Career
Hanke was born in Kelheim, Bavaria. He directed a church choir and a trombone choir from age 14, and served as organist at three churches. He passed the D and C exams for organists before graduating from high school. He studied music pedagogy and church music in Bayreuth and Munich, graduating with the A exam [de]. He became director of the music education at the Bavarian State School for the Blind in Munich.
In 1995, Hanke moved to the position of church musician at St. Martin in Sindelfingen. In 2003, he was appointed Kirchenmusikdirektor by the regional bishop Gerhard Maier [de], then as the youngest in the history of the regional church. He was also Bezirkskantor [de] in the Böblingen church district [de]. Hanke has conducted several choirs and the Stiftshoforchester in Sindelfingen, and toured with some internationally, including to Brazil, France, Italy, Poland, Russia, South Africa and Spain. He founded the Sindelfinger Bachtage festival and a project "Raum geben – die leere Martinskirche" (Give space – the empty church St. Martin), with interdisciplinary concert and service formats.
On 1 April 2016, Hanke was appointed Landeskirchenmusikdirektor (LKMD) of the Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg, succeeding Bernhard Reich [de], responsible for all Protestant church music in Württemberg. He has been chairman of the advisory board of the Singing with Children Foundation since 2018, and chairman of the advisory board of Kohelet, a company that released a free hymn application, Cantico, in 2019.
Hanke is married to Theresia Hanke, an Austrian violinist. Their four sons are also active musicians, performing as a band, the Hanke Brothers.
