01.2021 and on 11.01.2026