Departures of note

Konrad Beikircher was born in 1945 in South Tyrol and later completed his secondary education at a Franciscan boarding school in Bolzano. He studied psychology in Bonn, graduating in 1965, and entered the civil service, working for fifteen years as a prison psychologist at the Siegburg correctional facility, where he counseled juvenile sexual offenders. In his evenings he performed in Bonn taverns, singing Viennese chansons, which led to his discovery by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in 1984. The broadcaster gave him his own radio column, "Sarens, Frau Walterscheidt," featuring the popular character Roleber. Encouraged by this success, he left his secure civil‑service job to pursue a full‑time career in cabaret, focusing on the language and lifestyle of the Rhineland. He became renowned for his dialect parodies and satirical shows, later turning to political and religious themes such as his 2017 "500 Jahre falscher Glaube" program and a pandemic‑themed piece titled "Kirche, Pest und neue Seuchen." Beikircher died on Monday, 27 July 2026, at the age of 80, surrounded by his family in Bad Godesberg.