Margarethe Schreinemakers: If she died, she would have “left behind chaos”

TV presenter and ratings queen of the 1990s Margarethe Schreinemakers (66) collapsed while jogging in the spring of 2009. cardiac arrest. Her life partner, who was there at the time, saved her life.

“In the time until the rescue helicopter arrived, he saved my life with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage. The doctor at the clinic said he had fought incredibly for my heart. If I had been traveling alone, things would have been worse “I was lucky, and for that I thank the good Lord, the paramedics, the doctors and of course especially Jean-Marie.”

Margarethe Schreinemakers changed her life

In a new interview with the magazine “Bunte” she remembers how she turned her life around after the stroke of fate. “After the cardiac arrest, I immediately did a lot of things differently that I should have done before. The first thing I did was make a will and a living will.” It was then that she realized that if she died, she would have “left a complete mess behind.” Schreinemakers also sold their property in Eupen, eastern Belgium. “The house has always been too big. I don’t need it to live,” she says today about the 2,000 square meters of living space with a heated swimming pool and air-conditioned wine cellar. After 30 years in Belgium, the Krefeld native moved back to Germany.

“I’m doing well,” says Schreinemakers and adds: “Strictly speaking, I could have had a permanent place in the cemetery for 15 years.” The cardiac arrest marks a turning point for her: “There is the time before and the time after. I have known since then: Only those who have been dead know how beautiful life is.”

She had already withdrawn from television at the time of her death experience – and apparently no longer regretted it. “I don’t miss television. Not for a second. It was very nice, but here too there is life before and after,” said Schreinemakers.

“A clear sign” – Schreinemakers marries her lifesaver

And surviving the “Eight Minute Death” brought another big change. Margarethe Schreinemakers was married to the presenter Jürgen von der Lippe (76) from 1986 to 1988. “The first marriage was short but good,” she says about it today. Regarding her next marriage (1990-2007), from which her two sons also come, she explains to the magazine: “The second was long – but difficult in the end.”

The former star presenter, who achieved record ratings with her talk show “Schreinemakers Live” (1992-1996, Sat.1), would have left it at that … if she “hadn’t died back then”. After two marriages, she didn’t really want a man anymore. “But the fact that Jean-Marie revived me was a clear sign to me that he wanted to put up with me a little longer,” she says. After the cardiac arrest, she said yes to her lifesaver in 2012 after eleven years together. “It sometimes seems strange to me that we’ve been together for 23 years now. Jean-Marie is still my dream man after all these years,” enthuses Schreinemakers. Her third marriage was “fulfilling and beautiful.”

Your modest future plans

Today Schreinemakers speaks about her fateful day in the spring with almost touching words: “March 1, 2009, when it happened, is the day on which I was given a valuable chance. Namely the chance to start my life in a completely new way to dedicate.” She feels “deep gratitude.” That’s why she can only say: “If everything stays the way it is today, I’ll be a happy person who will be guided through life by deep humility.”