As of: March 13, 2024, 11:52 a.m
By: Josef Hornsteiner
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The stage was his life: Reinhard Knopp traveled with Dreisam to all the beer tents in the district and far beyond.
He played almost every instrument there is.
© ANDREAS MAYR
He was the “musical wild pig” in the cult band Dreisam and was considered one of the best musicians ever in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Mountain Music Corps.
Reinhard Knopp has now died at the age of just 52.
His life was not just about the stage, but especially about his family.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Crooked.
Really crooked.
Reinhard Knopp plays the classic “Above the Clouds” completely wrong on stage.
In the beer tent, the guests give each other confused looks.
But Knopp's terrible play cheers up the crowd.
The other band members look at each other knowingly and laugh heartily.
Because suddenly Knopp sits up, puts the trumpet on his lips - and begins a solo at a point in the song where none is actually intended.
Now the crowd is staring spellbound, listening to the perfect tones, to Knopp's outstanding playing, which is getting wilder and wilder.
Now he turns it up a notch, astounding the audience, who cheer, applaud in disbelief, and celebrate the performance.
The beer tent looks like a witch's cauldron in no time.
“He simply made fun of the audience,” remembers Rupert Furtner with a laugh.
“Then he revealed all his talent.”
It's stories like these that will never let Furtner forget his former Dreisam bandmate.
Knopp was not only an important member of his musical combo, which was founded in 2004.
Knopp was one of his closest friends.
Now he died far too early at the age of only 52.
It wasn't just music that determined his life, but also his family
The native of Hohenfurcher (Weilheim-Schongau district) leaves a huge gap not only at Dreisam Live from the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district.
In addition to his music, which determined pretty much his entire life, he was a family man through and through, says his brother Robert Knopp.
Both were neighbors in Schwabsoien.
An absolute highlight on stage, “but at home the ultimate haven of peace,” says Knopp.
He and his wife Inge were proud and happy with their triplets Jasmin, Johanna and Thomas – just seven years old.
Reinhard Knopp was known not only as an excellent musician, but also as a great joker.
© Private
The news that broke over the family over two years ago was all the worse.
Knopp has leukemia.
Long phases followed in which he was completely isolated in the hospital.
“That was really hard for him,” says Furtner.
But “Knoppi”, as his comrades called him, never let himself be defeated despite all the setbacks.
As best he could, he took part in family life from the hospital, made several video calls to his loved ones every day, and even continued to write music for the band from memory.
“Not only was he a joker, he was also a fighter.”
He recovered and seemed to have overcome the worst.
Until shortly before Christmas 2023 the bad news came again that the disease was back.
His brother then donated stem cells.
The forecasts were excellent, the donation was 100 percent accurate.
But Knopp had no luck.
After the donation he became ill with severe pneumonia.
Two days later he fell asleep forever.
There is also sadness among the Bundeswehr comrades
There is also sadness among his Bundeswehr comrades.
Until recently, Knopp was employed as a staff sergeant in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Mountain Music Corps.
“He turned his passion into his profession,” says his brother.
No matter what instrument he got his hands on, he knew how to play it in no time.
“Not just somehow, but like no other,” describes Furtner, who spent thousands of hours on stage with his friend.
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Knopp was an exceptional musical talent, undoubtedly one of the best musicians in Germany.
“But he never let it show that he was always the best in the room,” says Furtner.
Knopp was never overbearing or even arrogant because of his talent.
“He stayed 100 percent down to earth.”
Schwabsoier has always had close ties to Garmisch-Partenkirchen
The Schwabsoian has always had close ties to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
He served with the Mountain Music Corps for many years and joined Dreisam 15 years ago.
“You can't describe Knoppi.
“You have to experience him to believe,” Furtner tries to put into words the joy that he and his colleagues had when they had the musical jack-of-all-trades on board.
The studied master class saxophonist was a musical genius, a real fun-lover and a child's mind “who knew how to captivate the guests”.
He was constantly thinking of new, funny things to do on stage.
In addition to a rock classic, the Egerländer classic “on the Vogelwiese” was suddenly heard in the secondary melody.
He simply quickly laid out the main theme from the Indiana Jones soundtrack over a romantic song.
“Everything is always perfect and 100 percent spontaneous,” says Furtner.
Sometimes it even happened that he left the stage while playing to do a little dance on the floor or to hold the door open for the waiter.
Pure fun and entertainment, a great friend, a loving father and husband – that was “Knoppi”.
Burial
The funeral service for Reinhard Knopp will take place on Tuesday, March 19th, at 2 p.m. in the parish church of St. Stephan in Schwabsoien.
The burial will take place in the immediate family circle.