Table of contents

• On the road with Peter Maffay in Romania Germany’s most successful musician on tour
• Maffay for beginners
• The Maffay bikes
• Travel info

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15th pictures

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A travel report through Romania with Germany’s most successful musician – Peter Maffay.

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The journey is the goal: Peter Maffay on his borrowed Harley-Davidson Road King.

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Maffay is one of 26 Harley riders who drive three days through Transylvania together.

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The Torzburg marketed in Romania as “Dracula Castle” is Neuschwanstein Castle in Romanian.

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Kradeln in Radeln: The remote village of 400 inhabitants, forgotten by the world, is the location of the latest project by the Peter Maffay Foundation.

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The Bran Castle is the Neuschwanstein of Romania and is marketed as the “Dracula Castle” – which prompted Peter Maffay to buy an original Dracula mug.

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Not a freak, but a doer: In just two and a half years, Maffays Foundation, with the support of many German craftsmen, transformed a dilapidated parsonage into a holiday home for traumatized children. The boss shows it to the editor during a guided tour.

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The Carpathians are always in sight; the SKS troop is always on duty.

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Peter Maffay.

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Alpine Carrera Railway: The Transfogarascher Hochstrasse is Romania’s highest national road.

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26 Harley riders set out to explore Dracula’s home.

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Steppenwolf? Gravel wolf! Peter Maffay stays relaxed even on loose surfaces and practices a very smooth, forward-looking driving style.

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Peter Maffay and MOTORRAD editor Klaus Herder.

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26 years ago today: Maffay 1985 with its own Wide Glide.

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Peter Maffay – in a cruiser outfit.

to travel

Out and about with Peter Maffay – Germany’s most successful musician

On the road with Peter Maffay in Romania
Germany’s most successful musician on tour

Transylvania is not exactly on the doorstep, the journey via Austria and Hungary is long. But the journey is the goal. As a reward there are picturesque cities, ingenious mountains and a lot of hospitality.

Klaus Herder

October 13, 2011

He’s just there all of a sudden. No manager, no bodyguard, no saliva-licking Adlatus who relieves the master of every move. Maffay mingles solo and without any fanfare with the Harley drivers who are packing their machines in the courtyard of a hotel in Sibiu (Hermannstadt). First impression: very calm, very polite, lots of muscles and lots of tattoos. And not as extremely short as it is always portrayed in pastiche. Maffay is one of 26 Harley riders who will ride together through Transylvania for three days. For 25 of them it is something special to tour with the German rocker as a tour guide through a country completely unknown to them. And for the 61-year-old Maffay, it is something special to be able to ride a motorcycle to his native Kronstadt (now Brasov) for the first time.

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As a solo traveler, none of the tour participants would have thought of cruising through Romania, of all places, with their mostly lavishly converted and outrageously expensive US iron. But this group tour is different; because this trip is a charity tour, i.e. a charity event, which sounds much nastier and somehow like a tear in the buttonhole. Discomfort tourism is by no means popular. Axel and Roger, managing directors of Harley-Davidson Hamburg Nord, former business partner of Maffay and still the caretaker when it comes to the rock star’s motorcycles. The bogus Axel and Roger would also fit perfectly into a US sitcom (“Two and a Half Bike”?) And put together an illustrious field of participants from the expanded customer base who, in addition to the travel expenses, were allowed to pay a decent amount of donation in order to be there.

This resulted in a nice five-figure sum that will benefit the Peter Maffay Foundation for a project in Romania.

In order to raise the donation equivalent of a middle-class Harley, a top star like Maffay – over 40 million albums sold, every tour sold out – would probably only have to give a half-hour club concert. Then why is he doing this tour? A couple of guesses. First: Maffay is a gifted networker who has understood that for his many social projects, good contacts are often more important than disdainful Mammon. And such contacts can be made and cultivated on such a tour. Second: Maffay loves its home and its projects and wants to be there as often as possible. Third: Maffay is still a motorcyclist with body and soul. Not only in sunshine and PR appointments, but also without a camera and in the rain – as the author of these lines was able to experience live.

