A Life for the Church

Created: 07/05/2022 11:06 am

By: Peter Schiebel

Better beer than sparkling wine: Mesner Hans Raphael (middle) with well-wishers, (from left) parish priest Dr.

Andreas Jall, the chairman of the parish council Andreas Schubert, church orderly Dr.

Richard Leopold and his Tutzing colleague Rudi Strunz.

© Andrea Jaksch

40 years with the same employer: Hans Raphael can look back on this proud anniversary.

And that in a rather rare job: the 59-year-old is a full-time sacristan at the Catholic parish of St. Maria in Starnberg.

There was a celebration on Saturday.

Starnberg

– they still exist, the genuine Starnbergers.

Born, raised and rooted in the city.

Never away from home longer than for a trip.

Hans Raphael belongs to this human species.

"I am very happy and very proud that I have this continuity in the center of my life," says the 59-year-old.

His parents' apartment on Hauptstrasse, where he grew up with four siblings, kindergarten in Hirschanger, then Schlossbergschule, grammar school - okay, he ended it early for his apprenticeship as a car mechanic at the Walter car dealership in Pöcking.

And since then, since July 1, 1982, and thus for 40 years: Sacrament of St. Mary, Help of Christians.

His parents were very religious, and even as a child he felt very comfortable in the church, says Hans Raphael in an interview with Starnberger Merkur.

“I think the Christian community is great to this day,” he says.

Of course Raphael was an altar boy in Starnberg.

He was a youth leader and boy scout, was involved in the young Catholic community and the Kolping family.

"St.

Joseph was thirty meters away, St. Maria was thirty meters away, and right in the middle the Schlossberg was our playground.” So “a church job” was something he could very well imagine.

And yet he had to think about it, at least for a short time, when the sacristan position became vacant when Andreas Ziegler left.

Because at the same time Raphael could have started in the music corps of the Bundeswehr.

Even as a young man he played the tuba with enthusiasm and skill, and was a member of the Munich Bläserbuben.

The decision finally fell in favor of the church.

"But music has remained my passion," says Hans Raphael.

So now Mesner, and that as one of the very few in the area full-time.

Church orderlies Dr.

Richard Leopold and parish council chairman Andreas Schubert in the Saturday evening service to celebrate the anniversary.

According to Schubert, Raphael worried about all the churches in the parish "from the basement to the top of the church tower".

He organizes the religious service processes, for the weekday mass as well as for the festive church service with the bishop.

He is responsible for the decoration of the church.

And he is the central reference person for the regularly between 80 and 100 altar boys.

Then there is the music – from the legendary mini band to the Starnberg brass band, which still exists today.

“Of course you don't just become a sacristan.

You need someone with organizational talent, commitment, a flair for a lot of things, actually you have to be called to do it," said Leopold.

Hans Raphael was not lacking in this calling from the very first moment.

When he took up the position of sacristan, Konrad Schreyegg was still a pastor in Starnberg.

He had "a great relationship of trust" with him, says Raphael.

It was wonderful to be able to belong to a church community that was on the move.

Schreyegg was able to inspire people to believe.

"He was never slowing down, but always motivating." It was "an incredible phase" for many years.

From the very beginning he particularly enjoyed working with the altar boys.

Accompanying them and experiencing them, organizing campaigns and excursions, registering the first mini-teams with the rural circuit or playing football tournaments – all of this is always a lot of fun, he says.

He was very pleased that many former altar boys came on Saturday, says Raphael.

He also supports the carol singers, currently about 70 per year.

Whereby Hans Raphael emphasizes in his modesty: “I don't do it alone.

It only works if a lot of people participate.”

It pains him that the Church, especially the Catholic Church, is currently in a difficult position.

He is extremely annoyed by the "black sheep" who are guilty of abuse, says Hans Raphael.

"So much shit has happened that's coming up now." Still, of course, not everything is bad about the church.

"The youth work and the music, anchored in a lively community, that has given me the most joy over the years and decades." A few more years come for Hans Raphael - in his parish in his Starnberg.