Friedrich Zeller is dead. The long-standing SPD mayor and district administrator of Schongau died on Friday at the age of just 56 after a short, serious illness.
Schongau – “German as a second language A1 (with a little previous knowledge)”: That was the name of the VHS course that was to start on September 19 in Schongau.
The course leader was entered: Friedrich Zeller.
After this inconspicuous news was noticed in the editorial office a few weeks ago, relief spread: apparently Zeller, who had resigned his mandates as a Schongau city councilor and in the district council in June for health reasons, was doing better again.
Unfortunately, it should only be a flash in the pan: Zeller, as has now become known, died far too early on Friday at the age of only 56.
"Terrible," says his long-time companion Michael Asam.
The former Mayor of Peiting (SPD) received an email from Zeller a few weeks ago that the treatment was working and that hopefully they could meet again for a beer soon.
“The email was full of hope.
That's why it's all the worse that it ended so quickly," says Asam.
It was a similar story for Schongau's mayor, Falk Sluyterman (SPD).
He still remembers exactly when he saw Zeller for the last time, namely in late spring.
"We had an appointment on the subject of the central hospital, which he had to cancel at short notice because of a check-up appointment with the doctor." Zeller must have received the devastating diagnosis, because he has not been seen since - he had deliberately withdrawn from the public to speak out against the fight insidious disease.
Friedrich Zeller was a master of free speech
Zeller appeared in the district in 1995 out of nowhere.
Born in Memminger, he had previously worked in Leipzig and was also a member of the city council there when the comrades presented him as the Schongau mayoral candidate.
As a 29-year-old at the time, he prevailed against the then Deputy Mayor Helmut Schmidbauer (CSU), who had to nibble at this defeat for a long time.
Zeller was a master of free speech, very eloquent - "that was really breathtaking," agrees Sluyterman.
"We always said: Whoever had to speak after him had a hard time." It was also not uncommon for Zeller to sometimes overshoot the mark - more on that later.
Sluyterman reminds that the city of Friedrich Zeller "owes a lot".
He had to cope with serious crises like in 2003, when the city had to sell its library and museum for financial reasons.
After his re-election as mayor of Schongau in 2002, Zeller surprised again when he ran for the post of district administrator in 2008 and challenged incumbent Luitpold Braun (CSU), his predecessor as mayor of Schongau.
In the first round of the election, he was still far behind with 29 percent compared to Braun's 47 percent, but turned the result in the run-off election and sensationally got the district administrator's post - the picture of him dancing on the table at the election party is iconic and must not be missing from this obituary.
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Unforgotten: Friedrich Zeller danced on the tables after his successful election as District Administrator in 2008.
© Gronau
“We will miss him as a conversation partner, but also as a person”
At the same time, this triumph was the high point of his political career, because as the political doer he was, as a district administrator he was not able to achieve as much as he would have liked.
Again and again, thoughtless statements made headlines, such as his criticism of a “nurse who ran along” who had expressed criticism, and about Penzberg doctors as “idiots and asses” because of the dispute over the sale of the local hospital.
Because his deputy Andrea Jochner-Weiss cleverly exploited the fact that Zeller was rather reluctant to go to traditional costume festivals, she was omnipresent in the following election campaign as Zeller's opponent and inflicted on Zeller the first election defeat of his career in the 2014 district election.
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The biggest defeat: Friedrich Zeller in 2014, after he clearly lost the district administrator's runoff against Andrea Jochner-Weiss.
© GRONAU (archive)
It would not have surprised anyone if Zeller had subsequently turned down his post.
But he was too interested in politics for that – Zeller sat down as a simple city councilor in the Schongau town hall as well as a normal district councilor in the Weilheim district council.
At both stations, his proven talent for speaking flashed again and again, because he was happy to speak up often.
He was also an important contact person and source of ideas at the SPD, as SPD district chief Dominik Streit says: "We will miss him as a discussion partner, but also as a person, because he lived for politics and knew his way around very well.
It's terrible that his life was taken so young."
After 2014, Zeller became self-employed as a political consultant and lecturer, and he was repeatedly accused of having interests in larger politics - with his experience in local politics and his comparatively young age, Zeller would definitely be an asset to the SPD in both the state parliament and the Berlin Reichstag been.
But he always denied it.
His argument was that there was even less political movement there.
Zeller's political instinct was only awakened once again: in 2017 he ran for the SPD in his birthplace Memmingen as a mayoral candidate, but lost just under 48.5 to 51.5 percent against his CSU opponent.
After this excursion, he continued in local local politics as before, stood again as a driving force for the SPD in the 2020 local elections and was elected to the city and district councils - until he gave up his offices in June, which came as a surprise to many.
Public memorial service for Friedrich Zeller
Few knew how bad Zeller's health was.
One is Schongau's SPD faction leader Ilona Böse, who confirmed the rumor about Zeller's death on request.
"The funeral will take place in the closest family circle," she said - Zeller leaves his wife and three adult children.
There will be a
public memorial service on Friday, October 14 at 5 p.m. in the Transfiguration of Christ in Schongau
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Only memories remain.
Like von Asam, who took over the mayor's office at the same time as Zeller in 1996 and who called Zeller a close friend.
"Shortly after our election, we went to Füssen in a cloak-and-dagger operation to have the mayor at the time, Paul Wengert, explain to us how things actually work in the office," says Asam.
Many companions will remember such events.
Friedrich Zeller will not be forgotten.
District Administrator Andrea Jochner-Weiss: "I'm deeply shocked"
"I am deeply shocked by the sudden and early death of Mr. Zeller," said District Administrator Andrea Jochner-Weiss.
His news in the summer that he was resigning from his political mandate for health reasons “had made me very shocked and concerned.
With him, district politics loses a personality who, as a district councilor and especially as a district administrator, has always worked with great commitment and heart and soul for the benefit of our district.” Zeller leaves a large gap in the political landscape of the district.
You can find more current news from the region around Schongau at Merkur.de/Schongau.
You can find out more about the Weilheim region here: Merkur.de/Weilheim.