The TEAM
"Work like a captain, play like a pirate"
We work together to live. Strength, endurance, discipline, passion and family drive us forward. We enjoy our work and take pleasure in life. Standard is not in our DNA. The Fifth Quarter is larger than life!
Johannes Arlt
Dive into life. And get up close. Johannes Arlt is always searching for what it means to be human. Since 2006, he has been doing this as a photographer for clients such as Der Spiegel, Welt am Sonntag, Vattenfall and Deutsche Bank. Before that, he worked in the operating theatre, drove ambulances and trained as a physiotherapist. With the goal of becoming a war photographer, he left the healthcare system behind and began working as a self-taught photographer for daily newspapers. He has photographed births and deaths, fishermen in the Amazon, starving children in Niger and the Taliban in Afghanistan. And the mayor of Hallig Hooge. Curiosity, empathy and humour characterise his personality and his visual language. Looking at his portraits, you see people from a closeness that you yourself rarely experience. He shares Roland's absolute passion for fly fishing and nature, standing with him for hours in the Baltic Sea to catch one of the rare sea trout. Or just as long in a meadow to perfect his fly casting. Johannes Arlt is enthusiastic about the subjects he photographs. You can see that in his pictures.
Empathy in pictures
Johannes Arlt has been accompanying Roland on his authentic culinary journeys since 2020, documenting these exceptionally intense moments in impressive images. Whether in the Mongolian steppe, the Namibian desert, the South African bush, on the glaciers of Iceland or in the solitude of the Finnish forests, in the wilderness of Transylvania, on mountain streams to be climbed in Slovenia and even on a luxury catamaran off the Portuguese coast.... Johannes has an empathy for people and situations; his images tell stories and convey emotions. All the images in Roland's book ‘Larger than Life’ are by Johannes.
Johannes Arlt – ‘the eye’ of The Fifth Quarter
wildlife-moments
Johannes has the ability to lend natural charisma to an image through an empathetic combination of momentum and perspective. His images are, without exception, extraordinary.
Johannes Arlt - Larger than Life
Stefan Romberg
The funny and charming ‘Ruhrpott bartender’ has a commercial background, has been a full-time gastronomy professional for 20 years and lives out his passion for fire and nature. Since 2014, he has occasionally accompanied Roland on the national and international stage, supporting him behind the scenes. Stefan gave up his job as a restaurateur and pub owner in January 2025 and started his own catering company, STR, specialising in event catering.
Jürgen Schmeka
The nature-loving former professional soldier is a trained gardener and landscaper. Since 2018, he has occasionally accompanied Roland on the national and international stage, supporting him with his passionate expertise as a ranger, bus and truck driver, and guest relations manager in the logistical background.
Eric Birr
Eric's passion for high-quality food and outdoor living stems from his training as a wholesale and foreign trade merchant at Selgros C&C and as an event manager at Feinkost Käfer. From the age of 14, Eric regularly accompanied his father on his worldwide ‘culinary travels’. In 2024/25, Eric focused on Asian culture and worked in Saigon for the restaurants ‘P'ti Saigon’, ‘Le Corto’ and “Livannah”. Today, he works for our partner event catering company ‘Kaiserschote’ in Cologne as a junior project manager and is the link to our catering expertise – whether for 40 or 4,000 guests.
Natalie Birr
Natalie is a trained hotel manager and Roland's daughter. She has been travelling around the world with her family since early childhood, discovering her passion for southern Africa, interacting with people and customer-oriented events. She now works in administration at the Hotel Maritim in Cologne and is studying hotel management. When time allows, Natalie shares her passion for communicative customer service with The Fifth Quarter.
Gabriel Mangezi
Gabriel is Shona from Zimbabwe and Roland's son-in-law. He has been working regularly with Roland in South Africa since 2018 and shares his passion for customer-oriented events and authentic food preparation with The Fifth Quarter.
Daniel Jäger
This passionate outdoor enthusiast and aspiring forester has been supporting our Culinary Travel Camps in Finland, Namibia and South Africa since 2021. As a semi-professional, successful judoka, his body and mind are well trained. With respect, discipline and a sense of responsibility, Daniel is there for our guests 24/7 – in the desert, in the forest and on the ice.
Tanaka Nigel Jichichi
Tanaka is Shona from Zimbabwe and has been living in South Africa since 2017. He studied culinary arts and is a trained sommelier (WSET). Since 2023, Tanaka has been working passionately with Roland in our ‘Authentic Culinary Camps’ in South Africa and Namibia.
Ali Sajad Azizi
Ali is an Afghan born in Germany and trained as a social media manager/businessman. He passionately and professionally supports The Fifth Quarter's digital communication with moving images and social media content. Ali is the owner of the online marketing agency ‘Rock of Success’ based in Düsseldorf and specialises in high-quality social media content, video productions, targeted Google Ads and effective SEO measures for medium-sized companies in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Susanne Birr
Susanne is a trained commercial administraton manager and has been working in the international wine trade since 1991. She is the ‘alter ego’ of The Fifth Quarter and the nature-loving woman at Roland's side. She organises her boys and entire TFQ team in the back office and is responsible for customer service, inventory management and accounting. Susanne also embodies the ‘TFQ travel agency’.
