As of: February 27, 2024, 2:00 p.m
By: Ulrike Wilms
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The newly elected board of directors of the Harmonie eV men's choir: (from left) treasurer Claus-Peter Käsemann, second chairman Uli Hübner, chairman Gerhard Sonntag and music director Ludwig Ehbauer.
Missing: Secretary Wilhelm Schmid.
© Wilms
Once again a traditional club was threatened with dissolution.
However, at the Harmonie Eching men's choir, the previous chairman stepped into the breach - despite his wife's dissenting voice.
Eching
- Duplicity of local events at Eching's traditional clubs in less than a week: After the dissolution of the Warriors' and Soldiers' Club was averted at the last minute (we reported), the men's choir Harmonie Eching eV was also threatened with extinction in its regular new elections after more than 100 years.
The previous chairman, Gerhard Sonntag, wanted to quit after ten years in office and withdraw from the obligations of an exposed voluntary position into the second row.
The recent past, marked by Corona, internal disputes and the impressive anniversary year of 2023, which was celebrated with great effort, had left its mark on the club boss, who was in poor health.
Many highlights and two bereavements
Since the situation would have threatened the existence of a failed election and, as a result, dissolution would have been likely, Sonntag stepped into the breach and ran again.
One very last time, as he emphatically emphasized.
There was also one - serious - dissenting voice in his election, which was accompanied by applause, namely that of his wife.
Deputy Harry Huber was no longer up for re-election, but a successor had been found in the person of Uli Hübner.
Confidence was expressed in him by acclamation, as was the re-elected treasurer Claus-Peter Käsemann and secretary Wilhelm Schmid (the latter in his absence).
Ludwig Ehbauer was finally persuaded to take over the position of music supervisor from Lothar Woiczikowski.
(By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
The old and new singing club chairman then reviewed an eventful anniversary year in 2023 - with many musical and social highlights - from Palm Sunday singing with six choirs to the community's 1250th anniversary celebration to the festival concert on the occasion of the 100th anniversary, where the harmony could be seen and heard.
“I believe in a good future”
However, recently we had to cope with two bitter losses due to the death of the two singing brothers Franz Wittmann and Gerhard Trat.
What should happen next?
The departed deputy Harry Huber called for an unobstructed view of the future: “We have become less, much less.” He advocated for change and for more unanimity.
He appealed to the singers not to close themselves off to new ideas, to rehearse on a project basis and to get involved in more modern choral literature.
His vision of a “small, hard-working and smart choir” corresponds to the demands of the young and ambitious choir director Aldo Brecke.
Huber concluded with the words: “I believe in a good future.”
A lot of things are uncomfortable, “but doable”.
Given that there are only a dozen active singers left, Sonntag also advocated for the choir to become an expanded double quartet.
He also urgently appealed to all members to personally recruit more singers in their neighborhood, circle of friends or at work.
In his experience, speaking directly is most likely to be successful.
As the chairman points out, six new choir singers have been added since 2020: “That’s encouraging”.
You can find even more current news from the Freising district at Merkur.de/Freising.