We introduce: Hildegard Schöllmann

The left-bank Cologne residents like to turn up their noses at the "Schäl Sick." The "whole" truth is that I was born in Bonn, grew up in the right-bank, incorporated Cologne district of Porz, and have not yet made it to the "Effzeh" at the Müngersdorfer Stadium. What could possibly be wrong, having grown up in a "true Cologne" family where not only "Kölsch" was spoken, but also pretty much all Cologne traditions were upheld? The answer is: Nothing. The Bläck Fööss, with whom I grew up, sing it in "Stammbaum" – "We are who we are, we are crazy in the Rhineland." That is what we are proud of.

In fact, I grew up in a very rural area, zooming over the fields in the summer sometimes on a tractor, sometimes on a horse, helping Grandma with the egg deliveries, being in the barn with my sheep, or taking care of my rabbits and geese. Somehow, you were always outside and came home "dirty," with your knees constantly scraped and bleeding from roller skate hockey or the tricks tried out on the turquoise Bonanza bike. In winter, it got rougher when ice hockey was played with the "Porzer Jungs" on the Groov. In addition, there was always a very musical side to me. I was just shy of 4 when, after a concert at the Bonn Beethoven Hall, I stood next to the concertmaster – and since then, I've been playing the violin. For her sake, I also gave up chess as a teenager, despite some successes like winning the German Youth Team Championship, and particularly during my senior years at a girls' high school in Cologne, I immersed myself in the world of professional music, concert tours, numerous gigs, CD recordings, and musical engagements. During my preparations for the entrance exam, however, everything turned out differently. When I went to Sal. Oppenheim during a free period for a consultation on how to invest my concert fees, they took an hour for me. After the conversation, I didn't have an account with Sal. Oppenheim, but I knew that I wanted to study law. I have never regretted it. During my studies and legal clerkship, I worked at the Cologne office of a large law firm for a very renowned IP lawyer. Working with him was formative for me, not only because of his noble, refined, and humorous manner with employes, clients, opposing colleagues, and the courts, but also because he first introduced me to food law – it was about jams. He has always seen in me a lawyer, which I am also passionately, and has supported and encouraged me in everything.

I enjoy the diversity of my profession as a food lawyer, seeking creative solutions with curiosity and enthusiasm, handling crisis cases with maximum concentration and tension, and mastering the "different languages" required when dealing with authorities, in court, or during crisis management in production to achieve the best for my client. The advanced chemistry course was not in vain either. I notice this, for example, in technological questions or novel food topics. Food law is incredibly exciting and is developing at a rapid pace, as the approval for cell-cultured meat in the USA shows. Sometimes I bring work home with me. Then the family has the "luck" to be tasters for product developments. My attempt to sneak insect balls to the family failed, tho – I was caught red-handed and "exposed."

And the violin? She comes to the office once a week before heading to rehearsal, and she has already been put to use there. You can find me being active in the winter on the ski slopes, otherwise jogging with my dog in the woods or with my family at the Golf and Country Club Cologne.