As of: February 22, 2024, 5:35 p.m
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In the Krailling town hall, they remembered Wiltrud Wessel's services in helping Poland from the early 1980s (from left): Krailling's mayor Rudolph Haux, the former Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and archivist Karina Garstzecka.
© Dagmar Rutt
Family, friends and political companions said goodbye to Wiltrud Wessel at a memorial service in the Kraillinger town hall on Wednesday.
Former Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger was among the mourners.
Wiltrud Wessel, recipient of the Kraillinger Citizens' Medal, died on January 3, 2024 at the age of 89.
Krailling
- Wiltrud Wessel from Kraillinger worked charitableally for German-Polish international understanding for 35 years.
For her great achievements, Wessel has been awarded the European Medal (2001), the Bavarian Order of Merit (2006), the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class (2011) and, in 2014, the highest award of the Republic of Poland “Noble Deed” over the years.
Their unparalleled help to Poland began in the early 1980s.
Wessel learned from the news that things were bad for people in Poland: there was little medicine and the population lacked everything.
At that time, Poland was about to declare martial law in December 1981. The mother of two children wanted to help and began her lifelong commitment.
In 1982, the woman from Kraillinger launched over 600 aid packages and arranged hundreds of family sponsorships between Germans and Poles.
In 1982, Wessel also founded the “Private Initiative Help for Poland” association, which later changed its name to “Brücke Bayern-Polen eV”.
She herself traveled to Poland over a hundred times.
The country became a second home for the Kraillinger native.
“Unwavering in her attitude”
“She coordinated and organized aid transports, collected money and material goods and initiated partnerships,” recalled Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger at the memorial service.
The FDP politician said goodbye to Wessel as a “liberal friend and advisor” with personal words.
Wessel founded the Kraillinger FDP local association with her husband in 1973 and sat on the local council between 1990 and 1996.
In her speech, Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger described Wessel as an “impressive personality who was unwavering in her attitude and sensitive to social injustice.”
Supporting the people of Poland was a matter close to her heart.
“She tirelessly dismantled prejudices and mistrust on both sides.
A woman with a clear compass of values,” says Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger.
“Today we say goodbye to a woman with a big, soft heart, an ambassador for those in need,” said Wessel’s archivist Karina Garsztecka in her obituary.
In 2022, Wiltrud Wessel left reports she had written and many, many letters of thanks about her decades of “practiced international understanding” to the archives of the Eastern European Research Center at the University of Bremen.
The Polish archivist Karina Garsztecka was very moved when she said goodbye: “My bond with Ms. Wessel went far beyond professional matters.”
Friends of Wessel in Poland also joined the funeral service in the Kraillinger town hall via live stream.
Wessel's daughter was also able to take part in the memorial service in South Africa via the Internet.
The urn of the deceased, which stood between candles during the event, will now be on its way to South Africa.
At the request of her family, Wiltrud Wessel should find her final resting place there.
Carolin Högel