The relationship between Germany and Depeche Mode is well documented. The British band has an extremely loyal fan base here. The 1984 album “Some Great Reward” was recorded in the Hansa studio. And songwriter Martin Gore lived in Berlin for a few years.
Not everyone knows that Gore was in Germany as an exchange student. The 63-year-old talks about this in a YouTube interview that his former school friend Dave Huxtable conducted with him. They went to school together in Basildon 50 years ago. The two silverbacks now share memories of an exchange trip to northern Germany. Martin Gore was in Erfde, Dave Huxtable in Bargen. Erfde today has around 2,100 inhabitants and is located in the Schleswig-Flensburg district.
Martin Gore about his student exchange:
“We ended up in this really rural part of Germany. And that was great for me,” says Martin Gore now.
“You know, waking up and having raw milk straight from the cow for breakfast.” Huxtable asks, “Have you ever milked your cows?” Gore: “I think so, yes. Yes. So milking cows, driving tractors.”
“I mean, Erfde isn’t exactly Manhattan, is it?” Huxtable interjects. “I have completely lost contact with the family. Hans. Yes, Hans… the family I lived with,” he says dreamily. Gore says that he is still in contact with his German friend Uwe. “He was sick when we played in Germany on the last tour. But his wife and son were there.”
However, his knowledge of German has declined significantly since then. “I really haven’t practiced in years, I mean, it’s just… I just don’t get the chance to practice that often anymore.”
Martin Gore in Erfde
Martin Gore majored in German and took part in an exchange student program when he was 15. So he came to Erfde, Schleswig-Holstein, in the summer of 1976. Two further visits to his host family Frenzen followed in 1977 and 1978. The young Englishman played the guitar at the campfire in neighboring Bargen, like he did “North Schleswiger” knows to report. Gore is said to have diligently sent Depeche Mode’s first vinyl singles, such as “Dreaming of Me” and “Just Can’t Get Enough”, as specimen copies to northern Germany.
In 1985, when Depeche Mode had long since become stars, Martin Gore stopped by Erfde again. He wanted to recover from the stress of touring. But that didn’t work anymore. He was surrounded by fans at the train station, the newspaper reports. He constantly had to hide his face, whether on a trip to Schleswig with his old clique or at the “Baumgarten” village disco. In order to attend his old secondary school, he had to be ushered through the kitchen door.