Michael Wendler | |
|---|---|
 Wendler in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael Skowronek |
| Also known as | Legal names: Michael Skowronek, Michael Norberg Pseudonym: Mic Skowy (for songwriting) |
| Born | 22 July 1972 Dinslaken, West Germany |
| Genres | Pop, Schlager |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Spouse(s) |
|
Michael Wendler (born Michael Skowronek, 22 June 1972; legal name after his marriage in 2009 Michael Norberg; also known as Der Wendler) is a German pop schlager singer, television personality and conspiracy theorist. Since his breakthrough in 1998, he has won several awards such as the prestigious Crown of the Folk Music 2012. He has been under contract with Sony Entertainment for many years and has a total of six gold records and one platinum. Wendler also writes songs and lyrics for other Schlager singers under the pseudonym Mic Skowy.[1]
Wendler was born in Dinslaken.[2] He is of Polish origin. In March 2009, he married his partner of many years, Claudia Norberg in a civil wedding on Sylt and in April 2009 had a church wedding on Mallorca. He sold the image rights to the wedding to women's magazine Die Neue.
On 9 January 2010, he was presented with the Crown of Folk Music Award. He settled in Dinslaken, building a compound with horse stables, which was completed at the end of 2010.
In September 2011, Wendler and Markus Krampe opened the "Nina", a discothèque in Bottrop, where pop artists perform live. Another offshoot of the successful nightclub was opened in Cologne.
In 2016, Wendler moved his family to Cape Coral, Florida, where he continues to write and perform in both the US and Germany.[3][4]
In 2020, he separated from Claudia Norberg and married 18-year-old Laura Müller. She left school without graduating and decided to move to Florida with him.
In January 2010, The Wendler Clan was aired on the popular German television network Sat.1 in a six-part reality soap broadcast featuring Wendler. In January 2014, Wendler took part in German reality show Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! on the RTL (TV network). In 2015, he participated in the TV show Ich bin ein Star – Lasst mich wieder rein! Although he was injured during the taping of an episode and had to pull out, he still got the most votes in the final show. He was hurt in a bungee cord accident and broke his right wrist suffering a compound fracture, which required an emergency operation. From 15 August 2014 to 29 August 2014, Wendler participated in the Promi Big Brother reality programme and finished in fifth place. In 2021, he was a judge in talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar. Due to conspirancy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic, he left the panel after the auditions were filmed. After being criticized again for his views, the broadcaster decided to cut the singer out of all episodes.
In 2020, Wendler was the centre of a public debate due to his remarks about the COVID-19 pandemic. He accused the German government of 'gross and severe violations' of the constitution. He suggested that all German TV channels, including RTL (whom he worked for), were gleichgeschaltet (a term associated with Nazi Germany) and politically controlled. He urged his followers to create a Telegram account, claiming that this would be the only opportunity to exchange views without censorship.[5] Following the introduction of more restrictive policies to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in January 2021, Wendler compared the German state with a concentration camp.[6]
