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Autographs are dying out, in the view of leading German autograph hunter Christian Bach, 44, who has collected 10,000 signatures of the famous and not-so-famous.
“Of course it’s hurting, but I can’t stop the trend,” says Bach, the head of Germany’s autograph collectors club. Now, the zeitgeist is catching up with him as selfies take over.
Bach sees social media behind the change.
“Interest in the signature has been lost, I believe,” he said. Whereas many people used to leaf through their photo albums, “today, you look at your mobile every couple of minutes and see endless images”.

While Bach also collects photos of his meetings with stars, he prefers them to be taken by someone else, and not as a selfie.
“I don’t like it. You usually look stupid on a selfie,” he says.
Bach received his very first autograph by post in 1993 – from Pierre Littbarski, a German football player who was a member of the team that won the World Cup in 1990.
He was also on the team when they were runners-up in 1982 and 1986.


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Fame and celebrity

Why are autographs dying out? Man with 10,000 of them blames selfies

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Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

Autograph hunter Christian Bach may also take photos with celebrities now, but do not expect to see a selfie – ‘you usually look stupid’


Autograph hunter Christian Bach may also take photos with celebrities now, but do not expect to see a selfie – ‘you usually look stupid’.


Germany

Gen Z