"It's a strange feeling"

Dießens Mayor Herbert Kirsch was in office for 24 years. The last time he is boss in the town hall is on Thursday. In the final interview he finds: "It's a strange feeling".

Dießen - he was mayor for 24 years, and he has been working in Dießen town hall for 26 years. Herbert Kirsch (60) was a registrar in Dießen for two years before moving up one floor. It was 25 years and ten months. He knows this very well because on July 2, 1994 his second child was born, one day after taking up duty. Next Thursday, Kirsch has his last day at work and leaves as someone who likes to do his job as someone who doesn't want to miss the good or the bad. “The unpleasant things also develop a person. You can learn from every experience. ”Starnberg Mercury looks back with Kirsch.

Can you still remember the first term in office?

There were five candidates. What struck me was that the election campaigns have become more personal. Back then, nobody was talking about each other. It's very different today.

You had imagined the end of your term of office differently, not with a "shutdown".

You couldn't imagine something like that. Not at all. It would have been very important to me that we also pass the municipal councils - there are many who are leaving - with dignity. But that will be made up for later. I have already spoken to my successor about this. I hope that is in a manageable period. We have councilors who have been on the council for up to 48 years. This needs to be appreciated in a context that is appropriate. You can't just put something in your hand.

When you look back on your 24-year term, what was special?

When you look back, you can see how quickly time flies. I can only recommend to everyone: enjoy the present, you can not look so quickly, many years have been around and you wonder where they were. I particularly remember that we managed to get the Ammersee Gymnasium to Dießen. Especially because you were smiled at at the beginning, you were not expected to. I still remember what it was like at high school. Some have said: He can wish for it, but it will not come.

Your counterpart from Herrsching has a similar topic at the moment. Do you have a tip?

No, you can't give any tips. I was lucky that the town council didn't push me into a corset. They said we trust you that it fits. That was important in the negotiations. If you sit at the desk with the minister, Monika Hohlmeier at the time, and you only have to go back to the municipal council three times to ask if that's okay, then you never get that. This is only possible in the chest tone of conviction, knowing that you have the council behind you. That was the great strength in the 24 years: The local council was always behind the important projects. One can now criticize that it was always unanimous. But it is enough if you have two or three who simply find everything bad, but then nothing happens. You can talk badly very quickly.

What other projects do you have in mind?

For example, that the community lets the workers' welfare on a communal property in order to enable senior living and care places. The local council must also want that. The upgrading of the station area with Mühlstraße is also part of it. It is a shame that due to the park history on Mühlstraße, which I can regulate, it is forgotten what an achievement it was - by residents and the town council - to redesign this entire area with Mühlstraße.

Is the pottery market one of them?

As far as the pottery market is concerned, the municipal council gave me complete freedom. When it was clear 20 years ago that the market organized by Mr. Sudau at the time was to move to Landsberg, I was able to work with Wolfgang Lösche on a concept for my own pottery market. Thankfully, I was able to involve Wolfgang Lösche as the market manager. Back then nobody believed us that it would be such a success at the lake. I will never forget the citizens' meeting on Kirchsteig back then, where I was told that this could not work. Then, together with the store manager, I was able to prove the opposite. But even there you need a councilor who has confidence in you.

In the 20th year of existence at the lake, the market is threatened with the end, in any case it has to be postponed and will not take place for the first time on the weekend of Ascension Day.

Of course that is bitter. We have now considered the postponement to September. Nobody knows what it will be in the end. It is not yet possible to say whether it actually takes place.

Do you keep the date open in September even though the Oktoberfest has definitely been canceled?

The Oktoberfest is associated with beer, alcohol and excesses. I don't like to compare it to the pottery market. Maybe there is a mask requirement, yes. But many ceramics existents are threatened here, not just a landlord. If it is of course irresponsible, the pottery market will also have to fail. But you have to look, there is still a while until September.

You are in office for a week. Are there still big things ahead?

The schedule was full. We would have had some big events, anniversaries. That is all canceled now. That's why it's clear. I can't even make congratulatory visits. I just do the things that occur every day in the town hall.

Do you already know the end of the term?

It's a strange feeling. I am not really aware that I will have to return my key the next Thursday at 6 p.m. I have already told Ms. Perzul, my successor, that she should remind me that when I am at the town hall on May 4th, I will no longer be mayor.

Then you don't even think about the time afterwards?

No. I am not someone who plans for the long term. I am still in the district council, yes, and also in the municipal council. It will be interesting to experience that from the other side. But - my wife and I have a plan: we are building our greenhouse.

I think you would like to have completed an open construction site: the Huber publishing building. The court must rule on the ownership claims. The community had inherited the houses and would have liked to use them as residential and commercial buildings. Instead, they are rapidly decaying.

Right. I would like to have completed that. It is all the more regrettable that I was informed this week that the trial in court can no longer proceed because the judge is ill and is also leaving. So we have to continue to wait for the verdict. It is feared that everything will start all over again. I was hoping to find a good solution for the distinctive houses in the town center through an architectural competition. It is unfortunate that this did not work. We have been waiting for a judgment for a year and a half and are now getting this message. This is a “goodbye gift” that you don't need.

You made an early decision: it's over now.

Yes, my family helped. They could best watch what happened to me. As a mayor, you have to be efficient every day. I've been doing this for 24 years. I couldn't live up to the claim for another six years. That's why it's a good thing.