The great Christoph Schlingensief dies

Christoph Schlingensief, who was considered one of the most important figures in the German theatre has died.

Schlingensief, who was also a renowned artist and actor, had suffered from lung cancer for more than two years.

He directed numerous films, plays and operas, including at the renowned annual Richard Wagner festival in Bayreuth, and in Manaus, Brazil.

Schlingensief's plays, mostly staged in Germany, Switzerland and Austria always questioned the status quo.

He was greatly influenced by his local Catholic priest in Oberhausen where he was an altar boy. He later joined a Catholic youth movement.

He believed that the Hitler virus had left a great and terrible mark on the German psyche.

At one stage when four million people were unemployed during the chancellorship of Helmut Kohl he planned a swim for all four million near the home of Kohl. Had all four million dived at the one instant it would have flooded Kohl's home. The German police banned the action.

Christoph Schlingensief is a great loss to Germany. He is survived by his wife, Aino.