Report: anne will and miriam meckel have parted ways

They were considered the lesbian showcase couple in Germany – now it's over. The TV presenter Anne Will and the communication scientist Miriam Meckel have separated. A statement to this effect by both women has been made available to the dpa news agency.

"We have separated," says the present letter from Will (53) and Meckel (52). "Further we will not explain on this and ask to respect our privacy."

Anne Will and Miriam Meckel: Separation after several years of relationship

Signed the sentences with both names: Anne Will and Miriam Meckel. The ARD talk show host and the publisher of the magazine "Ada" had been considered a prominent lesbian couple for years.

In 2007 they made the connection known. Three years ago, Will and Meckel said yes to a registered civil partnership.

Their Coming out per photo in the "Bild am Sonntag" Meckel later explained in the "Spiegel": "We simply wanted to be able to go to a public event and sit at the same table. And for that we had to put up with this photo being taken once." Wills variant on it in the "star": "We simply had no more desire on the cramp: I go before, Miriam comes after."

Will and Meckel said yes to each other before marriage for all

The hype was big. "Yes, we are a couple," was the striking sentence. Since there were only a few lesbians known to the general public until then – including Maren Kroymann, Hella von Sinnen, Cornelia Scheel and Ulrike Folkerts – many in the scene were happy about it. During the Christopher Street Day parade in Berlin, the slogan "Anne Will – me too" promptly appeared.

The official step followed in 2016. "Yes, we got married", it was now said. Even before marriage for all, which has only been possible in Germany for two years, Will and Meckel said yes to a registered civil partnership. For the ceremony, Will wore a simple white sheath dress, combined with a bridal bouquet of red, pastel and cream roses. Meckel came in a striped, sleeveless dress in pink and white. To celebrate there were helium balloons in the shape of two women.

Will and Meckel kept their private life largely under wraps. Only little was known about it. When Meckel came to terms with her burnout in the book "Letter to My Life," she revealed little about life with her partner.

Still in June appearance in prominent round

Joint appearances were sometimes more frequent, then again not for a long time. Separation rumors circulating in the meantime were denied. When both appeared in public, their outfits always seemed to match: both in black, both in suits, both off-the-shoulder, both with plunging necklines, both in the same color combination or – at carnival – both in masquerade costume.

Meckel sometimes met the flurry of flashbulbs and media hype surrounding the celebrity couple in her own way: She turned her counterparts into objects and photographed the photographers herself.

Another big separation had also caused a stir recently: Thomas Gottschalk separated from his wife Thea after decades.