Nobody knows what fate has in store for him.
Often it can only be endured with great inner strength.
Mathias Kritzel from Steinebach am Wörthsee has it.
Despite the serious illness of Parkinson's, the 69-year-old cycled around the Wörthsee every day as part of the city cycling, that is eleven kilometers.
Kritzel isn't someone who likes to be in the spotlight, at least not today. It was different in his youth. Kritzel was born in the Black Forest, but moved very often with his family and eventually studied art in Berlin. Then he concentrated on pantomime theater. With his partner at the time, he founded the Mimentheater Magma. The two conquered the stages. In 1983 this was worth a long article with numerous photos for Zeit magazine. Kritzel and his partner wear sky-blue full-body suits, white sneakers and bright red gloves, those from Kritzel are oversized. The faces are also covered by the blue fabric, only two white eyes with a small black pupil stick at eye level. It looks great, and if you look at the scribble, you recognize the young man in him,who jumped across the stage at the pantomime like a dervish. “I always moved a lot, our pantomime was extremely physical,” says Kritzel. "It was the most intense time of my life."
At the height of success, Kritzel and his partner broke up. He went to Hamburg and made his living as a soloist on the city's cabaret. "Then suddenly my hand started shaking," recalls Kritzel. He didn't think so much about it, but someone then asked him: "Do you have Parkinson's?". The diagnosis was devastating. Parkinson's is a disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms are slow movement, stiff muscles, tremors and unstable posture. There are therapeutic options and medication, but the disease is not curable.
Today Scribble's hands are trembling, the disease arches his back, he walks with difficulty. He was only 48 years old at the time of diagnosis. Soon, Kritzel could no longer perform. He moved to the south, near his daughter, worked for about twelve years at Naturkost Keimling in Gilching, until that was no longer possible either.
He no longer knows exactly how he got into cycling. “I had read a study that said cycling was good for people with Parkinson's,” he recalls. And he read about people who, despite their Parkinson's disease, crossed the Alps by bike. “That's what I wanted to do too.” Friends finally surprised him with a donation from a round table from Munich, which repeatedly collects for good causes. The regulars' table wanted to support Kritzel on a bike tour across the Alps - with equipment, bus and company. That was three years ago. And Kritzel actually made it from Füssen to Lake Garda in seven days with a borrowed bike. “That still touches me today. It was an incredible feeling when suddenly Lake Garda was in front of me. "
Before that, he had to train properly, and the passion for cycling remained. “When you're sick, many people feel resigned,” says Kritzel. Many could do more. "It is crucial to just try it, so that the memory of mobility is awakened". When Kritzel is on the bike, he no longer feels anything about his illness. “It gave me a mobility that I had long written off. But everyone has to find out for themselves, everyone has their own thing. ”It's not just about health. “It's also about the joy.” And the inner attitude. “It's a decision that can also be applied to other areas.” And what if he doesn't feel like it? “I'm not that strict with myself. But the knowledge that it feels good, even afterwardsthen drives me on again. "
As part of city cycling, Kritzel has now joined the open team and does his Wörthsee tour every day. He told his story to Starnberg Merkur for one reason only: "If only one person reads this and tries it out, something would be achieved."