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19
‘2013 was an
exciting year.
But the whole
team did a great job.
We weathered
the storm and
managed to bring
home a good
result!’
Dr. Hannes Schmid
Dr. Hannes Schmid
So there are a lot of parallels between the banker and the author.
The 60- to 80-hour weeks, the moments of excitement during
your daily work, the unfolding of the plot. 2013 was a good year
– for the bank, and for me too. All my dreams and wishes were
fulfilled. I moved to a major German publisher, my new thriller
Totenfrau
became one of their top titles and the book was sold
internationally even before publication. Herr Schmid is
impressed. That sounds like a fairy tale, he says. USA, England,
Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Norway, Holland, Poland – my
novel will appear in all these countries. There’s also an audio-
book, and a production company is already working on the film
version. All just like in a fairy tale – that’s true. Since I’ve
always believed in it, failure and crisis were out of the question.
This is the case for Hannes Schmid, too. He talks animatedly
about positive thinking. ‘Crisis doesn’t interest me,’ he says and
laughs. I like that. It takes courage. Creates trust. Convinces me
not to change my bank during the next 25 years. All will be the
same as it ever was. Trust wins the day. For me, too.
The bank with the yellow logo. I grew up with it. As long as I can
remember, the gable cross has been there – the two horse’s
A meeting
And holds his silence where others talk. His everyday life is
like a detective story, he says. It’s all about the motives, which
he delves after as he considers what drives his counterparts
during endless meetings. Why people act the way they act.
He wants to know what lies behind the poker face. Very
exciting work, he says. Not for the faint-hearted. Almost like
my new thriller
Totenfrau
.
I tell him about it. How the book came to be a bestseller, how
I began writing way back when, that I’d always wanted to be a
writer. That my goals, too, got ever bigger and that I, too, always
thought beyond the end of the year – because it’s all about
vision, about dreams. About rising to the task and not contenting
yourself with just the in-betweens. Being tireless. Loving your
work.
Being patient and unassuming, yet buzzing with new ideas.
Thinking big, spreading your wings and flying. Being knocked
down and getting back up again. Hard work and obstinacy.
Having a goal. The next book, the next financial year. The
author. And the banker.
He talks proudly of his latest voyage – of 2013 and stormy seas.
It was exciting, the whole crew did a great job and all went well.
They weathered the storm and brought home a good result.
That was great, says Hannes Schmid. Knowing that his bank
is fighting fit fills him with pride. But, as he says, he also thinks
long term, with the bank’s objectives clearly formulated in
countless strategy papers right through to 2017. Briefly analysing
the present before swiftly moving on to dream of the future. Just
like me when I sign a book contract for 2018 or think about the
film premiere of
Totenfrau
. And the play that will follow.