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Peter Maffay and MOTORRAD editor Klaus Herder.

Which brings us to the first kilometers of our Transylvania-Transylvania-Romania tour. Soon the picturesque Sibiu, and rightly European Capital of Culture 2007, will be behind us. Amazingly fast, the column rolls east on the well-developed E68. The Harley cliche of the Zahnwalder-Bike may largely fulfill our group – doctors, lawyers and tax consultants are actually disproportionately represented, but the gentlemen are really gasping and know very well what they are doing there. Right in the middle of it all is Peter Maffay, who has a noticeably large amount of space to the vehicle in front, only rarely lights up the brake light of his Road King and is still present. His driving style: very smooth, very controlled – a team player who you can immediately tell that he would confidently fulfill the role of team captain.

The silhouette of the Southern Carpathians has been enticing for a few kilometers on the right. More precisely of the Fagaras Mountains, which separate Transylvania from Great Wallachia. We turn south and land on the national road DN 7C. Just a moment ago the pavement was potty-level, now a lot of asphalt patchwork and potholes, where you are tempted to stop to see whether any children are playing in it. Anyway, this is not just any national road, this is the prelude to the legendary Transfogaras High Road (Transfagarasan). What starts out harmlessly and kitschy with lush pastures, leisurely babbling brooks and sparse fir forests, turns out to be a high alpine mountain road that popped into the landscape after around ten kilometers.

In comparison, the majority of the relevant Alpine passes are kindergarten programs. This wild angular work looks as if drugged street builders have been playing with oversized Carrera track parts. Exclusively with curved pieces, the straights were probably straight. Suddenly changing surface gives the curve robbers an additional, but rather involuntary kick, but at least the really big potholes are missing. The spectacular road is around 90 kilometers long and leads up to 2014 meters, which can only be driven in summer, and which also includes a nearly 900 meter long and very, very dark tunnel. We limit ourselves to the first and particularly delightful 40 kilometers – including the pass and tunnel, of course – and then turn around. Problems, losses? Nothing, the Harley riders do an excellent job. Quasi-rigid frames and extreme apehangers do not prevent anyone from quickly circling the serpentines and hairpin bends.

Back on the E68, rolling out is the order of the day. Extremely concentrated coasting, because the majority of local drivers practice a rather life-denying overtaking technique. At around 120 km / h. And on a very busy Romanian country road. Losses? Jens, who arrived from the USA immediately before the start of the tour, still suffers from jetlag, takes a little afternoon nap while driving at full speed and wakes up with just a little ouch in the ditch across the street. Good luck! The tour doctor and the service car crew are busy, the rest of the troop rolls into Brasov (German: Kronstadt).

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Kradeln in Radeln: The remote and forgotten village of 400 inhabitants is the location of the latest project by the Peter Maffay Foundation.

Peter Maffay was born on August 30, 1949 in a suburb of the city, which today has 280,000 inhabitants. Almost 62 years later, he is driving a motorcycle for the first time in his life through his spacious and cheerful southern European hometown, and you can tell that not only a small tear is secretly suppressed. Maffay’s talented tour guides reveal themselves during a city tour and a visit to the Black Church, the city’s landmark. Even without music, the man is extremely entertaining, very well read and amazingly funny. After a somewhat longer evening (no, Maffay did not retire at 8 p.m., the man has stamina) and a morning rain (yes, Maffay rides a motorcycle even in such weather, which is not for all tour participants) the lively Maffay tour guide show goes off applies) in Bran, 30 kilometers southwest of Brasov.

The Torzburg marketed there as “Dracula Castle” is Neuschwanstein Castle in Romanian. So completely overcrowded, surrounded by an incredibly kitschy souvenir market – and still absolutely worth seeing. Because the fairy-tale location and lovingly furnished facilities let you forget the hustle and bustle of tourists. Whether the Wallachian prince and VladTepes III, known as the “Impaler”. – the historical template for the fictional character Dracula – ever stayed in the Bran Castle, is not even sure, but actually doesn’t matter.

