Michael Runkel (born May 20, 1969, in Neustadt an der Aisch) is a German travel photographer, author, speaker and traveler who has visited all 193 member states of the United Nations and has twice been nominated for the Travel Photographer of the Year. [1]
Runkel was born in Neustadt an der Aisch, Bavaria, and earned a master's degree in economics and sports science after studying at Friedrich Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg. In 2003, he added a master's degree in geography. He lives in Nuremberg. He is married to former pop singer Samantha Stollenwerck and has two children.
In 1988, Michael Runkel embarked on his first trip outside of Europe with Interrail to Morocco, and since then, he says his travels around the world have taken him to all 193 UN countries. Christmas 2003 Michael Runkel survived the earthquake of Bam / Iran [2] with tens of thousands of victims. [3] He and a friend rescued ten other tourists and locals from the rubble of the collapsed building and were awarded the Gold Medal on the red ribbon for services to the Republic of Austria. The rescue story was the cover story of Reader's Digest worldwide. Impressed by the devastation and the experiences, Michael Runkel launched a relief project over the next five years that ended with the construction of a school (together with the Rudolf Walther Foundation), the reconstruction of the hotel where he stayed, and a project to educate widows who received no help from the local government (together with Arche Nova). His efforts were documented in the ARTE documentary. [4]
In 2018, Michael Runkel visited Saudi Arabia as his last country, so he has now traveled to all countries. In the same year, he traveled to the North Pole on the nuclear-powered Russian icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy .
He has traveled to 1250 of 1301 regions around the world [5] and is now the second most traveled person in the world. [5] and mosttravelledpeople.travel. [6]
Michael Runkel has appeared on television [7] [8] and radio [9] [10] programs. He has been featured, quoted or written about in dozens of publications, e.g. BBC, [11] Fox News, [12] Der Spiegel , [13] Bild , [14] Süddeutsche Zeitung [15] and Reader's Digest .
His work as a photographer began in 1993 when, during the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement, he met two New Zealand travel photographers who introduced him to the field of travel photography.
Over the years, he photographed for many tour operators. His images have appeared in guidebooks, newspapers, magazines, and various multimedia media, including The New York Times , [16] National Geographic , [17] GEO , [18] Condé Nast Traveler [19] and Lonely Planet. [20]
A major focus of his work is UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which showcase the beauty and heritage of planet Earth. To date, he has photographed nearly 880 of 1157.
In 2018, Michael Runkel was included in the list of top travel photographers in the world by Photoshelter. [21] In the same year, his pictures were exhibited in the Museum of Industrial Culture in Nuremberg with 15,000 visitors. [22]
His first book, My Travels to the Ends of the World, [23] contains images and stories from his journeys to remote corners of the world.
He also did the book design for his second book, a coffee table book entitled South Pacific. [24]
In 2021 and 2022, Michael Runkel received a recommendation in the Travel Photographer of the Year award. [25] [26]
Michael Runkel has been invited to speak on photography, travel tips [27] and about his travel experiences. [28] In 2023, he appeared as a keynote speaker at the African Travel Content Creator Conference [29] in Lagos, Nigeria, and at the MTP Travel Summit [30] in Ciudad de la Paz in Equatorial Guinea.
Middle Franconia is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia, Germany, in the west of Bavaria bordering the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; the most populous and largest city is Nuremberg.
Neustadt an der Aisch is a small town of around 13,000 inhabitants in the northern part of Bavaria (Germany), within the Franconian administrative region Middle Franconia. It is the district town of the district Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim.
The Nuremberg S-Bahn is an S-Bahn network covering the region of Nuremberg, Fürth and Erlangen which started operations in 1987 and is now integrated into the Greater Nuremberg Transport Association. The full length of the five current lines is about 277.6 kilometres.
Neustadt am Main is a community in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany and a member of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Lohr am Main.
Dachsbach is a market town and municipality in the district of Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia in northern Bavaria in Germany.
Uehlfeld is a municipality in the district of Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim in the administrative region of Middle Franconia in northern Bavaria in Germany.
Herbert Matter was a Swiss-born American photographer and graphic designer known for his pioneering use of photomontage in commercial art. Matter's innovative and experimental work helped shape the vocabulary of 20th-century graphic design.
