The Dorfen master brewer Eckhard Kurbjuhn died at the age of only 58.
Dorfen
- Hope dies last, they say.
But in the end she dies too.
Eckhard Kurbjuhn fought against his serious illness for many years.
Even when he was badly marked by cancer, he has not lost his sense of humor.
He fought to the end - and in the end lost.
At the age of 58 Ecki, as his family and friends called him, had to leave the world.
He did it peacefully - without resentment or much whining.
Kurbjuhn came to Dorfen in 1982. Born in Walsrode in Lower Saxony, he had already felt an affection for Bavaria as a young boy.
The beer from the white and blue Free State somehow made Bavaria seem like paradise to him.
The man from Lower Saxony liked the liquid farmer's bread so much that he decided to become a brewer in Bavaria.
He put his plan into practice at the Bachmayer brewery in Dorfen.
And after a short time in Dorfen, Ecki, the Prussian, became a Bavarian with his heart in the right place.
His humorous, honest and friendly manner made him quickly find a large circle of friends.
After the apprenticeship in Dorfen, further positions followed at small and large breweries.
Among other things at the former Moy brewery in Haag and at Erdinger Weißbräu.
"Ecki was a brewer through and through, beer was his passion," says his wife Gabi.
Kurbjuhn's interest in always learning was correspondingly great.
In 1988, the Dorfener graduated from Doemens in Graefelfing as a state-certified brewing technician and master brewer.
In 1997 Kurbjuhn finally became something of a Bavarian beer ambassador.
The deceased went to Japan and taught his colleagues in the Land of the Rising Sun how to brew Bavarian beer and how to implement the motto “Live and let live”.
Kurbjuhn passed on his knowledge to colleagues in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan during further stays abroad.
Kurbjuhn later moved to BrauKon GmbH in Seeon, where he also became a partner.
The company builds turnkey systems for the brewing and beverage industry internationally.
In 2007, Kurbjuhn went to Nigeria with his Gabi for a year and a half.
There the expert from the Free State built a brewery and also worked for some time as a master brewer.
Back in Germany, the two married.
Then they went to America together.
In the Hofbräuhaus in Pittsburgh, the man from Dorfen took over the management of the brewery.
In 2013 we went back to Dorfen.
At Rolec Brautechnik GmbH in Chieming, Kurbjuhn was henceforth responsible for the construction of systems from individual components to the complete turnkey brewery.
Kurbjuhn was a bear in stature, gentle at heart, good and sociable.
But he also liked to discuss when it came to his convictions.
Kurbjuhn's great hobby was football, and this is where Borussia Mönchengladbach's heart beat.
When his team played against FC Bayern, he was back to the northern lights for the duration of the game.
If the Gladbachers won against Bayern, Ecki's heart overflowed.
Kurbjuhn is also active as an actor.
He played at the Dorfen Beer War Festival.
In 2017, a lot was initially unimportant.
At 55 he was diagnosed with cancer.
But the paralysis did not last long.
Now it was time to fight and believe in a happy ending.
“He fought until the last day,” says his wife.
Even when he had to take morphine for the severe pain, there was no reason for the deceased to give up.
One of the reasons was certainly the great love he had for his Gabi.
She hoped and suffered with her Ecki.
“I would like him like that for another 1,000 years if he were still with me,” she says.
On the Friday before last, Ecki Kurbjuhn breathed out his life in a peaceful atmosphere in the afternoon.
The whole family was there.
The body was laid out at home until Saturday afternoon.
Many friends took the opportunity to say goodbye to their spouse.
"Pfiad di, Ecki, do it good!
Amoi seng ma us again ”, they told him in a funeral notice to go to the afterlife.