In the living room of our Cologne apartment hung two pictures with the likeness of Steve McQueen. Why Steve McQueen? To call him a role model would be a bit exaggerated. From my point of view, the guy was just pretty cool. - When is a man a man? - This question was not only asked by Grönemeyer. - As much as I loved his song Männer, too many questions remained unanswered in the end. 

"Men are lonely fighters - Have to go through every wall, have to go on and on".

At least this line of text has stuck with me forever. - Steve McQueen, on the other hand, seems to me as if he never asked himself this question. He had other questions: "I'm not sure whether I'm an actor who races or a racer who acts" - Otherwise it was clear for him, "I live for myself and I answer to nobody.

McQueen rode motorcycles and race cars like a big shot. His motorcycle trip to Cuba ended with an arrest. He was considered a friend of Sinatra, was a gun nut, boxed, smoked like a chimney and lifted weights to compensate. For weeks he wandered the wilderness alone. Then he had a shaggy beard and long hair, he looked "like an unwashed truck driver" - But when he put on a suit, it fit impeccably. - His film "Le Mans" was not a box office hit, except for TAG Heuer. The picture of Steve McQueen wearing their distinctive Monaco chronograph on his wrist went around the world. - His widow says about him: "He was afraid of nothing and nobody" - Certainly McQueen was an extreme character, but this is exactly what I find exciting about him. 

From guys like him, you can learn not only how to dress stylishly, but most importantly "be your own hero".

But above all, he was the master of coolness. This secured him not only one, but two places in our living room. I would have loved to take both pictures with me into the van. But that turned out to be not so easy. The larger of the two, however, he must share with a real hero. Pink Panther, but this is another story. This pop art "ensemble" is kept for us by good friends. We parted with the smaller one, which shows Steve with a gun on his private couch. But not quite, because it found its place in BUTCH in a modified form. 

And we take something else from him with us on the journey. After years in the big city, we are drawn to nowhere. That's why his quote fits perfectly with this new phase of our lives:

"I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth"