35 years ago, Michael Kausch just survived a serious accident that had a lasting impact on his career. Today he sees the stroke of fate as a moment of happiness.
Michael Kausch looks back on a moving career. A fall from the third floor changed the life of the actor, which played in cult series such as “Die Schwarzwaldklinik” and “Darling Kreuzberg”, suddenly – he just survived. In the interview, he talks back about his long way why he sees the accident today as happiness in misfortune and what plans he is pursuing with a new hobby.
T-online: Mr. Kausch, 35 years ago, on January 19, 1990, had a serious accident and had to be treated in the hospital for a long time. How do you look back on today?
Michael Kausch: It’s like my second birthday, because it is really hard to believe that I survived it at all. It was a fall from the third floor. It is not so easy to get away. I was in the hospital for almost half a year and had a very heavy traumatic brain dream with brain bleeding. As a result, I sat in a wheelchair for half a year, had to speak again and learn to run. The full program.
As part of an acting workshop in a Weddinger Fabriketage, with large windows we opened during the break, I wanted to use the break to work with a colleague on improvisation. In this Impro I have to start the open window with full Karacho, had not caught the stop and then it went 15 meters into the back yard. So advanced training can also be life -threatening!
When the accident passed, they were at the peak of their career. How did he influence this?
Yes. “The Black Forest Clinic” was over and the last “Lieble Kreuzberg” relay was turned off. I was in conversations for “Our Teacher Doctor Specht”, also for “friends for life”. But after the accident I was out for a year. And when I returned, it was difficult.
When I wanted to gain a foothold again in the industry, the competition was suddenly greater. The accident happened at the same time as the fall of the Berlin Wall. Suddenly all the colleagues from the east were pushed onto the market – and some of them were much better trained than we were.
Yes, the actors from the GDR have a very solid training. There were also state drama schools in the west, but the training was mandatory in the east. The actors also have a completely different self -confidence than those from the West.
And did they suddenly compete with them?
My fee was two thirds lower from one day to the other.
How did you keep the courage to continue with acting?
I had to. I learned nothing else, I couldn’t do anything else and it was always my dream job. It was not an option to change. Then I just continued. If the accident had not happened, I might be one of the best paid television actors in Germany today. But it turned out differently …
No, not at all. In the end, I find the window fall positive. If that hadn’t happened, I would not have met my current wife – and now we have been married for 23 years. I wasn’t immediately in love with the head like before, but it immediately felt right. And this feeling has remained to this day.
23 years are a long time. Did you ever have difficult times?
It is not always rosy, that’s very clear. But especially in such somewhat delicate situations, it is important not to let communication tear down, but really work on this relationship. The balance between giving and taking must be balanced. If I take more than I give, it can’t work, and vice versa.
