Klaus-Walter Scheerke ran the Rottacher Hotel Bachmair am See in its most glamorous times.
He has now died at the age of 79.
Rottach-Egern
- Klaus-Walter Scheerke knew how to win people over.
How to enchant guests so that they come from all over the world and keep coming back.
Scheerke was the hotel director of the Bachmair am See in its golden days.
Together with the owner Karl Rauh, the visionary, he created a grand hotel whose reputation made Rottach-Egern and the entire Tegernsee valley great.
For three decades, from the late 1960s to the late 1990s, Scheerke put all his energy into the hotel. He has never left the Tegernsee valley and most recently lived in Bad Wiessee. Scheerke has now died at the age of 79. His son Christian (42) was with him to the end. “My father was a wonderful person,” he says. A sensitive man who always hit the right note with guests and employees. A gentleman with an “incredible gift for dealing with people”, his son recalls. Scheerke was born with the profession. His father owned the Hotel Karlshof in Wiesbaden. Young Klaus didn't last long there. At the age of 16 or 18, reports Christian Scheerke, his father set off for Canada with a one-way ticket. In Montreal he was hired by the Holiday Inn.Later he moved to Berlin, where he became one of the youngest HR managers in Germany at Kempinski.
Guests from all over the world celebrated at the Bachmair
A good friend advised Scheerke, who until then had mainly been familiar with the corporate hotel industry, to take up a position as an assistant manager at the private hotel Bachmair am See.
Scheerke met his Christl there.
She was a confidante of the owner Karin Rauh-Bachmair, who grew up in Reichersbeuern.
After the wedding, the two worked as the director couple, later Christl Scheerke became head housekeeper.
She died in 2016.
The hotel was also the second home for son Christian, who is now the managing director of Käfer Service.
He knows about the “crazy times” when stars like Tina Turner, Harry Belafonte, Harald Juhnke and Udo Jürgens celebrated in the night club, political greats dined in the Bachmair and glamorous New Year's Eve galas attracted guests from all over the world.
The bustling Karl Rauh - he died in 2015 - continued to expand his empire.
New houses were added, and a Bachmair branch was even established in Canada.
Luxury boutiques settled near the Rottacher Hotel, which could rely on the buying mood of wealthy Bachmair customers.
The Alpina house was bought especially for the FC Bayern players who regularly came to the training camp, reports Christian Scheerke.
Klaus Scheerke found the strength to run the glamorous hotel from nature.
He was passionate about hunting, was often out on the farm with the farmer in the Au, and cultivated many friendships in hunting circles, which included his wife's family.
The decline hurt
The golden times of the Bachmair am See did not last.
Karl Rauh fell ill and there was no longer any agreement on the course.
The downfall of the Bachmair "tore his father's heart out," says Christian Scheerke.
Klaus Scheerke left his post and was still working as a consultant in the industry.
The contact with Karin Rauh-Bachmair never broke off.
She mourns him as "part of the hotel's history" and a loyal friend of the family.
The funeral service will take place on Thursday, September 30th, at 11 a.m. in the Catholic Church of St.Laurentius in Rottach-Egern.
He is buried in the closest family circle in Reichersbeuern.
The hotel has now been taken over by the Hirmer Group, which is planning something new.