Wolfratshausen: Brigitte Münzel is blind - but she still enjoys the glow of lights in Advent

Created: 12/24/2021, 8:00 PM

From: Doris Schmid

Homemade cookies and candlelight: Brigitte Münzel likes the pre-Christmas season.

© Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss

Brigitte Münzel, who lives in Wolfratshausen, is blind.

Nevertheless, the 72-year-old enjoys the glow of lights in Advent - even in her own apartment.

Wolfratshausen - For many, Advent is the most beautiful time of the year: Whether outside in the streets or in your own home, everything shines and glitters.

How does a blind person experience this very special atmosphere?

Brigitte Münzel tells our newspaper.

The 72-year-old Waldramer's apartment is decorated for Christmas.

There is a cookie plate and two candles on the dining table.

A few clementines are carefully arranged in front of it.

There is a small artificial Christmas tree on the sideboard next to the television.

Brigitte Münzel has switched on the chain of lights.

The lights cast shadows on the wall.

The twin sister can see

“I really like the pre-Christmas season,” says the native of Lower Franconia. She moved to Wolfratshausen four years ago in order to be closer to her daughter, who moved to Loisachstadt because of love. The elderly woman is not blind from birth. She suffers from a hereditary disease "that nobody else has in the family except me". The disease is called retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and describes a group of hereditary eye diseases that result in the destruction of the retina, the visual tissue at the back of the eye. Your (dizygoti) twin sister and the other three siblings were lucky: you can see them all.

When Brigitte Münzel was in the second grade, her parents noticed that something was wrong.

The letters were getting smaller and smaller, so the ophthalmologist fitted the girl with glasses.

“Then I saw even less,” recalls Münzel.

“Because the RP is in the middle and outside.” The frame of the glasses covered what the girl could still see.

She turns on the light for her dog

Up until 20, 25 years ago she still had a “good vision”. That is, she could still perceive a little bit of her surroundings. “I could still see the edge on the bike path,” Münzel gives an example. At some point that was no longer possible either. But, she says, “it's not quite dark with me yet, thank God”. When she enters a room with a window or door, “it's light, you can find your way around there”. You then have the feeling that the sun is shining. And how is it at home when it's dark outside? Will the light then be switched on? “Yes, I turn on the light,” says Münzel. “But not for me, but for my dog ​​Iwo.” The trained Labrador follows her every step, is an everyday helper and friend. "He shouldn't always be in the dark."

The elderly woman likes winter because it's not so warm outside.

“And I've always liked the run-up to Christmas.” She can't see the lights, the candles or the Christmas tree.

“But I know how it looked and that it's beautiful.” The 72-year-old loves walks with her four-legged friend across the fields.

“Inwardly, I'm happy when I come home and know it's warm and I can turn my lights on again.

It's so cozy. ”The 72-year-old also likes going to the Christmas market.

The mulled wine, the sausages, the music: she perceives all of this.

Münzel: “Some blind people say: I have none of it.

For me it's the opposite.

I can still imagine how nice that was. "

Helpful neighborhood

The senior citizen feels very much at home in her new home in Wolfratshausen.

Even if the move, the new apartment and the unfamiliar surroundings were a challenge.

She had to memorize everything anew and make friends with her new dog too.

“I was received very well here,” says Brigitte Münzel and smiles.

Whether in the supermarket or in the pharmacy - the Waldramers are very helpful.

"I would never leave again."

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