After almost 40 years at the Tölzer Kurier, editor Christoph Schnitzer had his last working day on Friday.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen
– Christoph Schnitzer is part of the inventory at the Tölzer Kurier.
The 59-year-old has experienced five editor-in-chiefs in the past four decades.
Straightforwardness, argumentativeness, but also a great readership and an equal interest in the people in the Isarwinkel and their stories characterize Schnitzer.
Friday was Tölzer's last working day in the editorial office.
When retirement at 67 was introduced, I thought we were safe for a few more years. Now you're leaving at 59. Why are you quitting?
This November it's 40 years since I came in here.
That's enough.
I have many other interests and areas in which I would like to get involved.
Very important concepts for me are freedom and independence.
And there has to be a bit of risk too.
But it's not the end of the work.
Let's get straight to the point before too many Tölz local politicians breathe a sigh of relief: You will remain with us as a freelancer and will continue to accompany the Tölz city council.
Yes, we're not parting because of stress.
I'm still interested in the city council.
At work, however, I make a distinction between compulsory and voluntary work.
Now it's time for the freestyle, and for me that's – still – the city council.
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Christoph Schnitzer at his typewriter almost 40 years ago.
© Archive
When you're not taking care of local politics in Tölz, what are you going to do from February 1st?
Oh, I already have requests for lectures that I want to do.
And I'm starting my next volume of Rare Photos, Forgotten Stories.
I also have a whole bunch of ideas in my head.
And if I don't have anything to do, I go to the mountain or I take care of my other hobbies like playing the piano, poetry, travelling, Spanish.
And of course there is the best wife of all, with whom I would also like to do something.
She's calm about your retirement, isn't she?
Clear.
Pappa ante portas (laughs).
Christoph Schnitzer was with the Tölzer Kurier for almost 40 years
How did you actually end up at the Tölzer Kurier?
I think there was a connection because my mother was the chair of the Lebenshilfe and brought Kurier editor-in-chief Gregor Dorfmeister on board.
Also, when I was a student, I had to write an obituary.
That was a suicide, so it was a very difficult thing.
But I think I managed that quite well.
I knew then that somehow I could do it.
At some point I asked Gregor Dorfmeister - and that's how it all developed.
Do you see Gregor Dorfmeister as your great sponsor?
Of course, but he wasn't the only one.
When I spent a year in Colombia, Bernd Kötting, head of the external departments at the time, kept my position vacant for me.
He said: We get something out of it.
Someone comes back who has seen something of the world.
And the later editor-in-chief Joachim Braun taught me that the stories are on the street, but you have to pick them up.
You just have to stay curious.
Could you have imagined something else as a job?
I am the born archive mouse.
I like archiving for my life.
Everything needs its place.
I'm still looking for the perfect system.
But have you never regretted your career choice?
No.
Maybe I regretted never trying the leap up.
I made good money.
That's why I didn't finish my degree in history.
But on the whole, the good Lord meant well with me.
You're quite a quarrelsome person.
Yes, and I absolutely stand by that.
I can't get used to this idea of harmony, which is also often propagated in politics.
Democracy is not about striving for harmony.
The purpose is to argue in the service of the cause.
This is usually very fruitful.
You don't have to break your skull.
Of course you're offending with that. Does not it bother you?
Not at all.
I care about attitude.
If I make mistakes – and of course I made them – then I can own up to them.
Incidentally, I can do relatively little with Hajo-Friedrich's saying that one should never make common cause with something.
Because only when you get involved with something can you develop fire for it and fight for it.
You have to be moved by something, you have to be curious – then something happens.
My best texts were definitely comments, when I was convinced of something.
Are there any stories you were wrong about that you would have done differently in hindsight?
For sure.
But if you lean out the window, sometimes you just fall out.
Which stories were milestones for you?
where she always exchanged ideas with her agents – that was incredible.
The story made the Bild newspaper want to poach me.
That was a kind of accolade.
Have you considered the switch?
Not seriously.
At the time, our publisher said: "That's not for you." But he didn't pay any more.
How has our job description changed in four decades?
We've gotten a lot faster.
This is at the expense of depth.
Besides, I can't do that anymore.
What would you wish for us?
More time for you or more employees.
Good journalism can only develop if you have the time to research in vain and give up a story if it is cheese.
Back to the beginning: mountains are one of your passions. Which tour is next?
The next one is a small one because of the snow.
But I plan to tackle higher things in the Karwendel this year.
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