Patrick Tastensen
by Becky Tan

Originally in 2005, www.thehamburgexpress.com was a magazine called The Hamburg Express. Over time, Editor Patrick Tästensen let it evolve into a website. It has information about topics such as travel, entertainment, money/banking, education, info hot line, shopping, language schools, and much more, all in English. It’s worth your while just looking at the table of contents, which might remind you of Bloom Where You are Planted, only online.

Patrick Tästensen grew up in Parys, South Africa, speaking German and Afrikaans (the language of his father and mother respectively). He graduated with an Abitur from the German Gymnasium in South Africa. In 1998 he came to Hamburg University, studied Sinology and graduated with a Master’s Degree in 2004. Just one year later he started the first version of The Hamburg Express.

Tästensen says, “I wanted to do something where I could be my own boss. I originally envisioned a bi-monthly print newspaper, but soon realized that it would need some larger force or company as back-up, so I went over to the internet. I have a staff of 12 and have since founded the Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich Express.” The internet allows him to update news easily.