End of a “wonderful enrichment”: The Russian Honorary Consul in Nuremberg has thrown in the towel

Created: 03/09/2022, 15:11

By: Nikolas Pelke

The Russian honorary consul in Nuremberg, Nikolaus Wilhelm Knauf (middle), has resigned and resigned from his post.

Here he is in 2010 with Russian President Vladimir Putin (r.) and the then CEO of Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann.

© Robert Schlesinger/dpa

Nikolaus Wilhelm Knauf has given up his post as Russian Honorary Consul for Northern Bavaria.

Only the consulate is still deserted in Nuremberg.

Nuremberg – The proud door sign is still there, the Russian honorary consul is already gone.

The inscription “Honorary Consulate of the Russian Federation” is emblazoned in black letters on a bronze plaque.

Below is a bilingual reference to the opening times.

Since the outbreak of war in the Ukraine, however, the public has apparently stopped visiting the unadorned office building on Plärrer in Nuremberg.

The website and e-mail address of the former Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation, Nikolaus Wilhelm Knauf, have also not been working for days.

(By the way: Our Nuremberg newsletter regularly informs you about all the important stories from Middle Franconia and the Franconian metropolis. Register here.)

Ukraine crisis: Demonstrators have already gathered in front of the Russian consulate

As early as Friday, the 85-year-old senior boss and company patriarch of the gypsum manufacturer of the same name from Iphofen in the Lower Franconian district of Kitzingen is said to have given up the honorary position that had obviously become too sensitive due to the Ukraine invasion.

Shortly before the military escalation of the conflict between the former sister nations, around 50 demonstrators waved Ukrainian flags in solidarity in front of the Russian honorary consulate in Nuremberg and, according to media reports, protested peacefully against an impending war.

Entrance to the orphaned Russian honorary consulate of Nikolaus Wilhelm Knauf for northern Bavaria on the Plärrer in Nuremberg.

© Pelke

Knauf, now 85, was appointed Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in the consular district of Northern Bavaria in 1999.

The very first Russian honorary consulate in Germany was opened in Nuremberg.

"As an honorary consul and entrepreneur, I see the ever-growing economic and cultural ties between the Russian Federation and the Federal Republic of Germany as a unique opportunity and wonderful enrichment," said Knauf in 2007 to the association magazine of the Nuremberg Chamber of Industry and Commerce "WiM - Wirtschaft in Middle Franconia".

A year earlier, Knauf had personally received the “Order of Friendship” from Vladimir Putin for his contribution to the development of friendly relations between Russia and Germany.

The Russian honorary consul has done a lot for Russian-German relations

Meanwhile, a spokesman from the Nuremberg city hall announced that the city of Nuremberg was "in no way" entrusted with the Russian honorary consulate.

It is a matter between the respective countries and the people who are appointed honorary consuls.

"Therefore, no letter of resignation was sent to the city." The address of the Nuremberg honorary consulate is still officially listed on the website of the Russian embassy in Germany.

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Since taking office as honorary consul, Knauf has left numerous traces in Nuremberg.

Not only the "Dolphin Lagoon" in Nuremberg Zoo was built with plaster from Knauf.

The original of the famous Neptune fountain in St. Petersburg, which Nuremberg sold to the Russian tsar exactly 225 years ago, has also been brought back into shape with the help of the honorary consul.

A copy of the impressive water fountain, which Nuremberg had partially made from cannons at the end of the Thirty Years' War out of gratitude for the regained peace, can still be admired in Nuremberg's city park.

The Neptune Fountain in the Nuremberg City Park.

© Val Thoermer / Imago images

On the other hand, the Russian honorary consulate in the inconspicuous office building on the central Plärrer-Platz in the Franconian metropolis seems to belong to the past for the time being as a contact for Russian citizens in Franconia and as an intermediary for the northern Bavarian economy.