The taxi driver

If you ask Heiko Janssen why he left his small hometown of Aurich in East Friesland for Berlin two decades ago, he'll say it was because of the capital's cultural diversity. Berlin's colorful nightlife fascinated him most of all. And for the 45-year-old, they city has lost none of its fascinating qualities since the 1980s.

As a teenager, he often went to his local youth center, where he was able to see more unusual films, the kind that weren't playing in the town's cinemas. There were concerts in the youth center as well. But inevitably, Aurich with its population of 50,000 was just too small for Janssen.

No more small town life

Janssen moved to Berlin. In his parents' eyes, he didn't do anything "proper". In other words, he had a number of casual jobs, while mainly devoting himself to enjoying big city life. When the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989, Janssen only learned about it the following day. Suddenly, West Berlin was full of East German cars, and one of his colleagues told him about how their boss had been dancing at the Brandenburg Gate the night before.

It's typical of Janssen that he experienced the reunification of Germany behind the wheel of a car. All of his life, he's had a passion for driving. In 1993, a long-held dream came true: he got his taxi permit. Since then, he's been a taxi driver. Driving is in the family – his father had worked as a bus driver. For Janssen, his taxi gives him a certain freedom. There's no boss breathing down his neck, and he can decide when he works, how long he works, when he takes a break, and where he goes.

Driving for freedom

Janssen opts to drive at night. He considers himself to be one of the “silent drivers.” That doesn't mean that he won't talk with his passengers, rather that he doesn't have the transmitter on. Before he heads off in the evening, he browses the city papers to see what's happening, whether there's a trade fair or a big concert on, or what DJ is playing what club. That's how he decides where to drive first. In this way, Janssen selects the type of customers he gets, and avoids stress.

He says daytime driving is different. You can often get a passenger who needs to get to the airport in a hurry and is totally nervous. At night, everything's a bit more relaxed – including the driving, since there's not as much traffic

Heiko works from 9:00 p.m until about 6:00 a.m. Despite this schedule, he says he has a harmonious relationship with his girlfriend, Barbara.

They've been living together for more than 10 years. He girlfriend works from home and has no problem with his decision to drive his taxi at night. She explains that since she's also a freelancer and can structure her work how she wants, their partnership works quite well.

Depending on how long he's been working, Janssen will sleep until around 1:00 p.m. He usually skips breakfast; all he really needs is a cup of tea. That's very important to him. Coming from East Friesland, he drinks at least three cups of tea each day. And it's got to be East Friesland tea, which is a strong mixture of different black teas typically found in England.

Later, he and his girlfriend eat together. When asked what his favorite food is, he answers: "Anything my girlfriend cooks for me." But on those occasions when she's out of town on a business trip, he cooks his favorite meal from his childhood: potatoes, fried sausage and sauerkraut.

"I was always a driver"

That meal, and the East Friesland tea are among the few things that still bind Janssen to his hometown. He goes home two or three times a year to visit his parents, but he doesn't have contact to any of his old friends anymore.

He still retains his love of music, however. In his apartment in the eastern Berlin district of Friedrichshain, his massive record collection has pride of place. Every now and then, he works as a DJ in gallery that a friend opened five years ago. Driving and music – that's what Heiko Janssen has always been known for. In East Friesland, he always had jobs that involved driving and in which you had plenty of opportunity to listen to music. He used to take his father's car to Holland for pop concerts. "Even in East Friesland, I was always a driver, and now I'm a taxi driver." And while he talks, music plays in the background...

Author: Carlos Albuquerque (dc)
Editor: Rina Goldenberg