Ring of honor of the district for "Bavaria's most beautiful man"

Created: 07/04/2022, 08:00

By: Sebastian Tauchnitz

Distinguished personalities were honored as part of the district anniversary celebrations.

At the Rheuma-Liga receives the social award, Fritz Raab is officially dismissed © EMANUEL GRONAU

Very rarely does the pandemic also have its good sides: Because various award ceremonies had to be canceled due to the Corona rules, they have now been made up for in a truly extraordinary setting - at the official celebrations for the district anniversary in Raisting.

District

– Many nice things were said about Max Bertl in this context.

But the district administrator Andrea Jochner-Weiss put the crown on the whole thing: “For me, Bertl Max is the most beautiful man in Bavaria.

It's always nice," she admitted in front of the 160 or so invited guests.

The laughter was great and the applause greater.

But there was plenty of reason for applause anyway when Max Bertl received a very rare award – the ring of honor from the Weilheim-Schongau district.

The district administrator confirmed that this honor was well deserved.

He is someone who has been involved in the district with great commitment for a very, very long time.

"You've set the bar pretty high - whether in regional politics or in the care of customs." He never asked what he got for it, but just got started: "That's how voluntary work is defined." Bertl Max, he's someone who just tackle it, whether as a master carpenter in Wildsteig, as a local politician or as a traditional costumer.

"Pass on the fire, not the ashes"

His motto has always been: "Pass on the fire, not the ashes." And he has always heeded that since he joined the "Alpengruß" traditional costume club in Wildsteig in 1964 at the age of 18, which he took over as director in 1986.

There were also other honorary posts – with the district board of Oberer Lechgau, from 2002 as the second, since 2011 as the first state chairman of the Bavarian Trachtler.

"You have to imagine that - Bavaria's top costumer comes from our district," the district administrator continued in her laudatory speech.

But she also addressed the immense support that Annemarie Bertl always gave her husband Max.

"I have admiration and respect for that!" said the district administrator.

The so praised and honored was speechless for a long time before he finally went to the microphone with his subtle joke.

Referring to the reason for the event - the celebrations for the district anniversary - he confessed: "At the time I didn't understand why the districts had to be merged." Nevertheless, today he is happy that he "may be here today".

Even if the journey to Raisting was half a trip around the world - 48 kilometers, he looked at the speedometer.

But the district certainly has its appeal, if you look at the variety of dialects, for example: "Thank God we don't have a mishmash here," he said in his acceptance speech.

District social award goes to the Rheumatism League

The district administrator also had a lot to say about the winners of the social award: the Rheumatism League.

District Administrator Andrea Jochner-Weiss reported in her laudatory speech that the working group had been proposed several times as an award winner in the past year.

The Rheumatism League is a self-help community and has over 300,000 members nationwide.

The Weilheim-Schongau working group has been committed to helping people with rheumatism since May 2006 and currently looks after around 300 members in the district.

“For many of those affected, you are an important anchor, an important contact point.

As a so-called first aider, advisor and for exchange, you will be sought out by people - and you will not let them down.

With outstanding commitment, in an unprecedented human way and with great social skills, you stand up for the members,” praised the district administrator.

The district's top secret: Fritz Raab's legendary job application hairstyle

Representing the members, Gilian Susan Pal and Christine Perzul accepted the award and the check for 3,000 euros.

"Thank you, we desperately need the money," said Pal in her short acceptance speech, in which she emphasized that the successful work is only possible because the members self-sacrificingly volunteer.

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The series of awards and honors did not end there.

In this festive setting, Fritz Raab, long-time head of Erbenschwanger Recycling and Waste Disposal GmbH (EVA), was also officially dismissed.

Unfortunately, for data protection reasons, the application photo that Raab sent to the district office in 1976 could not be shown.

Back then, it was joked in the hall, that he had a much better hairstyle than he has today.

Long hair or not - Raab remained loyal to his employer for 45 years.

First in various positions in the district office, since its foundation in 1992 in a responsible position at the EVA.

In 2003 he took over the post of managing director and, as the district administrator emphasized, is largely responsible for “that the topic of waste management today does not just mean waste disposal as it once did.

But recycling of valuable resources while generating energy at the same time and protecting the environment and climate.”

“We got a lot of beatings, but we were right”

Raab admitted in his acceptance speech, "I've never been as nervous as I am today".

He is pleased that many employees of the district office can be there, with whom he has worked for decades.

And also political companions such as former District Administrator Manfred Blaschke and the former Penzberg Mayor Hans Mummert.

"We got a lot of beatings for the decisions we made in the early 1990s." But today you can see that the decisions made back then were correct.

But now his tasks have changed, Raab said in his usual humor: "I'll try to stay healthy and do my homework at home – the program hasn't just gotten smaller."