With Dracula cups in our luggage we head back towards Kronstadt. And further north of it in a region with a high density of fortified churches. 300 of these combinations of sacred and fortified buildings were built in Transylvania between the 13th and 16th centuries, around 150 of which are still preserved. In the past, the fortified churches served to protect the village population with cattle and supplies from passing hordes. One of the fortified complexes is now a shelter for children: The fortified church Radeln (Roades in Romanian), around 100 kilometers from Kronstadt, is the latest project of the Peter Maffay Foundation and the main goal of the charity tour. Donation check handover, warm words from the mayor, group photo appointment – everything was very nice. But what makes this place the highlight of the trip are the detailed and very personal explanations that Maffay gives on a tour. You don’t necessarily have to like his music, but here at the latest you notice that the guy is a real philanthropist and just an incredibly fine guy.

Maffay for beginners

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The Bran Castle is the Neuschwanstein of Romania and is marketed as the “Dracula Castle” – which prompted Peter Maffay to buy an original Dracula mug.

The dynamic mainstream part is done for me by AC / DC, Airbourne or the Ramones. When things are a little quieter, Clapton or Knopfler come into play. But Peter Maffay? Just didn’t interest me for almost 49 years. Okay, that the guy hasn’t been a Schlager Fuzzi for a long time, that he can rock German very successfully, that he is very committed to society – that was even clear to me. But are you interested in Maffay? Rather not.

But then: “You’re Harley – you don’t want to drive through Romania with Harley and Maffay?” A job offer that I just couldn’t refuse, because Harley and Romania sounded interesting. And I was able to take part in Maffay on the side. However, a certain professional approach did require some preparation. So read and listen to the topic – Peter Maffay for beginners. How practical that his biography was published in paperback soon. Lush 416 pages for an outrageously cheap 14.99 euros. Well, and then it happened. The dreaded adulation turned out to be a very exciting ride through 40 years of music business to read: crazy managers, gifted musicians of the Maffay band, private victories and catastrophes, unbelievable tour madness, the Maffay strengths, but also his not so few Weaknesses – you don’t have to be a Maffay fan (yet) to devour this book. By the way, you get an appetite for your music.

So go to the CD discounter you trust and get something for your ears. No ancient stuff, but his latest CD with “Ewig” and his latest sampler with “Tattoos”, which is also the CD for the last tour. The sampler playlist suggests bad things: “And it was summer”, “Josie”, the inevitable “Seven Bridges” and of course “You”. But then that: The partly orchestral pimped up (Queen sends her regards) and completely newly produced material goes in surprisingly well. Terrifyingly good, because the catchy tune factor strikes mercilessly. And besides, a man over 60 rocks with a thoroughly ironic wink. To be recommended as good-mood music and for around seven euros. Titles like “Shadows tattooed in the skin” and “Freedom, which I mean” go well even without an oldie bonus. Second listening test: “Ewig”, Maffay’s last album with new material (around ten euros). The unspeakable opener “Snow, which falls on roses” raises the fear of bad things, but then twelve really good numbers follow, of which “I can, if I want” is a real rock cracker and the concluding “Ewig” is also really tough guys can stir.

The seeds were planted before the trip started: I was curious about Maffay. For my change from Maffay ignoramus to Maffay fan, the master then personally and guaranteed completely unconsciously. Because Maffay, who originally always seemed a bit stiff and humorless to me, turned out to be a very polite, lightning-smart, extremely attentive and fun-loving contemporary in a somewhat more private environment. His personal tip for Maffay beginners: the Tabaluga albums, “a pretty autobiographical number”.

The Maffay bikes

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26 years ago today: Maffay 1985 with its own Wide Glide.

