Born and raised in Schwelm (NRW), Germany, Holger earned a degree in German philology, history, philosophy and educational science as well as a PhD in linguistics from the University of Bochum, Germany. During his college years, Holger wrote articles for several German newspapers as a freelancer, worked as a text editor for an ad agency and taught introductory classes in German linguistics at the University of Dortmund.

Before he recently retired, Holger had worked for a globally operating German chemical company since 1989, had come to the U.S. on a job assignment in 1993, and was involved in the nutritional supplement business for 30 years. Holger has been teaching Adult Conversation and Middle School B1 level classes at the GLSN since 2014.