Ulrike von der Groeben: She thinks about her funeral service

“I think it is important that everything is regulated in the event of cases”: Ulrike von der Groeben (68) talks to Spot on News about death. In the interview for her book “Freedom starts now!” (ZS Verlag, from May 7th) – A mixture of autobiography and guide with expert talks and tips about retirement – she also reveals what has changed after saying goodbye to her. The moderator was used as a sports expert at “RTL Aktuell” until 2024.

Ulrike von der Groeben: I do not have to expand or change my running program three days a week. At least two units are planned for strength training per week, mostly workouts with dumbbells at home. Because from a certain age, Pilates is no longer sufficient. A little strength training must be easy if you want to stay fit. I enjoy it very much and now I want to expand it – just because I finally have the time for it. I enjoy sport, keep me healthy and make sure that I feel comfortable. If the first wrinkles come, at least the rest should remain in shape.

Ulrike von der Groeben: I very much hope that the symptoms will really disappear at some point. In any case, it gets better. Running in particular was very tedious for a long time, at the beginning it was not at all, even slowly jogging was a pain. It really annoyed me and disturbed me. But when I hear how bad others are partly affected, I am grateful that I am going uphill. At the moment I feel really comfortable again, almost like before.

Ulrike von der Groeben: Actually, not much has changed. I have to do with the book, my husband still works as a commentator and plays theater. In addition, as always, he goes to sport every day. Our routines have basically remained: after our sports program we have breakfast together in the late morning, as before. A small difference may be that we eat a little earlier. And when I have time and desire, I think more about cooking and try new things.

Ulrike von der Groeben: It is not because I would be afraid of or don’t want to deal with the topic. It is more like many other things you have to do, but repeatedly pushed up. I often say: “Oh, I do that at some point when there is time.” And then I prefer to go to the garden – it is just more fun than dealing with such a living will.

Ulrike von der Groeben: In recent years, the topic has always been present – unfortunately also because we have lost some people, sometimes the same age and younger ones. My parents also died relatively early: my mother shortly after her 60th birthday, my father was in the mid -70th in our family. I have the feeling that hardly anyone gets really old – for example, I never got to know my grandparents. But we live healthy: we do sports and pay attention to nutrition without being dogmatic.

However, I think it is important that everything is regulated in the event of cases – the desire for cremation alone is not enough, you should also determine what should happen to the ash. I even worry about the music for my own funeral service, about the songs that are supposed to run. It is important to me to lose weight to my children, think about what would suit me – I can tell you or write down that.

Ulrike von der Groeben: I would recommend everyone to seriously think at an early stage: What is really important to me – now and also in the future? What do I need for a fulfilling life and what does my partner want? How do we imagine the time in retirement and how much money do we need? All of this should be clarified as early as possible in order to set the right course – not only financially: If you retire a lot and travel, you should also pay attention to your own fitness or deal with digital media in order to be able to organize trips well. In short: to ask yourself early enough what is really important to you – and then actively work towards it so that retirement really becomes the phase of life that you dream.

Ulrike von der Groeben: No, actually not. By writing, I asked myself many of the questions that I also ask my readers – and found it with my husband: We don’t have these large, unfulfilled dreams. But we actually want to tackle one wish of my husband now: he has always dreamed of living on a houseboat at some point. We don’t go that far, but we would like to rent a houseboat for a few weeks – probably in Holland, where our little sailboat is also located. Then let’s just see how we like this life on the water.