About Rapho

Rapho is a blogger and journalist from Eastern Germany. His blog contains a lot of information about georgian culture and art, as well as information about other happenings. I leave it up to him to present himself and his blogproject:

I believe in the caucasian people! May be the Caucasus is a inspiration for me. However I know I love the Caucasus! I feel it!

Recently I was in Georgia. On balance I was seven times in this area of the "Mountains of Poetry" like Peter Nasmyth called his book. He depicts his experiences of the post-soviet times from Georgia in the nineties. I mean Nasmyth is meanwhile an author of the Washington Post.

Some years ago I had knowing a georgian girl in Berlin. So far as I recall she was the key to my sloped exotic dreams to travel in the Mountains of the Caucasus. However she had another problems to dream about the wonderful far nature ... I myself was born and grown up in communistic times of one part of Germany - in the GDR. We were boundless dreamt people like Hans. Some people forget how problematic it was for us to live in a parochial country with narrow people. Most people wasn't allowed to travel in the global world - only in the Eastern bloc. The only possibility to make a journey high above ground were the Caucasus, the Thien Shan or the Pamir. Beyond we couldn't see the oceans. Nevertheless and I think that's why I dreamed from the summits of the Caucasus. This is my first reminiscence. I loved to climb in the mountains.

How we known the history was changing. In the newspapers we had read that we are released. Regardless my first visit in the high mountains was in the Caucasus. My romantic dream is now a romantic reality and sometimes an escape from reality for me like to read literature from the Caucasian Adventures from all-known famous writers. But differently from the western countrys here you can live to see ad live to fell much more about the life.That I think on the many writers, researchers and adventurers which traveled in this wilderness country, in this area of marvellous culture between east and west, between orient and occident. The Caucasus is a culture of borderline.

After my cultural studies on the university I was interesting for much more things about the Caucasus - not only academic questions. I had also private longings. And I mean not only the romanticism. A good experience for me was the changing from my point of view. It was quite interesting experience for my personality and my self-confidence.

Often my blog is only a internet-database with many links or better a slip box for politics, culture, history, economy, internet, developments and another aspects about the South-Caucasus - above all Georgia. Prospectively I would like to write more about my thinking, my researching and my experience from this mysterious country, breath-taking landscapes and interesting peoples as far as I have got enough time. Now I work for a Channel of German Television Broadcasting. I'm specialized for editorial content managment for the Internet presence. On the other hand it is more important for me to be involved or to be engaged in the Caucasus for the caucasian people why not in various aspects. Problematically is untill now the tiny interest from the western communitiy for this country. A lot of people are thinking it is a dangerous area but for me more impressing is the hospitality from the caucasian inhabitants. May be I hope the attentions for the Caucasus would be grown - not only for the security of energy for the west and other strategic points. Two years ago I organized together with Knut Geißler and Megi Goncharova a Georgian Festival in Leipzig with less money. Recently I was with the known german artist Jörg Herold in Georgia for an artist-project. Next year we will finished this project. I know some interesting and adorable georgian people. And I'm very glad to know some people in this blogging-world to have similar interests. I will see what is happen in the future. I hope the caucasian people have good contacts to the "rest of the world" and solve theirs own problems for example to eliminate the poverty and making at the moment better relations with theris neighbours.