Believing I was missing something, my wife and I moved from Wismar to Hamburg in 2007 for six years. Now we lived on St. Pauli, 37 meters from the Herbertstrasse. In the middle of the epicenter of German prostitution, in a loft apartment above the Hotel Hanseport corner Erichstrasse.
Despite the exorbitant bustle, it lives there like in a village. The St. Paulian has plenty of time during the day. The shops start at most in the evening and end after an eccentric night in the tiring morning. Stag parties dilute the party hype. Social cohesion is still high amongst the locals. Mentally you are compatible. Anyone who lives or works here is one of them, is part of a fast-wrecking machine. The number of the fallen is increasing. Rarely have I had the opportunity to look so deeply into our human abysses. There is easy access to residents and guests. Does such a rich, colorful painter life feel like that? Occasionally I have this feeling. That's how it was when I portrayed the 87-year-old innkeeper ❯ Erna Thomsen
in Hamburg.
My wife is a port planning professional, she is a hydraulic engineer. That suits the place. We like to work and often ww work late into the night. Did you eat something? No. It is already 24 o'clock! Let's go to the Cuneo, I also like red wine. We go two streets to Franca.
Francas Cuneo is around the corner. In 1905 her grandfather Francesco Antonio Cuneo started to establish the first restaurant with Italian cuisine in Germany. At this time there were signs at houses in Hamburg saying 'Dogs and Italians stay outside!' In the early years, the restaurant was a distillation and wine shop, experiencing difficult and great times. It always remained in family ownership.
Franca leads it today in its fourth generation.
The lively atmosphere in the Ristorante never arouses the dying curiosity in our eyes.
Often we sit here late after work, at night after going to the theater, meeting friends. We are happy to visit Franca. It gives us the enchanting feeling of belonging to a big family. She looks her guests in the eye and does not lose the sense of a director. One that intuitively pulls the right strings to tempt your theater stage with love. She maintains the spirit of yesteryear without bending. At the beginning she hears Paolo Contes 'Genova per noi'. The lyrics often bring tears to my eyes and I think he wrote this piece just for her. Of course he did not, but it fits 1: 1 to her and to this place. ❯ Here you can read the lyric in the Italian original.
I was immediately enthusiastic about Franca. I love strong women. And so, with tasty pasta with spinach and red wine, the desire to portray it was born.
A timid question on my part. Franca agreed. This resulted in an intense portrait, a sensually quiet.
Thank you Franca!
Portrait Franca Cuneo