Erika, 56, and Axel, 59, met in Germany while they were volunteering for a European swimming event. They now live in Australia
rika grew up living all over Europe, but by 1989 she had moved to the UK to study. That summer, she travelled to Bonn in Germany, where she began looking for a summer job. “I went there because my mother was based in the city at the time,” she says. “The European Swimming Championships were on, so I rang up looking for a volunteer position.” She landed a coveted spot in the driving team, taking swimmers to various destinations across the city. “Someone had dropped out, and I got lucky.
The two ended up going for dinner at a steakhouse. “I was in a relationship and Axel had just broken up with someone,” Erika says. “We weren’t an instant couple but there was something between us.” They stayed friends over the summer, but it wasn’t until the autumn that their relationship shifted.Erika went back to university and broke up with her boyfriend. Shortly afterwards, Axel came to visit her in London.
They told their families, who were surprised by the news. “His mum thought I was pregnant at first,” says Erika. “My mum didn’t think we were going to do it.” But in October that year, they went ahead with the wedding and moved to Bonn, where Axel had an apartment. Erika became a graphic designer in Düsseldorf, while Axel began working in IT, and later set up his own company.
Because they married so quickly at a young age, nobody expected the relationship to last. “On our fifth wedding anniversary, my dad gave us a box of champagne, saying he’d lost a bet,” says Erika. “At our wedding, he’d bet my sister that it wasn’t going to last five years. And this year, we’ve been married for 33 years.”
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