Allershausen's headmaster is retiring: "His children" will be missed, but not the school system

Created: 07/30/2022, 2:00 p.m

By: Andrea Beschorner

For more than 40 years as a teacher, Georg Riedel has always felt most comfortable in the midst of “his children”.

Now he is retiring.

© Hans Katzenbogner

After 22 years at the head of the Allershausen school, Georg Riedel is retiring.

This step is not difficult for him.

The reason: “The fragile school system”.

Allershausen

– When Georg Riedel talks about his time at the Allershausen school, he does so with respect, gratitude and appreciation.

He calls his students “my children”, the teachers and all those responsible in the background are “my family” in his stories.

It sounds as if the 65-year-old would find it extremely difficult to say goodbye to retirement after 22 years at the head of the school.

So it's a little surprising when he says in a tone of conviction: "I'm so happy when I'm gone." He is tired and "I finally want to give up this burden." Today's Saturday is the first day for more than 40 years in Georg Riedel's life, which will not be followed by the next school day.

"And that's a good thing - everything has its time."

In an interview with the FT, Georg Riedel reviews his professional life, especially the time in Allershausen.

And one thing quickly becomes clear: it's not the students who are the reason he's tired.

Not the teaching staff, nor the parents, who, he says, "usually show a quiet form of appreciation for the school."

What has burdened Riedel more and more in recent years “even before Corona but since then massively”: “the fragile school system”.

What is being thrust upon the heads of schools and teachers is madness.

Last year he felt "like the donkey of the Ministry of Education".

Headmasters and teachers are the pack donkeys of the Ministry of Education

Allershausen's outgoing headmaster Georg Riedel

The compensation for all the burden of responsibility over the years has been the children, “the ones who are supposed to be the primary concern here”.

And Riedel always came first.

"We have a colorful mix here, of course there are a few bullies - but also many who made my life easy." And so Riedel looks back on his time as a teacher in a way that he also does in everyday teaching has always shown: calm, without losing the balance between mildness and severity.

Georg Riedel always wanted to be a teacher - "teacher and more".

And that's what he achieved.

But many years have passed since this career aspiration, a lot has changed - and "unfortunately not only for the better".

Would he, with all his knowledge, make the same decision again today?

"I would think about doing something else," he says.

Either something manual or in agriculture and forestry.

But when he thinks of his teaching staff, some of whom have been by his side for decades and have always supported him in everything, he finally comes to the conclusion that he has done everything right: "I have no regrets!"

At eye level with the children and young people

In the speech to his final classes, the educator emphasized how important values ​​are.

He didn't just pass this on to "his children" on the last day at the Allershausen school, but always tried to convey it to them.

The important thing here is that the same values ​​apply to him as to the students – from reliability and punctuality to politeness.

And perhaps that is precisely the reason why Riedel was not only showered with presents at the big surprise farewell party last Wednesday by the girls and boys of the elementary and middle school and why small farewell gifts were repeatedly given to him in the office until the last day of school were: Riedel has always acted on an equal footing with the children.

also read

Allershausener Dachdecker solves a major problem faced by many homeowners with an award-winning invention

BR bike tour stops in Freising - a famous rock band also comes to the open air

“I have no regrets!” says the teacher.

Even if the school system could be improved a lot.

© Hans Katzenbogner

And what will the 65-year-old miss if he can sleep in next Monday instead of going to school in the first week of vacation like in the decades before?

"My children and my staff," says Riedel and then becomes a little wistful.

"It's been a good time."

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)

Although his retirement has not been planned with military precision, as he says, there are no new hobbies.

But some "old ones" to which he now wants to devote himself more.

Because: "I'm not retiring to put my feet up." The daughter is already out of the house.

But work in the house and garden, time for his Icelandic horses and the instruments that Georg Riedel plays - from the accordion to the piano - will keep him busy in the future.

And since his wife, who is also a teacher, will be working for a few more years, there are plans to do more of the household chores for her.

Georg Riedel goes, Thomas Nistler comes

On the first day of the new school year, Thomas Nistler, previously the head of the primary and middle school in Eching, takes over the school in Allershausen.

"I wish him always a happy hand, good nerves and a thick skin." His has become thin over the past few years.

And so now is the right time to say goodbye.

You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.