Early Kraftwerk Member Emil Schult Joins The Cologne Affair January 24th

Saturday, January 24th 10am ET: for the first episode of The Cologne Affair for 2026, host Jan Lankisch took the opportunity to travel to Cologne’s longtime rival city, Düsseldorf, to visit the great artist Emil Schult.

After being an active member of Kraftwerk in the early 1970s, Schult soon moved behind the scenes to focus on the band’s conceptual foundations. As a painter and graphic designer, he created the iconic artwork for albums such as Autobahn and Radio-Activity, while also co-writing some of Kraftwerk’s most significant songs, including “The Model,” “Pocket Calculator,” “Computer World,” “Computer Love,” and “Musique Non Stop.”

Having remained an important collaborator with the band for over 50 years, the now 79-year-old artist continues to work actively on his own music and art projects, presenting exhibitions and concerts around the world. Emil generously shared stories from his long and extraordinary life.

In the second hour of the episode, we stay in Düsseldorf with a special selection of music by local artist Stefan Schneider, who has been collecting cassettes from the electronic and experimental music scene—treasures he shares with us here.