Walter Hipper is now officially an honorary citizen of Buch

Created: 07/30/2022, 18:00

By: Henry Dinger

Walter Hipper and his wife Irene signed the golden book of the municipality of Buch after Mayor Ferdinand Geisberger (l.) presented him with the certificate of honorary citizenship.

© Henry Dinger

For his great commitment to the horticultural association and the town's chronicle, Walter Hipper has now been made an honorary citizen of Buch am Buchrain.

Buch am Buchrain

- "Now we come to the best part," announced local boss Ferdinand Geisberger at the town hall meeting on Thursday evening.

Walter Hipper, who was made an honorary citizen by the municipal council in March, should now receive the honor officially.

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

"When I name his services and activities, you need a little patience while listening," said Geisberger with a wink.

Hipper's main commitment was to the Buch-Reithofen association for horticulture and village beautification, which he has been a member of since 1974 and which he took over from his father August as chairman in 1990.

He remained at the top for 29 years and has not only achieved a lot during this time, but also qualified himself to be able to contribute his knowledge.

For example, Hipper had completed a course as a gardener at the state institute for viticulture and horticulture in Veitshöchheim.

This was followed by further courses in Weihenstephan, as a result of which he developed into a specialist in determining the variety of apples.

To this day, his wealth of experience is in demand.

It was also important to him that his colleagues in the club continue their education and specialize - in fruit growing as well as in tree pruning or childcare.

Exhibitions in the community hall became the flagship of the association.

But the fact that club representatives were present at the Federal Garden Show in Munich, for example, can also be attributed to the native of Bucher.

He also used this in the Erding district association for horticulture and land conservation, which he chaired for eight years from 1999.

In addition, the history of the place is Hipper's great passion.

Since 1998 he has made it his task to create the chronicle, which was completed for the 1200th anniversary in 2008.

"With incredible zeal and commitment, he and co-authors created a 423-page chronicle, with 250 pages coming from himself," says Geisberger.

He gathered the material from libraries and archives.

The local chief presented Hipper with the certificate of honorary citizenship, and there were flowers for his wife Irene, who always supported him.

Both of them then signed the community's golden book.

Hipper thanked "for the highest award that can be given by the community".

Apart from him there would have been only two other honorary citizens in the history of the place.

But he also made it clear that the chronicle would not have come into being without his father's collection of material and without the good work of other authors.

Even the successes of the gardening association are not the work of an individual.

"There should be a large number of names on the certificate," said the 82-year-old.