Roger Willemsen was a German author, essayist and TV presenter.
Werner Dollinger was a German politician and economist, a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). He served as Federal Minister for the Treasury from 1962 to 1966, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation in 1966, Federal Minister for Post and Telecommunications from 1966 to 1969, and as Federal Minister of Transport from 1982 to 1987.
Klaus Ohlmann is a German glider pilot who has established 36 world records approved by FAI. Among these is the record for a free distance flight with up to 3 turn-points by flying 3,009 km from Chapelco Airport at San Martín de los Andes (Argentina) in a Schempp-Hirth Nimbus 4 DM on 21 January 2003 with his co-pilot Karl Rabeder. On 9 January 2003 at El Calafate in Argentina he made a flight of 2,247.6 km in a Schempp-Hirth Nimbus 4 DM. This set a new world free distance record, breaking the record set over 30 years earlier by Hans-Werner Grosse.
The Nuremberg–Würzburg Railway is a German trunk line railway in northern Bavaria, connecting the city of Nuremberg with Würzburg, the two largest cities in Franconia, and passing through Fürth, Neustadt an der Aisch and Kitzingen. In addition to hourly Regional-Express trains and numerous freight trains, it is served by Intercity-Express trains during the day at half-hourly intervals with some gaps.
The Steigerwald is a hill region up to 498.5 m above sea level (NHN) in the Bavarian-Franconian part of the South German Scarplands between Würzburg and Nuremberg. It is part of the Keuper Uplands, and within it, it is continued to the north-northeast and right of the river Main, by the Haßberge, and to the south-southwest by the Franconian Heights. Part of the region is a designated as the Steigerwald Nature Park.
Steinach station is a station on the Treuchtlingen–Würzburg, Steinach bei Rothenburg–Bad Windsheim and the Steinach bei Rothenburg–Dombühl lines. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 4 station and has five platform tracks. Steinach is a district of the municipality of Gallmersgarten in the German state of Bavaria. The station is located in the network area of the Greater Nuremberg Transport Association. The station is not barrier-free.
The German Wine Queen is the representative of the German wine industry. The Wine Queen is supported by two princesses, forming together the German Wine Ambassadors. She is elected, usually in the Palatine town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße, for a period of one year. The title is competed for by the regional wine queens of the thirteen German wine regions producing "quality" wine.
Culture+Travel is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published by Louise Blouin Media and founded by former Conde Nast editorial director James Truman, it was launched in 2006 as a bi-monthly print magazine. It was later incorporated into art and lifestyle media Artinfo.com, and relaunched as an online publication in 2014, providing original articles and travel destination guides.
Gabi Schmidt is a German community leader, politician, and Free Voter MP in the Bavarian Parliament.
The company Herbert Wurlitzer Manufaktur für Holzblasinstrumente GmbH is a German clarinet manufacturer based in Neustadt an der Aisch, Bavaria with a second production site in Markneukirchen, Saxony. It was founded in 1959 by Herbert Wurlitzer. His father Fritz Wurlitzer operated since the 1930s in Erlbach, now a district of Markneukirchen, a manufactory for the production of clarinets. The company W. Wurlitzer makes clarinets with German System and with the "Reform Boehm system", developed by Fritz Wurlitzer in the late 1940s, an instrument with Boehm fingering system and the sound of an Oehler Clarinet.
Dreeg, Nuremberg Dreck or Nuremberg Dreeg is a card game that is described as "a special Franconian form of Sixty-Six with the wonderful name of Nuremberg Dreck." It is the most common variant of Sixty-Six in the Franconian region of Bavaria, Germany. It is a compendium game based on four variations of Sixty-Six and is usually played by four players, although three may also play.
Erkinger I von Seinsheim, Baron of Schwarzenberg was the chief hunter of the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg. From 1416 he had the title of Imperial Councilor. He was raised to the Freiherr (baron) and banner lordship in 1429. Erkinger is considered the progenitor of the later Franconian-Bohemian Princes of Schwarzenberg.
Horst Weigelt is a German Protestant theologian. From 1975 to 2002 he was Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg. His research focuses on the Reformation, Pietism and Enlightenment in the early modern period. He has also written specifically on Schwenkfelders.