April 1st, 1991
Cologne art Collector and patron Prof. Fritz Gruber and his wife Renate invite Helnwein to join their circle of friends (artists, writers, photographers, curators and intellectuals) who meet on a regular basis at his salons in his villa in Cologne
Later some of the friends, amongst them Brian Eno, Alice Schwarzer and Alfred Biolek, rent a river-boat, originally built for King Faruk of Egypt and embarke on several journeys on the Nile. Hence the group called itself "The Nile-Society" (Nil-Gesellschaft)
