BIO | klausdwagner

The early years in Germany

I grew up in a small Swabian town called Bad Urach, not far from Stuttgart, in Southern Germany.

At the Stuttgart Media University I studied Economics specialising in Advertising & Marketing and was awarded the 'Top Student Prize' of the final year.

During my university years I was privileged to work part-time in the Mercedes-Benz advertising department.

The advertising years

My choice of first employment was a global advertising agency called McCann-Erickson in Frankfurt where I worked as an Account Manager for the Lufthansa German Airlines account in 16 European Countries and 19 languages.

With them I was given the opportunity to transfer to their New York head-office but chose Sydney Australia instead.

Here I worked for several international advertising agencies like George Patterson, Lintas, Ogilvy & Mather and Saatchi & Saatchi on major accounts like Colgate Palmolive, Lever & Kitchen, Coca-Cola, P&O Cruises, Polaroid, Philips, Volvo, Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank to name just a few.

I am proud to mention that I received the Silver Nail award at Ogilvy & Mather for outstanding client service - 'they walk barefoot over broken glass'.

Then my wife and I started our own advertising agency and we were fortunate enough to gain clients such as ESSO, Lufthansa, OSRAM, NCR Computers, BMW Financial Services, BMW Dealer Network, the Goethe Institut and the German-Australian Chamber of Industry & Commerce...

Family life in Australia

On arrival in Sydney my wife insisted to live near an ocean beach, a dream one cannot fulfil in Southern Germany. We first rented a house in Manly but soon had the opportunity to buy a house in Queenscliff where we still live today.

In the year of our arrival we were blessed with the birth of our daughter and two years later our son. Both enjoyed private school and University studies finishing with their respective Master degrees.

When the grey hair started to overtake the dark we decided to retire early from our business and enjoy worldwide travel with extended periods in our old homeland to visit family and friends.

Writing in Australia

To retire early often means boredom and unfulfilled satisfaction. I was close to that dreaded outcome when my wife told me to finally start a hobby of whatever kind.

Unlike some of my friends I did not like golf and felt too young for Australian bowls and accidentally discovered, that a certain Waldo donated a church near my hometown, in Seeburg. The interesting peculiarity was that he donated this church, as documented on pergament skin, on June 11, 770 AD.

June 11 happens to be my own birthday which caused a passion to emerge and I started to research the time of Charlemagne who would later promote a certain Waldo to become his Imperial Bishop in Saint Denis.

It all happened too long ago to establish with certainty if my Waldo was the one in Saint Denis, but I took it to be the case and started writing a novel to that effect. My first book was born with many to follow.

A course of metaphysics at Sydney University and a writers course at the State Library were not enough to turn me into an accomplished writer, therefor I want to highlight and acknowledge the immeasurable help of my friend and editor Roger McAuliffe, who turned my often clumsy thoughts and words into the refined writing befitting all my books.

German Order of Merit

Both my wife and I strongly believe in voluntary activities to give back to the community that allows us a beautiful lifestyle.

My wife becoming a voluntier board member of a Lutheran Retirement Village in Sydney and later to this very day a voluntier mentor for underprivileged immigrants from Tibet.

As sponsors we became actively involved in the German Operatic Award where a deserving Australian Opera singer receives a one year scholarship at the Cologne Opera.

I was offered to become the treasurer of the NSW chapter of the Society for Australian-German Student Exchange which I later guided for many years as their President.

This and other extensive social engagement that strengthened the German-Australian relationship was rewarded with an Order of Merit by the former German President Dr Johannes Rau.

What the future holds

We wish to one day become happy grandparents and to continue with our quest to meet friendly people in many countries of the world.

I still have at least three new books up my sleeve culminating in an autobiography for our future generations.

It would give me great pleasure to see my Sacred Cantata Opera performed in a church or an Opera House, the favourite venue being on the small island of Gozo in the Maltese archipelago.