In the autumn of 1967, he took up his studies at Ruhr University Bochum, majoring in psychology, specializing in media sciences, and finally earning his doctorate in 1975 with the publication Television – Grandmaster of Violence?
[1] The German weekly newspaper Die Zeit offered Kelmer the opportunity to reach a wider audience through a full-page article in its cultural review.
[2] From 1979 to 1985, Kelmer was introduced to classical drawing and painting by two Romanian artists based in Germany and France, Serban Gabrea and Daniel Négo.
In 1980, Kelmer’s drawing Uncontrolled multiplication of René Magritte was shown by the curators Maurice Rapin and Mirabelle Dors at the Salon Figuration Critique/Centre Culturel de la Rue du Louvre in Paris.
As well as pursuing his artistic activities, Kelmer completed his training as a psychoanalyst from 1982 to 1991 with professors Tobias Brocher and Edeltrud Meistermann-Seeger, both known for their unorthodox role in further developing the theory and practice of psychoanalysis.