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Christiane F. (full name: Vera Christiane Felscherinow), was born in Hamburg on May 20, 1962. Her family moved to West Berlin when she was a child. Christiane is famous for her struggle with her drug addiction, especially to heroin. When she was 12 years old, she first smoked hashish; by the time she was 14, she was a junkie and prostitute in the Bahnhof Zoo scene, an infamous group of teenaged drug-users and prostitutes (of both sexes) in Berlin. Christiane tried numerous times to overcome her addiction, but did not become totally clean until the birth of her son in 1996. As of 2006, she remains clean and lives with her son in a small city in Brandenburg. Her story is well known in Germany because two journalists from the news magazine Stern, Kai Herrmann and Horst Rieck, ran a series of articles about her life and her addiction which eventually led to the successful book Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo. The report chronicles her life from 1975 to 1978, when she was aged 12-15. The narrative of the book is in the first person, from Christiane's viewpoint, but was written by the journalists functioning as ghostwriters. In 1981, the story was made into a film directed by Uli Edel and produced by Bernd Eichinger and Hans Weth. Its title in Germany was Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, and in English speaking countries Christiane F. The screenplay was written by Herman Weigel. Christiane worked as an advisor for the film, but did not appear in it herself. David Bowie, Christiane's favorite singer at the time of the story, appears as himself. Bowie also provided much of the music in the movie, released on the 1981 soundtrack album Christiane F. Christiane Felscherinow has worked with some bands over the years and sporadically released music under the name Christiane F. She lives today in Berlin and has a 10 year old son.
Detlef R. (born May 18, 1960), Christiane's boyfriend at the time of her story, was also a junkie and a teenage prostitute. His life seems to have changed in a very fortunate direction, and according to a documentary on SpiegelTV, he is totally clean though he sometimes thinks and even dreams of heroin. In an article in the magazine Der Spiegel (February 6, 1995), he claims to have been free from drugs since 1980 after he underwent a detoxification treatment in Sweden. He lives with his girlfriend in Berlin, works as a busdriver for the home-help service, and has even quit smoking. He gives the impression of having put the whole story behind him, and seems to look upon the time at Bahnhof Zoo as a "sin of his youth". He claims that it wasn't love between him and Christiane(!), but that it was the drug that kept them together.
Discography
Gesundheit! (12"), Posh Boy (1982)
Wunderbar / Health Dub (12"), Playhouse (2003)
During a stay in the U.S. Christiane F. recorded vocals for a record, but had no influence on the musical and artistic result. Upon hearing the result (A. Wunderbar) after its release she was horrified and had the record stopped in order to re-record the song under the name of Christiana with musicians from Berlin's New Wave scene (B. Süchtig (Health Dub)). At the Robert Johnson Club in Offenbach, the original U.S. version turned into a significant hit, and so it was soon decided to feature both versions on one record.
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