Hobbies

As well as my professional interests, I am a very curious person who can get excited about lots of different things.

Model railways #

I have been fascinated by everything about railways for as long as I can remember.

In my spare time, I work on plans for my own model railway layout. At the moment, there is not enough room at home to build it.

For now, I am gathering information and ideas. An experience from my youth, when our home layout had to be dismantled because we were likely to move, is one reason I am committed to a modular design.

The modular concept #

The perfect model railway

Alongside the requirements that clubs and private owners usually have for their layouts, I have identified a few aspects that matter to me:

Modularity #

The layout should use a conventional modular construction. Modules must be easy to separate and transport, and the control of a full layout must remain robust when reordering in the layout happens. It should be possible to detect modules that have been swapped or put in the wrong place. Connections between modules should be simple and few.

Scalability #

Even though my own layout will only fill a small room and perhaps have five locomotives controlled by a server at once, I want it to be possible to expand the layout at any time without fundamentally changing its hardware or software.

Openness #

The model railway community is very active: people build, tinker and come up with ingenious ideas. I am convinced that this is exactly the kind of field where we should be able to use free software and hardware. I do not want to depend on a single manufacturer or pay licence fees for a protocol.

Modernity #

The good old railway has inspired generations of enthusiasts. A layout I can take seriously today should be just as engaging a pastime as a games console. Solutions for controlling a layout with a tablet over Wi-Fi already exist, and I would like to be able to use them.

Historical fencing #

I have been a member of the Pfälzer Schwertlöwen club for some time.

Our main discipline is longsword fencing based on Johannes Liechtenauer’s tradition: a form of sword fighting practised from the 14th to the 17th century.

Music #

Music was my first love, and it will be my last.

I play several instruments: cajón, bagpipes, piano, saxophone and drums. I also love to sing. Making music is a way for me to express myself and convey more feeling than words ever can.

Nature and our surroundings #

The English word “environment” covers more than the German word “Natur” (nature). It refers not only to fields, woods and meadows, but also to the wider surroundings in which we live: our social environment, the economic system, and more.

We should always ask whether our actions are sustainable. We have talked about acting in an environmentally responsible way for many years, but unfortunately that way of thinking has not yet extended to every part of our social lives. You could say we create a great deal of harm in the way we treat one another.