The Big Eden

Rolf Eden stands as Germany’s last playboy, a larger-than-life impresario often hailed as the king of disco. He sparked the first beauty contests that helped popularise DJing and striptease across the prudish West German scene. Father to seven children from seven different partners, Eden has danced with icons like the Rolling Stones and Ella Fitzgerald in his clubs. A flamboyant octogenarian with long, blond hair, his girlfriend is younger than his own grandchild. From a Jewish background, his unshakable conviction propelled him into the German entertainment industry of the 1950s. After leaving Israel via Paris, he returned to postwar Germany to inaugurate a nightclub on West Berlin’s famed Boulevard Kudamm, decidedly blocking out the country’s recent dark history.