Peter and I went back for 42 years.
He edited my student film, „Summer in the City“ in 1969
and since then we worked on more than 20 feature films together.

Even after all these years and all this lifetime spent together,
I never detected a system or a method in his work.
Peter didn’t feel that any two films should be edited the same way.
His approach was that of total immersion.
After a while he would know by heart
each second of the material that was shot,
outtakes just as well as selected shots,
and he always ended up knowing the footage better than myself.

He believed that his job was the un-covering of the film
from among everything that was shot.
„It’s hidden in there, I only help finding it“, he said.
„Once you find it, the film edits itself.
My job only consists in cutting more and more away.“
He was a modest man...

The importance of his input into my films is enormous.
I really owe nobody else so much than Peter.
Well, him and Robbie Müller, my long-time cameraman.
These two really helped me
finding my own hand-writing as a filmmaker,
and staying on course.

Peter edited a huge amount of German Cinema for four decades.
He worked with Hans W. Geißendörfer, Volker Schöndorff,
Reinhard Hauff, Thomas Schamoni, Hans-Jürgen Syberberg,
Klaus Lemke, Uli Edel, Peter Handke, Mischka Popp
and Thomas Bergmann and many others.
Peter also taught editing at the Munich film academy.
He had a particular love for the documentary.

Peter was born in Berlin in 1941.
He had memories of nights in bombing shelters,
and then of actively taking part in the black market
as a young boy, after the war.
He had the dry humour of a true Berliner,
and the unique accent that came with it.
More often than Peter I called him „Keule“.
Or „Elvis“ sometimes.

Peter was interested in everything.
He was one of the last universally-read private scholars...
His knowledge of history, of music and of literature was incredible.

He was also a great adventurer.
He discovered a new country for himself, Brazil,
He married there, and Brazil became his second home country.

Peter made several movies on his own,
a famous music documentary
on the ground-breaking German band CAN,
and two road movies, both shot in Brazil,
together with his „comrades“,
Martin Schäfer as cameraman (who died so early in 1988)
and Martin Müller as sound engineer,
„Born as a Diesel“ and „Todos os espiritos circulam“.

Peter leaves behind his wife Rita and their daughter Anna-Theresa.
He is much missed,
for his love, his care, his patience and advice,
as husband and father, uncle and god-father,
and as a friend.

Peter was unique in every way.
Nothing and nobody can replace him.

Wim Wenders