 After leaving the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums a year after completing his mittlere Reife, he was educated at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (drama school), also acting and later working as a stage director at the Ernst Deutsch Theater, Hamburg.Between 2004, he worked as the intendant of that stage.Between 1995 and 1997, he was also intendant of Bad Hersfeld Festival.