Ralf Ekrowski
@ralfekrowski
Everything you think here is in the strictest confidence. — The Prisoner Born in Ahlen, shaped in Münster, now settled on Germany’s coast. Lawyer. Focused on politics, urban development, and democracy.
Northern lights dancing above Bremerhaven, Germany.A rare glow over the North Sea. The Sun clearly had a busy day.
Jan 16, 2026. From a European perspective, the New York Times opinion page reads like a warning system stuck on repeat. The alarming part isn’t the criticism, it’s how normal it feels now. What’s happening in the U.S.?
Bremerhaven. We’re not really used to this much snow on the North Sea coast. But even all that asphalt looks better when it’s white.
Happy New Year 2026 from Bremerhaven, on Germany’s North Sea coast!
Small break! Coffee on the table, Motown in my ears, Spirou & Fantasio open. And I’m wondering: what would the Marsupilami have done with Trump? Something to think about…
Bremerhaven this morning — blue hour, heavy clouds, a sweep of snow. The coast in all its moods at once.
On the turntable: Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section. Just arrived — simply genius.
The second storm of the season here on the North Sea coast at Bremerhaven. So far, everything’s still fine — but as the sea keeps warming, we’ll have to get used to a very different kind of storm.
The little bike shop in #Paris feels like a symbol of a city that has reinvented itself.
A cornerstone of my project: rebuilding my old record collection. Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – an album that still speaks across generations. “Teach Your Children” feels more urgent today than ever.
Some records stay with you for a lifetime. Among all the rock, blues, and heavy stuff — @carolekingofficial.bsky.social Carol King’s Tapestry is one of them. The MOFI edition sounds simply beautiful.
A short reflection on fear, empathy, and what happens when machines start mirroring the people who built them.
Rain outside, coffee inside, and Jazz Samba spinning. Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd — pure sunshine on a grey morning.
Early John Mayall — the roots of British blues. I had the honour to hear him live years later in my old hometown Münster — the grand seigneur of the blues. A truly formative experience.
Spinning Led Zeppelin IV tonight — Black Dog and Stairway to Heaven, the songs everyone connects with Zeppelin. Beth Hart’s cover of Black Dog still gives me chills. Pure vinyl magic.
Friday night — a drone over Bremerhaven’s harbor. It had position lights, so probably not Putin. Still, that uneasy feeling stays. It didn’t belong there. We live in frightening times.
A visit to my old hometown Münster. Eduardo Chillida’s benches recall the Peace of Westphalia — peace through dialogue. 377 years later, Putin and Trump show how fragile that idea still is.
Picked up some essentials today in my old hometown Münster at Green Hell Records: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon 50th anniversary edition and Led Zeppelin IV on vinyl. True bread-and-butter staples for any collection.
The tall ship ALEX II in the "Neuer Hafen" in Bremerhaven. Sky and ship — everything just right for a Friday evening on the coast.
This morning’s NYT: On top, “the world has soured on climate politics.” Just below, “thousands of extra deaths from extreme heat.” How do you square that? Madness. Absolute madness.
Two new additions: Harvest by Neil Young and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Originals are either aging or almost impossible to find at record fairs—no one parts with them, even if they no longer play them. The reissues, however, are excellent and probably better than any older repress.
The Peace of Westphalia (1648) set the rule: peace only works if borders and sovereignty are respected. Hitler broke it, Putin breaks it again. 377 years later, the lesson still stands.
The bicycle has become a synonym for Paris. A few years ago people would have laughed – today no one does. Paris has become a model of what is possible
1/3 In front of my door: cruise giants like Disney Adventure. With crew nearly 13,000 people – more than 10% of Bremerhaven, my hometown. Gigantic, and hard to grasp in the middle of a climate crisis.
(1/7) Record fair find: The Velvet Underground & Nico – early reissue with the famous banana (not peelable, that would be priceless).