His albums, his tours, his band, his marriages – the internet and last but not least the excellent Maffay biography reveal everything about Peter Maffay. Really everything? No, because there has never been a motorcycle biography. Reason enough for MOTORRAD to ask Peter Maffay directly.

It all started in 1968 with a Horex Regina 250. An apehanger handlebar already indicated Maffay’s preferences. With a much more powerful chopped BMW R 50 (and a nasty country road take-off) it went on. The 1970s were bridged with a four-cylinder 550 Suzuki and a Honda CB 500 Four. The 80s started with the first real Japanese chopper, the Yamaha XV 750. The first contact with Harley was back in 1979: the US heavy metal adorns the inside cover of the album “Steppenwolf”.

Maffay’s first own Harley was a Wide Glide, which was allowed to park next to his desk in winter. A Hartmann team with an E-Glide tractor followed. Maffay lost his standard Softail built by HD Hamburg Nord in a bet to his wife Tania. Maffay’s current Harley, a 1200 Sportster Forty-Eight, “is guaranteed not to be bet”.

Travel info

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Travel time: 3 days. Distance covered: 700 kilometers.

Transylvania is not exactly on the doorstep, the journey via Austria and Hungary is long. But the journey is the goal. The reward is picturesque cities, brilliant mountains and a lot of hospitality.

Transylvania:
The region in the center of Romania now makes up around 23 percent of the country’s area. The north-south extension is about 280 kilometers, from west to east it is about 310 kilometers. The region, also known as Transylvania (“land behind the forests”), has belonged to Romania only since the end of the First World War. Before that, Hungary and later Austria were the determining powers for many centuries. It was also Hungarian kings who, from the 12th century, brought German settlers into the country to protect the national borders and for colonization. The so-called Transylvanian Saxons came mainly from the Middle Rhine and Moselle regions, not from the Saxony region. But since “Saxones” was used as a name for practically all German settlers at that time, the hard-working and self-confident farmers and craftsmen were henceforth called Transylvanian Saxons and adopted this name themselves. The settlers of German origin received many privileges and freedoms (including freedom of religion) in their new homeland. and lived relatively independently and peacefully in the midst of a multicultural society among Hungarians and Romanians. Under Romanian rule, however, there was more and more discrimination. Some of the Transylvanian Saxons reacted by turning to Nazi Germany, which was to take bitter revenge after Romania’s change of sides in 1944. The marginalization and displacement increased, which also prompted Peter Maffay’s family to leave the country in 1963. Further information: www.siebenbuerger.de

Peter Maffay Foundation:
Founded in 2000. The main task is to create shelters for disadvantaged children and young people. Traumatized children, i.e. children who have lost a parent, for example, who are seriously ill or have been sexually abused, have the opportunity to spend holidays with other children and their carers in the facilities of the Peter Maffay Foundation. to regain strength. The children’s holiday home in Radeln (Roades) in Romania is the latest project. A similar facility has existed on Mallorca since 2003. Further information at www.petermaffaystiftung.de

Travel tips:
The tour presented here will probably be a one-off affair in this form, but a few tips may also help individual travelers. In Hermannstadt (Sibiu) the group stayed very well at the Hotel Apollo (www.hah.ro), near the Bran Castle, the Hotel Wolf (www.complexulwolf.ro) is recommended. The Baedeker Travel Guide Romania (22.95 euros) provided up-to-date information on Romania including a suitable travel map. If you want to know more about Transylvania, you cannot avoid the travel guide of the same name from Trescher Verlag (18.95 euros). The “Harley house and yard haulage” SKS transported the motorcycles safely from Germany to Romania and back again. The motorcycle specialists do not (yet) have a regular Romania line service in their program, but a visit to the homepage (www.sks-bikeshuttle.de) is definitely interesting for motorcyclists with transport requirements. Not to forget: our friendly Romania tour guide Cristian Dragan, about whom you can find out more on the Internet at www.rideinromania.com.

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