His life was marked by civil courage and commitment to the village: Friedl Kunstwald, holder of the badge in gold of the Reichersbeuern municipality, has now died at the age of 90.
Reichersbeuern
- The encounter on that Sunday in the summer of 1986 with Friedl Kunstwald and Zwi Katz, a survivor of the death march from the Dachau concentration camp, was impressive and unforgettable at the same time.
At home with Friedl Kunstwald, the two men remembered an encounter in their youth that they have never forgotten.
This story shows the moral courage of the Reichersbeurer from an early age.
Kunstwald has now died at the age of 90.
The encounter with the Holocaust survivor Zwi Katz shaped Friedl Kunstwald
Kunstwald's meeting with Zwi Katz had a lasting impact on the then 14-year-old and strengthened his character. The story of Zwi Katz's suffering, which appeared in four parts in the Tölzer Kurier in April 1987 and later also in book form, is known to many. In the summer of 1986, Kunstwald also described a personal experience. "When the battered, starving prisoners moved through Reichersbeuern on May 2, 1945, I was 14 years old," he said. Hitler Youth, like so many others. He had stepped outside the door when one of the passing prisoners pressed an old accordion into his hand. "Give bread," he begged. Friedl Kunstwald stepped back into the house. The mother gave him a loaf of bread that had just been baked. Friedl passed it to the prisoner. "Boy brought bread",he called to his fellow sufferers and pushed Friedl back towards the house. "Run boy! You at home, ”he called out to the 14-year-old because the SS henchmen were already aware of the incident.
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Friedl Kunstwald
© private
The old, actually worthless accordion survived in the attic.
"It will still be picked up", Kunstwald was certain.
And indeed in 1995 a Rabbi Gibraltar, who had come to the inauguration of the memorial and had heard the story from Zwi Katz, asked about the musical instrument.
The circle had come full.
24 years on the local council: "Don't let me bend"
Friedl Kunstwald entered the local council in 1966 as one of the “boys” who wanted to change something. For the Free Voting Association Reichersbeuern, for which he was primarily responsible. In the 24 years that he was a member of the local council, the independence of the community was preserved, the water supply expanded, the canal and the fire station built, the school expanded and the gym planned - to name just a few points. When he left in 1990, he was awarded the first ever gold badge of honor by the community of Reichersbeuern for his services. “I will not let myself be bent and I want to make my decisions freely and without being compelled by parliamentary groups,” he once said.
Kunstwald was born in Bad Tölz in 1930.
He spent his childhood in his home village Reichersbeuern, where his parents took over the grocery and general store after the war.
He attended the village school and completed an apprenticeship at the local Raiffeisen bank after finishing school.
In addition, he also had to help in the family business.
Freya and Friedl Kunstwald planted 12,000 trees
He met the woman of his life in 1960 in the ice rink in Landshut, where he had accompanied the young ice hockey students from Reichersbeur at the Bavarian Artificial Ice Championship as a supervisor. "You bastard. You're making a hole in the ice for me, he grumbled when I scratched the artificial ice with my shoes during the break, ”his wife Freya remembers the first encounter. Despite the harsh reprimand, "lightning had struck". A year later they got married. The next few years were marked by changes. The couple took over their parents' business, which Freya Kunstwald ran alone a short time later.
Kunstwald took over the regional representation of the food cooperative Edeka and later worked as an employee in the legal department of the Linde company.
“We have always been a team and have supported each other in our interests,” explains Freya.
They enlarged the commercial building, gave birth to two girls and in between planted 12,000 trees on their forest property.
Friedl Kunstwald led SC Reichersbeuern for 28 years
For Friedl Kunstwald, forest work was work and relaxation at the same time.
The garden behind the house was his retreat, his green paradise, right up to the end.
Numerous children and adults from Reichersbeur learned to swim in the small swimming pool integrated in it.
Kunstwald was well connected in the village.
He led the main club of SC Reichersbeuern for 28 years and was made an honorary member of the board.
“I paid for the registration of the football division with the Bavarian Football Association out of my own pocket.
Money was there, ”he said once at an anniversary.
The members of the local Raiffeisen bank elected him to the supervisory board, of which he was a member for 25 years, including many years as chairman.
He was a valued member of the mountain riflemen and the local costume club.
Traveled a lot in retirement, visited friends and cycled
In 1996 the couple retired.
He made many trips around the world, visited friends, and Friedl Kunstwald, who used to enjoy mountain tours, switched to cycling or retired with a good book.
Two years ago his health deteriorated.
His wish, expressed six months ago, to be able to rest regularly in his beloved garden, was no longer fulfilled.
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By Günter Platschek