Brucker hostesses received Olympic tourists in the town hall - curious encounters

Created: 06/08/2022, 16:00

By: Ingrid Zeilinger

At a simple wooden information stand in the town hall: (from left) tourism officer Gerda Klarner (left), mother Emma and the hostesses Ginette Schmidt, Helga Felbermeier and Heide Zech.

© W. PULFER

The 1972 Olympic Games in Munich were a highlight for the people in the district.

Some were there up close – in various functions.

At that time, Gerda Klarner-Breu was the tourism officer in the city of Bruck.

She experienced the strangest stories at the information stand.

Fürstenfeldbruck

– The games were in Munich, but many people stayed overnight in Fürstenfeldbruck.

There was a contact point in Bruck for them and also for the locals: an information stand in the foyer of the town hall - the predecessor of today's savings bank building.

Gerda Klarner-Breu initiated this.

Bruck decorated with colorful flags

Gerda Klarner-Breu can still remember the 1972 Olympic Games well.

At that time she was the tourism officer for the city of Fürstenfeldbruck.

© imu

She had only been elected to the city council for the SPD in July 1972 and the Olympic Games were her first major task.

And she started with a lot of enthusiasm.

"It was really great, I enjoyed organizing it." The city was decorated with flags from the city, Free State, federal government, the twin city of Livry-Gargan and the Olympics, remembers Gerda Klarner-Breu.

The festive lighting hung, stands at the station and at prominent points pointed out the information possibilities in the town hall.

Information stand simply built from formwork boards

The rustic stand was built from formwork boards by building yard employees.

"It couldn't cost much," recalls the now 82-year-old.

On the shelves were city guides, timetables, postcards, and prospectuses of tourist destinations.

Klarner-Breu looked for three hostesses through the newspaper: She decided on Ginette Schmidt, Heide Zech and Helga Felbermeier.

“I dressed them up.” The women wore light blue skirts, white blouses and a light blue bow tie as a tie in the colors of the Olympic Games.

The then 32-year-old did not equip herself.

She was wearing a light blue pants suit.

Gerda Klarner-Breu got hold of 600 entry tickets for the competitions through relationships with the head of the international youth camp of the railway workers' union.

On the day of sale, the Bruckers were lined up from 6.30 a.m.

"The tickets were gone right away," the 82-year-old recalls.

But she couldn't find any more.

She herself was never at the competitions.

"I could have had tickets for rowing, but I didn't have time."

Because the information stand in the town hall foyer was always well attended.

The hostess trio looked after 40 to 50 tourists in the morning and afternoon.

"It was a success and there was a huge crowd," Klarner-Breu remembers.

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And one or the other strange encounter was also there: Before the start of the games, a man aged between 60 and 80 in a tracksuit and with plaques and medals around his neck came on foot from the Black Forest and asked for a room.

He wanted to continue to Munich and was absolutely convinced that the Olympic Committee would welcome him.

Dodgy offers from tourists

Once a French woman was looking for a doctor but couldn't speak a word of German.

Heide Zech, who came from Belgium, was able to interpret and put her in touch with an English-speaking doctor – a Frenchman could not be found.

Two Rhodesians couldn't - or didn't want to - help the hostesses.

Because they were looking for pretty female companions for an evening, remembers the tourism officer.

Shouldering a submachine gun and chasing the terrorists on a motorcycle: this is how Gerda Klarner-Breu's husband Johann Klarner (l.) drove through Bruck.

© W. Pulfer

Her husband had to go to Fursty as a policeman

Gerda Klarner-Breu also experienced the darkest hour up close.

She remembers that she was at a meeting in Olching when the attackers landed in Fürstenfeldbruck with their hostages.

On the way home to Fürstenfeldbruck she saw that everything was brightly lit.

"I heard shots." Her husband at the time, Johann Klarner, a police officer, was on night duty.

"He was out at the air base," she recalls.

"He called early in the morning and said everyone was dead." He never quite got over this experience.

And the attack also left its mark in Bruck.

But not in the town hall: the hostesses continued to answer all questions about the games.

And so the positive outweighs: "It was an exciting time."