Germany benefits from its reputation of being the land of inventors. In 2021 it ranked 2nd place in terms of the number of patents filed with the European Patent Office – right behind the USA.

In 2022, Ralph Baudach did some research concerning German inventions and patents from the 19th and 20th century. He noticed that some of them have become firmly established in everyday office life and are being used all over the world: the file folder, the telephone, the coffee filter, the two-chamber tea bag, the all-purpose glue, the cone-shaped pencil sharpener and the pushpin. These inventions underline the stereotypical image of the Germans, especially abroad: well-organised, reliable, tidy, efficient, but also somewhat stodgy and humourless.

However, this realisation did not yet lead to any artistic idea for a work.

Everytime he goes to his studio, Ralph Baudach takes the bike. If you cycle a lot, you can't ignore the constant belt of asphalt under your bike's tyres. One day, whilst looking at the stony grey, one thing finally led to another: Germans are said to have “invented“ the Autobahn. Some even believe it was Adolf Hitler himself. German inventions, asphalt, Autobahn, Hitler – and bingo! The idea for “Meister“ was born.

The series' title is referring to a line from Paul Celan's world-famous poem “Todesfuge“ (“Death Fugue“):