The history and goals of Kristyan Schmeisser

Kristyan Schmeisser was born in Gera on 23 December 1989. Being born on this day has great significance for him. On the one hand, because he was born one day before Christmas Eve and, on the other hand, because the year of his birth has great significance for all Germans. It is the year of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the year of reunification in 1990, so he is a Wendekind (child of the turning point).

After his school education (high-school diploma) and completing his civilian service in an institution for mentally and physically handicapped children, Kristyan Schmeisser left his home village in 2010 to study media management and business in Berlin. Besides his studies he worked for an internationally known club called Kater Holzig (successor to Bar 25) and Kater Blau (part of the Holzmarkt project). This institution is not just a club but a cultural institution with theatre, cinema, art exhibitions and much more. It is a meeting place for all social classes. Kristyan also worked for Matheis Casting. A Berlin casting agency for advertising film productions. He was allowed to accumulate a lot of knowledge in Berlin by questioning the prevailing system. In parallel societies he had an insight into looking at the world from a different perspective.

His goal is to travel to every country to constantly expand his knowledge and learn from every culture. It is important to combine any knowledge from all cultures to unite the big picture. So far, he has been allowed to travel to 51 countries and has acquired a lot of knowledge in the field of individual travel.

Photographically and cinematically, he wants to draw attention to the fact that the world is both light and shadow. Justice must be a cornerstone of every culture. Diversity can be an enrichment for all people. And that the working class is worth as much as academics. If this is not clear to everyone, there will always be people who put themselves above others. We have to respect each other and try to see the world from different perspectives. To understand what path each person had to take to be where they are now.

Kristyan Schmeisser grew up in a working class family was raised to swim against the tide to stand out from the crowd and get to the truths of our lives faster. He was brought up with great determination, honesty, justice and ambition. Kristyan grew up in a time and place when hatred against foreigners and diversity was once again gaining influence. Not on a political level, but in a social sense. But this did not fit in with his cosmopolitanism, which was instilled in him at an early age. Diversity has always been a cornerstone of his life.

Kristyan Schmeisser, with his background as an East German, has made it his mission to serve as a mouthpiece for all those who have been wronged and who are considered inferior by the ruling society. Many East Germans had to live through this experience.

The majority of East Germans were happy about reunification. However, they soon realised that the GDR (German Democratic Republik) had once again not been given the chance it deserved. Instead of „flourishing landscapes“, an eternal „valley of tears“ opened up in the East, as the Hamburg SPIEGEL polemically judged a decade and a half later. Liquidation, unemployment and emigration hit the transitional society in the former GDR with full force. And it is precisely against this background that there is still a persistent conflict between two camps over responsibility for the dramatic upheavals that also reached far into the spheres of politics, society and culture – and continue to have an impact.

Fight for what is important to you and what you cannot live without.