Hubert Hierl died at the age of 77.
The death of the Freising figurehead caused great sadness and consternation.
Freising
- His heart beat for art and culture, for Bavaria and for "his" CSU.
Without a doubt, he was what one calls a dignitary: Hubert Hierl.
Now his heart has stopped beating: he died on Tuesday at the age of 77.
The grief is great, and not only among friends, companions and in the CSU family, but also with everyone who knew Hubert Hierl.
Hierl, undoubtedly the grand seigneur of the Freising CSU, leaves a large gap - politically, but above all humanly.
His companions describe him as a fine and sensitive person, as someone who was careful and always concerned about balance.
And even if Hubert Hierl was Bayer through and through, he always saw himself as a European, a citizen of the world.
Hierl has also shaped a whole generation of Freising CSU politicians who are now in high offices and bear responsibility, who see themselves as Hierl's “pupils” and who are proud of it.
Hierl's rise began in the 1970s
On the birth of Mary, on September 8th of the war year 1944, Hubert Hierl saw the light of day in Oberweiling in Upper Palatinate.
The son of a farmer achieves his higher education entrance qualification on the second educational path after the classic village elementary school at home, after the vocational school and after his agricultural training.
Then Hierl moved to Freising, where he began studying agriculture in Freising-Weihenstephan in 1968.
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Ambassador of Bavaria: Hubert Hierl's (r.) Political rise began in the 1970s.
© Lehmann
The rise of Hubert Hierl begins in 1974: he worked at the Office for Agriculture in Moosburg until 1980 and then at the Ministry of Agriculture, whereupon he was appointed Agriculture Officer and State Representative at the Bavarian State Chancellery for the next eight years. Finally, the step beyond Bavaria follows: In 1988 Hubert Hierl was entrusted with the task of setting up the then new Brussels information office of the Free State of Bavaria, i.e. the current Bavarian representation to the European Union. Hierl worked in Brussels until 1994, then became head of the Federal Council department in the Bavarian representation in Bonn and later in Berlin in the splendid Palais on Behrenstrasse. In 2009 Hierl will retire as a ministerial director.
(By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
Professionally, Hubert Hierl is always connected to the Free State and thus also to the CSU - the CSU to which he has always remained loyal over all the decades and even in difficult times: a figurehead above all of the Freising CSU.
In 1968 Hierl joined the Junge Union and also became its chairman.
From 1978 to 1988, i.e. until he moved to Brussels, Hierl sat for the CSU in the district council.
In 1996, when the Christian Socials in Freising had a difficult time, Hierl took over the chairmanship of the local association and led it back to calm waters.
In 2002 Hubert Hierl became active again in local politics and was elected to the Freising City Council.
In 2008 he moved into the city council again, then became a consultant for culture and tourism.
In 2014 he will take over the office of cultural advisor until 2020.
In 2020 the Freising will elect him to the city parliament for the fourth time.
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Hubert Hierl had a sense of humor.
© Forster
Hierl's services to culture in Freising cannot be valued highly enough: They range from accompanying the musical summer to promoting and advocating for all cultural events and cultural associations.
Hierl is one of the driving forces behind the restoration of the historic Renaissance bells in the Mariendom.
And private?
Hierl was a passionate, good cook, an equally passionate sheep-head player, one who also maintained excellent contacts with church circles.
And mostly classical music was playing in his apartment on Holzgartenstrasse.
It is quiet there now.
Hubert Hierl is dead.
Companions reacted in dismay
The death of Hubert Hierl caused consternation in Freising.
Companions remember a man who was humorous and at the same time sensitive.
My grief is deep and heartfelt.
Member of the Bundestag Erich Irlstorfer
He was "the ambassador of Bavaria par excellence", says Minister of State Florian Herrmann about Hubert Hierl.
Herrmann remembers well that he and Erich Irlstorfer received a lot of support from Hierl in the 1990s, “by letting us do a lot”.
A deep friendship has developed over the years, and Hierl's death makes him deeply sad.
"He will be missed very much," said Herrmann.
Because wherever Hubert Hierl has been, he has left “big footprints” - whether professionally or privately, in Brussels or Berlin, as head of the Bavarian representation or as a city councilor.
"Hubert was able to work with people"
"Art-minded and subtle" is how one could describe Hierl, says Herrmann, but it is also uncomplicated and humorous. And there is something else that Hierl made up for: thinking outside the box. For example, it was Hierl who initiated the friendship between the CSU district association Freising and the CDU district association Marzahn-Hellersdorf, bringing it together as West and East in the Bavarian representation, so to speak. In Hierl, according to Herrmann, he has lost a “very special person” and a “formative mentor”.
“He brought people together.” That is what Erich Irlstorfer first thinks of when he thinks of Hierl. And: "Hubert was able to work with people." The CSU member of the Bundestag is one of those who were sponsored by Hierl. He and Herrmann, “the young wild ones” in the 1990s, were introduced to politics by Hierl: “He gave us our freedom, but he could also be strict,” remembers Irlstorfer. “Hubert” had “an uncanny feeling for people”. He has always been able to put himself in the position of a political competitor across party lines in order to then work on a common solution. Preserving traditions, but at the same time being open to the world and new things - that was the hallmark of the man from whom he learned a lot.
Lord Mayor loses "loyal companion and friend"
"My grief is deep and heartfelt," says Irlstorfer.
During the election campaign, Hierl was at the information booth - the last time he saw him.
And the last thing Hierl told him was a joke.
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Good contacts to the town hall and the church: Hubert Hierl (center) with Cardinal Marx and Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher.
© Lehmann
Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher completes the picture of a man who has guided an entire generation of politicians in Freising and enabled them to take on larger tasks.
No one shaped him so strongly in his political career, remembers Eschenbacher, who was in charge of the JU when Hierl was CSU local chairman.
Hierl had always encouraged “us youngsters”, he had dealt with him constructively, and was also able to argue from time to time, but they were always on friendly terms.
Hierl was "an incredibly sensitive person".
One whom he valued as a “loyal companion”.
It was especially nice to “go on a journey” with Hierl.
He loses a friend, that makes him “deeply sad”.
Many cultural workers are shocked
Eschenbacher's predecessor, former Mayor Dieter Thalhammer, speaks of “one of the most committed city councilors” he has seen. Hierl always worked actively, was someone who not only talked, but also acted. Especially as a cultural advisor, Hierl did an excellent job. Admittedly: In some relationships Hubert Hierl was also a difficult personality, one had sometimes "hooked", but that was quickly off the table. Thalhammer remembers that Hierl was "generous". Certainly not with Schafkopf, he played too well for that. The former mayor also thinks of the very good contacts that Hierl had with the church, including Pope Benedict XVI.
In the social networks, the voices that honor Hierl are numerous.
Above all, cultural workers are shocked by his death.
In an obituary, for example, the chairwoman of the Laienbühne Freising, Angela Flohr, speaks of a man who has always had an open ear for the concerns of the association, which was closely connected to the group.
From this the friendship with a "deeply warm and humorous person arose, who loved and helped shape the culture in the cathedral city above all else."