Status: 27.11.2023, 14:58 PM
By: Sandra Sedlmaier
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A photo after the official handover: Cardinal Reinhard Marx and Eva Schickhaus, who received the Korbinian's Medal for their tireless voluntary commitment in the parish of Aufkirchen. Photo: Robert Kiderle Robert Kiderle ©
Eva Schickhaus from Aufkirchen received a special honour yesterday. For her decades of voluntary commitment, Cardinal Reinhard Marx presented her with the Korbinian's Medal.
Aufkirchen/Freising – In a festive setting, during the festive service on the occasion of the Korbinian's Festival in Freising, Eva Schickhaus received a thank you. Cardinal Reinhard Marx awarded her the Corbinian Medal. Every year, the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising awards the medal to four people who have shown outstanding voluntary commitment.
Eva Schickhaus was happy, but it was also almost a little uncomfortable for her. She is used to working in the background. And she has supporters, as she emphasizes in an interview with the Starnberger Merkur. There is her husband Jürgen, who is a church caretaker in Aufkirchen, and two women from the Women's League. "Anneliese Perkuhn, Barbara Bering and I, we stick together like pitch and brimstone," she emphasizes. Without this support, the extensive volunteer work would not be possible. The two friends and Jürgen Schickhaus were present in Freising on Saturday, as was the Aufkirchen pastor Albert Zott.
The 73-year-old from Aufkirchen has been active in the parish of Aufkirchen for over 40 years. "I'm the kind of person who rolls up my sleeves and just does things," she says about herself. Among other things, in 2006 she became president of the Catholic Women's Federation, after having been a member for many years. For the women, she organizes meetings, lectures, the preparatory work for the annual Christmas market and trips. "There are so many interesting things, we look at culture and educate ourselves," says the Aufkirchen native. "We're not just holy," she adds with a smile.
Perhaps this is the secret of Eva Schickhaus. Thanks to her sense of humour and the insight into the necessity of some things, she can apparently muster enough energy for all her activities. As early as the 1980s, she organized children's services, took care of the altar boys, was active in the parish council and collected money for Caritas at the front doors in the parish. "You only go to those who generously donate a fifty. This makes a good impression on the list and motivates those who are asked afterwards," is her experience.
The Caritas front door collection no longer exists, but the work in the Caritas circle still does. Schickhaus is involved in the organization of senior citizens' afternoons in the parish and regularly visits seniors at home. In the process, she encounters a lot of loneliness. "Some of them are not doing well, you can see that. But they would never admit it," she says. That's why she would like to go to a retirement home, should it become necessary.
For decades, the 73-year-old has also been taking care of the floral decorations for the pilgrimage church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Aufkirchen. "A church has to be beautifully decorated," she says. And she looks after one of the open-air altars for the annual Corpus Christi procession. For Schickhaus, however, the latter is often a dubious pleasure. "You never know if the weather is going to hold, get up early, decorate the altar – and then maybe it's all for nothing," she says. "That's the only day of the year when I'd like to be a Protestant," she says with a smile.