Peter Fischer was chairman of the SC Garmisch and World Cup boss for over 20 years.
Now the 67-year-old stops.
In the interview he looks back and forward.
He talks about people he hurts, feelings he supposedly doesn't have, shopping bags he doesn't carry, and nonsense that preoccupies him.
Mr. Fischer, now it's actually over.
Yes.
Past…
Can you just say it like this: I'll stop.
No, I find that difficult.
What exactly?
Above all, that I no longer see the people who have become dear to my heart every day.
For example my team here in the office and those responsible on the mountain.
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This is how we know him: Peter Fischer, how he follows the World Cup events on the Kandahar for himself and seriously.
© THOMAS VERY
And your life's work, as you always call the ski club and the World Cup, you can just let go of that?
Just not like that, of course.
But we have put together a great team of experts for the election of the new board member.
18 people, all with many years of world cup and ski club experience
(see box below)
.
You must now steer the ship by yourself.
And they can do that too.
I only help out as a rower when I am needed.
But only then.
Otherwise, are you completely out?
Well ... I'm talking about a transition phase (laughs).
How long does the?
There is still the World Cup application (the German Ski Association wants to host the Alpine World Ski Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 2027, editor's note).
With my team here, I am working on the bid book, among other things.
The decision will be made in May 2022, then the transition phase will be completed.
So I'm not completely gone right away.
That doesn't sound like letting go, it sounds more like: Peter Fischer stays, he just no longer has an official position.
No no.
No way.
That would be the worst thing.
Peter Fischer does not stay.
The time of "24-7 fishermen" is over.
This principle applied above all to the World Cup races. Do you expect your successor to do this permanent job as well?
How I did it was extreme.
In the morning I was the first to come and in the evening the last to go.
My grandpa
(he ran the Garmisch brewery, editor's note)
always said that as a boss, you have to set an example.
I was on my feet 14 hours a day for three weeks.
I lived for it, maybe too intensely.
That's why I suffered a lot.
Certainly you can do it differently, maybe you should too.
In general, the team has to work together again.
What do you mean?
Before that, someone led the whole thing.
Now there is a team, a voluntary board member who is elected, with Fritz Dopfer a future full-time managing director of the World Cup OC.
The fisherman up there, the big, strong head, he's gone.
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Should be OK managing director: Ex-ski professional Fritz Dopfer.
© Imago
Big and strong - many say: authoritarian.
Yes, maybe that's how you often describe my leadership style from the outside.
But that's only partly true.
Did he cause criticism?
Not with the people who had to do with me directly.
You knew
You can rely on me 100 percent.
My word counts.
But you can of course discuss any leadership style.
But in the end you have to see the result.
I'm handing over, and I'm very proud of that, with the ski club and the World Cup OK, two economically absolutely healthy, successful companies.
The question is, would I have achieved this with a different style?
Would you have?
I do not think so.
I think people need and want leadership.
If, in a completely anti-authoritarian manner, you let everyone have a say every time, you will not come to a conclusion for a long time.
But I always had clear goals and I am a person of clear decisions, that was my way.
The new team may go a different way.
Will make its own mistakes too.
That's the only way to learn.
How much rubbish did I do ...
Which one?
I would make a difference.
Have I made economic mistakes?
No.
Otherwise we wouldn't be doing so well today.
Have I personally made mistakes?
Yes.
Do you mean human error?
Yes, in my behavior towards others.
Who would you apologize to?
I don't want to mention any names.
But at the 2011 World Cup, for example, there were victims because I went through with the crowbar according to the motto: I'll do it as I mean and with the people I want.
From a technical point of view it was the right decision, but from a human point of view it was difficult.
In retrospect, I've hurt some people that I wouldn't hurt anymore.
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A good team and best friends: Peter Fischer and grandson Valentin (here at the 2017 World Cup) are inseparable.
With him, Fischer shows his soft side.
© FOTOPRESS THOMAS VERY
Wouldn't you be so mercilessly honest about your opinion?
Honesty and straightforwardness make me stand out, that still applies.
