ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bernhard Christoph Lichtinger was born on 21 July 1961 in Stuttgart, West Germany, the fifth of six sons. His father was a paediatrician, his mother a nurse. The household was strict, and life became serious from an early age. Ten different schools meant constantly new faces, new teachers and new friends, forcing him to prove himself again and again.

Lichtinger worked in many different professions, including in a brewery, as a parcel delivery driver and in a photographic laboratory. He later completed a skilled trade apprenticeship as a mechanical engineering technician. These years shaped his understanding of responsibility, practical relationships and the often invisible work behind functioning systems.

Once his training was complete, Lichtinger travelled the world and eventually ended up imprisoned in the former GDR. Because he refused forced labour and declined to cooperate with the state security service, he spent repeated periods in solitary confinement and darkness. On Friday, 13 November 1987, two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, he was expelled to West Germany. This experience permanently changed his understanding of freedom, dignity and inner independence.

Back in West Germany, Lichtinger began turning his own inventions into reality. Among them was a horizontal, sarcophagus-like vibration sauna designed for the living room to support physical and nervous system regeneration. He later developed a specialised thermometer for green tea that signalled the ideal brewing temperature. He also conceived a warning system for people wearing headphones in traffic, designed to alert them acoustically to approaching trams or electric vehicles. Economic constraints, high development costs and dominant market players prevented these ideas from reaching the market.

From 1988 onwards, Lichtinger worked as a freelance collaborator for a successful architect before founding his own property development company in 1995. The business grew steadily until the financial crisis of 2008 changed everything. In the years that followed, he lost almost everything: apartments, savings and financial security. He managed to save his old villa from the bank through a strategic manoeuvre. Required to complete two unfinished construction projects without pay, he also worked as a lifeguard and, at times, as a taxi driver to support his family.

Later, Lichtinger joined the Stuttgart real estate agency of Steffen W., who wanted to benefit from his many years of experience as a developer. When Lichtinger secured a major development site for an investor, Steffen W. replaced the office locks and took over the project himself, leaving Lichtinger without the commission he had earned. The incident further deepened his understanding of power, loyalty and the fine line between trust and exploitation.

With his old mansion sold, Lichtinger settled matters with his former wife, Dorothee, before eventually following his longtime great love, Suzanne, to New Zealand. There he found stillness, vast landscapes and a new inner rhythm.

More than a decade has passed since Lichtinger first arrived in New Zealand. Having spent the last two years on the North Island, he returned to the South Island with Rosie, his loyal dog, to prepare for life beyond New Zealand. New experiences, new books and new friendships lie ahead.

Lichtinger does not write from theory or imagination, but from lived experience, real encounters and the marks life leaves behind. His books combine observation, psychology and personal growth with a clear, calm voice, free of unnecessary pathos. He writes for readers who are not looking for quick answers, but who want to understand more deeply what shapes us, wounds us and ultimately helps us grow.