Born and raised in West-Berlin, during my school education and afterwards I was active in amateur theater, playing music, and writing texts. At the university I studied law (which I discontinued), philosophy and Romance languages and literature (for which I obtained my degree), in particular under the guidance of mentors such as Jens Lüdtke, Jürgen Trabant, Ernst Tugendhat und Norbert Bolz. Especially influential to my education were my participation in the last Dubrovnik-Kolloquium of Hans-Ulrich Gumbrecht as well as a combined total of 3 years of studies in Barcelona before and after my Magister exams.
My assistantship time led me to Heidelberg with Jens Lüdtke, where I completed my dissertation and subsequently completed my postdoctoral qualification for professorship (Habilitation). During my time in Heidelberg, I also became interested in computer linguistics and experienced a rediscovery of my passion for theater. After finishing my Habilitation in 2003 I substituted as chair of the Romance philology department in Aachen for one year. Since 2004 I have been in Freiburg.