Peter Lohmeyer, the actor known from numerous cinema and television roles and member of the German Film Academy was born in Sauerland and grew up in Dortmund, among other places. The kid from the Pott has lived in Hamburg for a few years now, where we met him for our “Stromern mit…” report.
For an article that focuses on sustainable mobility, we could have chosen a modern, stylish location for the shoot and interview, but in the end we decided on a historic place, the Speicherstadt. After all, the venerable transport canals with their flanking brick warehouses form a perfect backdrop to draw the bow to contemporary means of transport. So yesterday should meet today, even if some still like to call e-mobility a technology of the future.
The e-swallow, an ideal vehicle. Except for the colour…
We had arranged to meet at the entrance to the small Speicherstadt Museum. Because he wanted to get his electric scooter into a presentable, i.e. clean, condition beforehand, our protagonist arrived somewhat late. What was immediately noticeable on his approach was the natural and casual handling of his nippy, 90 km/h electric scooter. The man is clearly an experienced two-wheeler rider. For a long time, Lohmeyer reports, he was on the road with a classic Vespa, until he finally switched to the electric reminiscence of the former GDR cult vehicle for environmental reasons. What also caught his eye was the bright yellow colour of his vehicle. Actually a no-go for the passionate footballer and football fan Lohmeyer, whose heart beats for the Schalker Knappen and whose arch-rival has yellow in its club colours. Our interlocutor will have to live with this, for better or worse, because at the time of his purchase there was no colour alternative, as the manufacturer Govecs only recently launched a chic special edition in black and red, the club colours of his other favourite club, Altona 93. Apart from the colour, there is nothing to complain about, the actor assures us, even if he has to make a certain effort to enjoy his ride, such as “refuelling” it with an extension cable from his flat socket on the 3rd floor. He does have one suggestion for the manufacturer: a smartphone holder on the handlebars would make navigation easier.
Abandonment of internal combustion engines and “industrial fodder
When Peter Lohmeyer is not on the road with his scooter, he either uses his bicycle, sometimes an e-bike or the train. And soon also a fully electric Opel Mokka-e. Even when he is filming, he likes to borrow a bicycle from the hotel or sometimes an e-scooter from a local rental company. In any case, he has not regretted his now one-year abstinence from combustion vehicles. On the contrary, he feels that reflecting on and consciously changing habits and behaviours has improved his quality of life.
But the Hamburg resident is not only on the lookout for the most environmentally friendly means of transport possible on location; shopping at the nearest organic food shop is also one of his regular habits. And if there is no opportunity to cook for himself, he makes sure to get regional, seasonal and species-appropriate food served. No, the (organic) cake lover is not a vegetarian, but Lohmeyer cannot and will not always deny himself a beef roulade or a curry sausage. But it doesn’t have to be every day, and if there is animal food on the plate once or twice a week, then it is preferably home-made, because it is easier to check where the product comes from and how it was produced. When buying fish, Peter Lohmeyer naturally makes sure that he only uses species that are not endangered. On this topic, the talk immediately turned to the scandal that many retail chains and grocery stores still carry “Schillerlocken”, i.e. smoked belly flaps of dogfish, in their assortment. This is despite the fact that this fish, like most shark species, is threatened with extinction due to overfishing. However, since even the most sensible bans are currently frowned upon in the current social and political discourse as inadmissible encroachments on personal freedom, we as consumers will probably continue to undauntedly take the liberty of contributing to the extinction of countless species…
By the way: The author of these lines has been toying for some time with the idea of calling for a boycott of Schillerlocken retailers and is sure that he will have a prominent comrade-in-arms in Peter Lohmeyer, who already supports various social projects as patron and ambassador.
Living, not staging, sustainability
Lohmeyer is not in the business of carrying his conscious and mindful lifestyle before him like a monstrance, like many other celebrities who sell their own self-evident waste separation as an ecological feat. His unagitated, grounded mentality of the people of his original and adopted homeland alone speaks against this. This does not mean, however, that he is not involved, even if his view of the current economic model of always faster, bigger, further is a rather pessimistic one. But he still hopes that, especially after the recent flood and fire catastrophes, more politicians, economic actors and voters will “get it into their heads” how important it is to treat our livelihoods with more care. And he is counting on the younger generation, which is becoming increasingly committed to these goals. He himself does not see his role as that of a loud-speaking, zealous missionary, but as someone who wants to provoke thought. The question of whether his way of living and thinking does not make him an exotic figure in acting circles is one he can confidently answer in the negative. A lot has changed here recently; more and more colleagues are now eating vegetarian or even vegan food and there is much less plastic on the set.
Nature as a source of peace and strength
Whenever possible, Peter Lohmeyer seeks out nature. He “loves being there”. He is particularly fond of the water. He would prefer to live by the sea, but the nearby 18-kilometre-long tributary of the Elbe, the “Dove Elbe”, also offers him pure enjoyment. Bathing and relaxing.
The prominent e-driver sees a further advantage in quietly cruising through the countryside on his electric swallow. He can perceive the sounds of nature more clearly than with one of the – still – usual “rattling boxes”. And the animals probably feel less disturbed.
Text: Peter Grett & Elmar Thomassek
Images: Lutz Dürichen, Image Dove Elbe: Hamburg Marketing;