The story of Hans Berger is perhaps the saddest of any tale to spring from the chequered history of Lustfaust. Born into dire poverty in post-war East Berlin in 1947, Berger’s life tells of a miscellany of personal catastrophes that reached their zenith after his departure from the band, following which he was struck down with a mystery ailment that lead to his disappearance and presumed suicide. “I’ve no doubt that what happened to Hans in Lustfaust precipitated his disappearance” suggests Berger’s widow, Judy. “He was a troubled man and though he was warm and friendly, he took things rather too personally for his own good”.

Despite her belief that his departure from the band hastened his untimely exit Judy was very keen for Hans’ contributions to Lustfaust to be acknowledged in this exhibition and has generously donated both her time and the collected material that Hans accumulated during his years with the band. “I feel he was undervalued in the band, certainly by most members, and would like to feel that by having his things in your exhibition, some ground has been returned”.

Of all the various members of Lustfaust, Berger was certainly the one with the personal history most entrenched in music. Judy explains “Ever since I have known Hans, he has always wanted to be a musician and had been in bands since the day I met him. He was in a hundred bands before Lustfaust and he made some money as a session guy but still made his own music regardless”. Of those hundred’s of bands, the most prominent is surely Ikarus, the early ‘70s Krautrock outfit (Berger played bass under a pseudonym Wolfgang Kracht) with whom Berger shared stage-space with Jochen Peterson, later singer of Randy Pie, who offered Lustfaust their first support tour.

Berger’s love of music also lead to friction with his family. “Hans’ father always expected his son to follow in his footsteps and become a mechanic and, to his credit, Hans gave it a go but he had no aptitude for it. It was not creative enough for him” Judy details. Berger’s decision to make his living from playing music caused a rift with his father that was never healed. “Hans went to his grave without having spoken to his father for over ten years and I’m sure that caused both of them an enormous amount of pain”.