Status: 11.11.2023, 11:05 a.m.
By: Peter Schiebel
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This is how he is known in Starnberg: Helmut Kilian (with colleagues at the presentation of the 2019 programme booklet) has made the senior citizens' club a respected and popular institution. He will stop in the middle of next year. © private
The Starnberg Caritas is looking for a new director. Helmut Kilian will leave the club in the middle of next year - at his own request.
Starnberg – In February, Helmut Kilian will complete his 30 years as head of the Starnberg Senior Citizens' Club, and on June 30, 2024, it will be over: As the Caritas Association announces, the 61-year-old will leave the facility in the middle of next year, which he has made what it is today - a meeting place for all Starnberg residents of retirement age who indulge in their interests together with like-minded people. Kilian will leave the meeting at his own request and for personal reasons. "This step is taken note of by the management and the board of directors with the greatest regret," the statement reads.
Helmut Kilian started working for the Caritas Association on February 1, 1994 – "I was initially hired as a maternity substitute for one year," he tells the Starnberger Merkur. Both sides quickly took a liking to each other, so that Kilian now spends half his life in Starnberg, even though he lives in Polling.
And over the decades, the senior citizens' club has developed into something that Kilian describes as follows: "We are a bit like an adult education centre, but without an educational mission." There are now around 50 groups that hike together, play cards, cook, make music, learn languages, do sports and do handicrafts. There are regular computer consultations, trips to different destinations and memory training, the seniors go bowling, go to the cinema together and take care of the repair café. And the lunch menu at Gasthaus Zur Sonne is a classic anyway. In addition, there are consultations and other offers.
Around 100 senior citizens come regularly
Almost 1000 seniors currently visit the senior citizens' meeting every year - before Corona there were 1200, says Kilian. Since many of them come regularly, the total number of participants in all offers is well into the five-digit range. "Seniors are not uniform," says Kilian. "That's why we try to offer as wide a spectrum as possible." A lot of it also comes from the ideas of the seniors. "It's a great pleasure," Kilian sums up.
So why does he stop at all? The general conditions have changed, says the 61-year-old. In addition, he felt that his strength and drive were no longer the same as they were a few years ago. But of course: "This is a very, very difficult step for me. My heart and soul is attached to this institution." Kilian is showered with praise and thanks from his employer. He has developed the senior citizens' club "into one of the most important facilities for senior citizens in the city and in the district," says the Caritas association. "His achievement deserves our utmost respect and extraordinary recognition," emphasizes Chairman Jan-Peter Schacht.
Caritas confident that it will soon have found a successor
The position is now to be advertised and filled in a timely manner. "We are confident that we will receive interesting and qualified applications in the near future in order to jointly shape the desired joint handover in the spring of next year," explains Caritas Managing Director Ulrich Walleitner. Helmut Kilian would like to train his successor himself in order to ensure that the transition is as perfect as possible. If you are interested in the offer of the senior citizens' club: seniorentreff-starnberg.de.