I utter unpleasant things.
I stand by that.
But if you know how certain decisions or statements make a person, you can take that into account.
I have changed in general, have become more objective and emotional - perhaps more sensitive.
When I think of my beginnings in 1997 ...
Then what do you think of?
There was brutal fighting between the two ski clubs.
What did Toni Guggemoos
(former President of SC Partenkirchen, editor's note)
and I deliver.
About what?
About everything, little things.
Lots of rubbish.
Sometimes we needed snow for the city biathlon.
We were standing at the ski jump over there, and Toni said to me: “The mountain is mine, you don't get the snow”.
I was the same, of course.
How ridiculous.
How do you get along today?
Absolutely fine.
In retrospect, we've all gotten smarter.
But I don't want to gloss over it.
Not everything turned out well.
I lost a friend through my ways too.
How did that happen?
I have always seen the interests of the association as the greatest asset and have brutally separated between private and professional life.
There were no favors for friends if that had been the worse solution for the ski club.
That's the damn right thing about me.
It pains me that a friendship has broken because of this business argument.
Would you decide differently today?
In general, today I would make some decisions more harmoniously, more personally, differently.
But with some things I can't quite get out of my skin.
I also say: Nobody can say anything to me with my correctness.
For example, in 24 years I haven't taken my wife to any professional events.
Lots of people look for the bad and they'll knock you off your feet.
You can say “I paid for that myself” 100 times - you always remain vulnerable.
Nobody can do anything to me.
My stubbornness certainly plays a role.
I am a stubborn dog.
I always have been.
After all, you can't be said to be stupid with old age.
(laughs) Nobody has accused me of that either.
Over the years, I've just heard over and over again or read in the media that I'm so aloof.
Is that not correct?
That is the impression that I convey to the outside world.
The man who has no feelings.
That is certainly not the case.
But only a few people know how often I react emotionally, sometimes crying.
And that's perfectly fine, it's none of the public's business.
I had to give the strong to the outside world, that was my role.
Are you going to cry on your last day?
No.
So i hope not.
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“She is such a brutally dear person”: Peter Fischer does not let the former skier Maria Höfl-Riesch come up against it.
© Peter Kornatz
What's next for you?
I am an unsteady person.
So certainly not the one who sits on the couch at home, who carries the shopping bag for the retired woman and just messes around the house.
Well, I'll do the latter, but at some point everything will be done.
And then?
My big plus point: Thank goodness I'm very healthy.
Medically and spiritually too.
Others need a calculating machine, I don't need one.
By the time you typed it in, I figured it out in my head.
I don't feel any signs of age yet (laughs).
But now we still don't know what to do with your fitness in retirement.
First of all, there is of course the big goal of bringing the 2027 World Cup to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
That would mean that our team and I would be the first to do this for the second time.
And then ... I'll think about that.
For example, I already looked for a house in Sweden.
Do you want to emigrate?
I love the country.
I wanted to buy the house to renovate and then go on vacation.
My son would be there right away.
And I would be very busy.
Mei, you just have nuts.
In any case, I need my rest at the right time - and at the same time I can't rest.
Let's see what I can think of.
Something for sure.
Are you afraid of all the free time?
No, then I should be afraid of myself.
Elections at SC Garmisch: who will be Fischer's successor?
An orderly handover was important to Peter Fischer - so that his life's work could continue successfully. To this end, he has put together a team with the existing board. 18 men and women, all with many years of experience in the World Cup and the Garmisch Ski Club, will stand for election. The World Cup Organizing Committee is also formed from this. Fischer does not name any names, but many are likely to continue. The exciting question is:
who will succeed him as honorary ski club chairman and president of the World Cup OC?
This will be answered on Thursday, July 8th. From 7 p.m. the members will meet in the Olympic Ice Sports Center, Hall 2, for a meeting with elections. The new board will then decide on the new full-time managing director of the OC.
Fritz Dopfer, former ski professional from SC Garmisch, is scheduled for the post.
He already worked at the last World Cup.
