World Cup 2026: How Thomas Tuchel went from wild hip-hop party to England manager

Tuchel moved to Stuttgart to study business administration and got a job in a bar.

It wasn’t just any bar, however. Tuchel’s new workplace was located in the famous Radio Barth building on Rotebuhlplatz in Stuttgart.

Originally a large music department store that sold records and instruments, the building was slated for demolition in 1995 after the store filed for bankruptcy.

Years before it was demolished, however, the venue was rented out to young artists, who briefly transformed it into an iconic nightlife and culture venue.

Located on the ground floor of the building, the radio bar where Tuchel worked became a hotspot for Germany’s burgeoning hip-hop scene.

In an interview, outsider In a 2008 documentary made by students, Carlos Coelho, the bar’s former manager, recalled how popular it had become.

“We had so many people come in that we had to close the doors because no one else could fit in the space,” he said.

“People loved it, especially being in this historic Radio Barth building. People who come in will say, ‘This is where I bought my first record’.”

Tuchel began collecting empty bottles and glasses, before graduating to table-waiting and eventually serving cocktails at the bar.

“I don’t want to drink the cocktails I was making at the beginning,” he told Die Zeit.

Despite how to make a mojito and carry a tray of glasses on his head, the England manager said his time in the bar taught him valuable lessons for his future career.

“Shift by shift, at night, I slowly build up my confidence to work in the bar,” he told Die Zeit.

“I overcame my inhibitions about asking strangers if they needed my help, and I realized that people liked me for who I was, they had no idea I was an ex-footballer.”

One of the people Tuchel befriended at the bar was Max Herre, a Stuttgart musician who would go on to become one of Germany’s most popular rappers.

Talking to podcasts, outsider And in 2024’s Machst du am Wachenande (And What Do You Do at the Weekend), Herre recalled how Tuchel became part of his “clique” and often went to his concerts.

“Once, he even came to Vienna for a gig,” Hare said.