Georges Christen greeted RTL's reporter with a broad smile and a strong handshake.
"I never called myself Luxembourg's strongest man," he confides. "I had my specialities, where I was better during my training than a world champion might be in weightlifting or powerlifting. As a child I was always interested in strength training. My father used to do it. He always told me stories of a Luxembourgish athlete, John Grün. Personally I was always fascinated by the artist world at the end of the 19th century."
It was early 1983 when Christen made his debut in Dommeldange. "There weren't many people in the café that evening, but the atmosphere was good," Christen recalls. "My show was a bit limited, I had some nails to bend, a pack of cards, a telephone book and an iron pole I could pull apart. Back then I didn't use my teeth for any perfomances.
His act was so well-received by the audience that Christen was hired for three more performances at the bistro.
After attending school in the capital, where Christen studied the economics section, he began working as an insurance agent. However, his enthusiasm for artistry far outweighed his enthusiasm for the job.
"At the start it was difficult. I'd do a few performances, but then there would be no bookings for a long time. It was a real drip feed of work."
Suddenly, though, Christen began booking up to 100 performances a year. "That was a whole different experience. It allowed me to earn a living."
Georges Christen worked as a self-employed performer at that time. The fees he earned were, of course, his gross income. "I had to pay double health insurance and pension contributions. The registration office always had you in mind, because you had to pay VAT, and the tax authorities always think of you too. It was not just about being physically strong - you also had to manage it like a business."
At the age of 19, the Luxembourger set his first record. On 3 December 1982, he bent 250 iron nails in 72 minutes and 55 seconds.
"I was never exceptionally strong as a child. But I was always driven by a desire to be strong. From the age of 15 to 16, I started lifting weights. To perform well in my shows, I had to train very specifically for certain acts. A bit like a circus acrobat."
Georges Christen then came up with the idea of lifting weights with his teeth. But importantly: you should never bite directly into the iron with your teeth. You should always wrap a cloth around it, which is very stable. Then you can lift the weights.
Georges Christen appeared in the Guinness Book of Records 26 times. "Without that, I would have been a local strongman in Luxembourg. Through the Guinness Book of Records, I became known on 5 continents. But I also had my limits. I was no Superman or King Kong," said the Luxembourger, born in Luxembourg City. In the 1980s, the internet as we know it did not exist yet, either. Therefore, Georges Christen had no way of looking up how other performers organised their acts.
"During my shows, I often had to hold the children back. They were fascinated and wanted to copy things. But the contact with all the people was wonderful. I always tried to offer a family programme. I wanted my shows to be entertaining for people from all social classes."
Nowadays, the children from back then have children of their own.
It is 31 December 1999. On that day, Georges Christen did something extraordinary. He bent 2,000 nails in 24 hours. "2,000 nails for the year 2000. It started at midnight on 31 December and finished at the start of the new millennium." Georges Christen smiles from ear to ear.
Georges Christen made a living from his performances for 40 years. He performed over 100 times per year until 2020, which marked the start of the Covid pandemic. Thereafter, the Luxembourg strongman had only one more performance in 2021, after which he retired.
Georges Christen is now 63 years old. There is a chance of running into him on the island of Mallorca. He still takes on the occasional performance.
