“I really loved it”
Jenny Elvers talks about her relationship with Farin Urlaub
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Although Die Ärzte have long been part of Germany's rock elite, they have always managed to shield their private lives from the public. Only small details are known, for example that Farin Urlaub was once in a relationship with Jenny Elvers. She is now promptly spilling the beans on the former relationship.
Next weekend, Die Ärzte will be performing in Berlin again. Not just anywhere, but on the grounds of the former Tempelhof Airport in front of around 60,000 spectators. And not just on one evening, but on three.
It is clear that the band, founded in 1982 and featuring the two chief physicians Farin Urlaub and Bela B, as well as senior physician Rodrigo González, who has been indispensable for three decades, has long since climbed the German rock Olympus. It is all the more astonishing that the musicians have managed to keep their private lives almost completely hidden from the public to this day.
One of the few things that is known about Dirk Felsenheimer alias Bela B is that he has a son. In the case of Jan Vetter alias Farin Urlaub, however, an ex-lover has become known. The fact that he was once together with the later actress Jenny Elvers became public years ago.
“Nobody knew that”
Now, in an episode of the NDR talk show “Deep and Clear”, which will be broadcast in September and is already available in the ARD media library, Elvers reveals a few interesting details about her former relationship with the musician. According to her, she got together with the singer, who is almost nine years older than her, in the 1980s. “I was still at school,” says Elvers. So she was “17, 18” at the time, she explains, but at the same time reassures: “Still completely within the limits.”
Urlaub was her “very first boyfriend,” reveals the now 52-year-old. Although she was with him for four years, this was not made public at the time: “Nobody knew.” Elvers explains: “I actually met him in a very classic way at a concert. It was a really exciting time because they were at the peak of their career, on the 'Westerland' tour.”
She and Urlaub kept in touch, even if it wasn't easy at the time: “We didn't have cell phones, just an orange phone with a very long cord. My father and mother always listened when I made calls.” The two also wrote letters to each other.
“In my childhood room”
“At some point Die Ärzte split up and Jan (…) moved into my bedroom,” Elvers continues. It was not primarily the age difference that was challenging, but the completely different life situations. “I went to school, he was at the peak of his career, just separated from the band,” explains Elvers, adding: “He was a millionaire with a lot of time on his hands, I was a student. And the whole thing wasn't in Berlin or anything like that, but with me in the Lüneburg Heath, in Amelinghausen, in my bedroom, with my mom, dad, my little brother and grandma still in the house.”
That's how it went for a few months, Elvers reveals. “Then he bought a house, in the Lüneburg Heath, actually, one town away. That's when I left the nursery and moved into my own house. That was my introduction to adult life,” she adds.
Elvers doesn't say anything bad about vacation in the conversation. On the contrary: “We traveled a lot together. In fact, I learned a lot from him. He is very well-read, a very clever man,” she says. “I really loved him very much,” Elvers assures. That is also why nothing about the relationship got to the press – “because I never wanted to become famous through any man or anything like that.” She felt more insecure as “some kind of village girl”: “What do I actually have to offer him?” It was only when she herself had won the title of “Heath Queen” and thus her own popularity that she found the “right self-confidence.”
Elvers later made a name for herself as an actress in films such as “Knockin' on Heaven's Door” and “Knallhart” or the comedy series “Nikola”, but also appeared in various reality TV formats. The prominent partners she had after her vacation include Dieter Bohlen, the actor Heiner Lauterbach and rapper Thomas D from the Fantastischen Vier. She has her only child, a son born in 2001, with Alex Jolig, a participant in the very first “Big Brother” season. She was only married once, from 2003 to 2014, to her former manager Goetz Elbertzhagen.
