Online team

In October 2017, the German Orchid Society launched an online team through an appeal in the magazine with the aim of making the society more present on the internet in order to appeal to younger potential members in particular.

If you used a Google search on the subject of orchids at the time, the D.O.G. website (orchidee.de) was practically non-existent. If it appeared at all in the search results, then at the earliest on one of the last pages. Today – three years and hundreds of working hours later – in many search queries on the subject, the German Orchid Society can be found among the first three results. A success that makes us proud!

To show you the faces behind this success, we would like to introduce you to the members of the D.O.G. online team, who do all the work related to the website of the German Orchid Society on a voluntary basis.

You too can help and actively participate in leading our association into the digital age. Do you have any suggestions? New ideas? Do you want to present one of your orchids as orchid of the week or just support us with administrative work? Then don’t be shy and write to us at: onlineteam@orchidee.de

Claudia Hanemann
Claudia Hanemann
Administrator Facebook

Claudia Hanemann lives in Jena with her family, some pets and about 300 orchids. She was given her first orchid when she was 14 years old and since then has been cultivating mainly coelogynes along with a few other genera. She has been a member of the German Orchid Society since 2013. Claudia regularly writes articles for the “Orchid of the Week” and supports us in the administration of our Facebook page and group.

Martin Kirsch
Martin Kirsch
Administrator orchidee.de

Martin has been a member of the D.O.G. since 1999 and, together with his wife Monika, cultivates over 300 orchids in their apartment in Hamburg. Almost everything the orchid world has to offer is represented. The focus is on Pleurothallidinae, Maxillariae and Oncidinae, but also much more, especially small plants and minis. He has been managing the D.O,G. website since 2019 and is also a member of the editorial team of “Die Orchidee”.

Matthias Wystub
Matthias Wystub
Administrator Facebook

Matthias from Nördlingen im Ries cultivates vandeas, phalaenopses and some African species on his windowsills and in the garden. His passion mainly belongs to Vanda (syn. Neofinetia) falcata. Since September 2020 he has been supporting us as admin of the Facebook group and with work related to online competition.

Rouven Haliti
Rouven Haliti
Administrator Instagram

Rouven lives in Berlin and cultivates a mixed collection of around 200 orchids in his apartment. The special focus here is on plants of the genera Stanhopea, Coryanthes, Paphiopedilum and Cattleya.
He is involved in the Berlin local group, both in organizing and supervising events and exhibitions and in co-managing the group page on Instagram. He has also been supporting the D.O.G.’s online editorial team on Instagram since 2024.

Sina Mueller
Sina Müller
Administrator Instagram

Sina has been a member of the D.O.G. since 2022 and has been actively involved in managing the organization’s Instagram page and online competition since 2024. In her apartment in Munich, she passionately cares for around 300 orchids, which she cultivates both on the windowsill and in display cases. In addition to her focus on Phalaenopsis and Cattleya, she likes to add numerous other easy-care genera to her collection.

Vanessa Thierling
Vanessa Thierling
Administrator TikTok

Vanessa lives in Fürstenwalde/Spree. Since joining the D.O.G. in 2019, she has been part of the Berlin group. She has about 140 orchids that she cultivates on her windowsill. Her absolute favorite genus is Vanda. But she also has Phalaenopsis and Paphiopedilum, that means exclusively Asian orchids.

Vitor Garcia de Almeida
Vitor García de Almeida
Administrator Facebook

Vitor comes from Brazil, lives in Berlin and also cultivates on the windowsill there. He is particularly interested in Phalaenopsis and Cattleya. Vitor is currently completing his training as a D.O.G. judge and has been in charge of the Facebook group and page since summer 2019. The former was initiated by him.

Werner Holzmann
Werner Holzman
Administrator D.O.G. forum

In his home in Kitzingen, Werner cultivates hundreds of orchids on the windowsill and in showcases. He also owns a large indoor greenhouse with lighting, ventilation and other technology. Werner is one of our D.O.G. photographers and the “Orchid Doctor” at the International Orchid World in Dresden. As part of his work in the D.O.G. online editorial team, he has been in charge of the forum on our website from the very beginning. He also takes care of the platforms Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.

Yves Suermann
Yves Suermann
WOC Social Media

Yves is based in the “Ruhrgebiet” and cultivates over 300 orchids in an apartment in Dortmund. He enjoys experimenting with the various cultivation options and technical equipment. His interest extends across many genera. He is part of the D.O.G. online group and tries to visit the natural habitats of his favorite plants on his travels.