As of: March 26, 2024, 5:38 p.m
By: Nicole Kalenda
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Monika and Peter Kirschning received congratulations from Mayor Hermann Nafziger (behind) on their diamond wedding.
© Michael Schönwälder
Monika and Peter Kirschning have traveled a lot in Germany, but they are drawn to Planegg.
They finally returned here 25 years ago.
On Tuesday they celebrated their diamond wedding in their house on Münchner Straße.
Planegg
– She comes from Breslau, he from Leipzig.
They met in Bremerhaven – and got married there.
That was 60 years ago.
On Tuesday, Monika (80) and Peter Kirschning (84) celebrated their diamond wedding, in a small circle with daughter Gabriele Kirschning and Planegg's mayor Hermann Nafziger, who presented the community with a wooden box with Valentine's wine and two red wine glasses with the community coat of arms: “For cozy hours second."
Monika Kirschning knows exactly when she met her husband for the first time: April 8, 1961. At the time, she was living with her parents in Bremerhaven and was dancing with a friend.
Peter Kirschning, who fled from the GDR to West Germany in September 1958, was sitting with his comrades from the Navy - just back from a deployment abroad and tanned - at the “then longest bar in Germany,” as Monika Kirschning says.
There was eye contact, but there was no invitation to dance.
When she wanted to set off with her friend, Peter Kirschning and a friend followed her to the cloakroom, helped her into the coats and accompanied her on the tram.
Peter Kirschning and his future wife arranged to meet the next day.
In order not to tower over him in her shoes with ten-centimeter heels, she borrowed her friend's new ballet flats for the meeting.
Fellow Marines line up with paddles
They got married on March 26, 1964.
Marines with paddles formed a line in front of Bremerhaven's largest church.
The path was blocked by a rope that Peter Kirschning had to cut.
The honeymoon took place in September to the Harz Mountains, where Monika Kirschning grew up.
The young couple initially didn't have their own apartment; Peter Kirschning traveled a lot with the navy and Monika Kirschning continued to live with her parents.
Later, being part of the Bundeswehr required flexibility.
“We moved every three years,” says Monika Kirschning.
Daughter Gabriele thought it was most beautiful at Lake Tegernsee.
She attended primary school in Planegg before heading to the Austrian border.
At that time, Peter Kirschning worked at customs, later at the Bavarian Interior Ministry and finally at the Environment Ministry.
25 years ago the Kirschnings moved back to Planegg.
Monika Kirschning, a trained industrial clerk, worked at the Münchner Bank branch on Bahnhofstrasse for a total of 20 years, most recently as deputy manager.
“We have always been drawn here,” says Peter Kirschning.
“I always compare our marriage to the North Sea, sometimes stormy, sometimes silver sea, sometimes calm,” says Monika Krischning.
There is no secret recipe, everyone pulled together.
“We had the ambition to stick to certain things,” says Peter Kirschning.
The decades-long membership in Munich's oldest traditional costume club is one of the shared interests.
And Monika Kirschning supported her husband in his commitment to the Planegg-Gräfelfing local branch of the VdK social association, first as secretary and then as treasurer.
Peter Kirschning, who joined the VdK in the 1990s, served as chairman for 16 years and has been honorary chairman since last year.
In 2016 he was awarded the Planegger Citizens' Medal for his diverse commitment.