Malscher characters

Kurt Heinzler

As early as 1981, Kurt Heinzler, as a parish councilor, was approached by Katharina Augenstein to organize help for Poland. In Poland, President and General Jarozelsky declared martial law on December 13, 1981 after the Solidarity Revolution. Malscher also collected clothing and food. Three small trucks were quickly organized, the goal was to drive to the Caritas station in Lublin over the weekend; There were contacts there through the Catholic Church and the Kolping family; Two drivers each were supposed to drive to Poland via the transit route through the GDR and near Görtlitz. - Despite valid visas and papers, the trucks were completely checked at the GDR border and again at the Polish border. There were military checks on the streets in Poland. - The small convoy ended up in Sycow by chance because there was a curfew at 9 p.m. There was no more. But Alfons and Maria Pietzonka had tea and something to eat - that was the first hospitable encounter with people from Sycow. The trucks were finally unloaded in Lublin and the journey went back. But now the contacts to Sycow were established and further trips followed. The town twinning was then deepened with several official and private visits.

Kurt Heinzler had a decisive influence on this friendship.

Gottfried Ochs

Mr. Gottfried Ochs was born in 1938 and, as his name suggests, is a true Völkersbacher. -

Mr. Ochs is actually a qualified master mechanic and ran his workshop and gas station in Völkersbach from 1964 until the 1990s. His father had already founded a bicycle repair shop before the war.

But Mr. Ochs has always been interested in wood. He prefers to work with hardwoods, especially fruit woods or those with a pronounced grain,

which then comes into its own during processing.

In addition to the famous balls that were once given by the community to honored personalities, there are all sorts of other interesting shapes, such as vases, bowls and even hats.

Dorothea Storost-Gauger

Born in Dinslaken on the Lower Rhine, grew up between mine towers and slag heaps; in simple conditions in a block of flats, a real child of the Ruhr area, the melting pot of Germany.

Like so many others, her father was from East Prussia. Her mother came from the nearby Netherlands (she often spent the holidays with her grandfather, who lived in a small house with a garden in the workers' settlement of the Dutchman van Delden's spinning mill in the border town of Gronau, and through the Dutch side of the family she still has strong ties to the Netherlands today) and was very musical and encouraged her children. Dorothea was able to learn to play the piano with her sister at an early age, and later she added the flute. After studying education in Essen, her first engagement was in East Frisia, first in Moordorf, then in Aurich. There Dorothea got to know people, dialects and a way of life, such as "Schhöfeln" (ice skating) and Boßeln in winter.

Franz Graf, blacksmith in Malsch

Mr Graf was born in 1942

and grew up in the Allgäu. After school he started

an apprenticeship as a blacksmith in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

In Karlsruhe, at the IWK, the Industrie-Werke-Karlsruhe, he trained to become a technical draftsman as a second profession.

This was followed by years as a journeyman in Ettlingen, and after passing his master craftsman examination, he became self-employed and moved to Malsch in 1967, where he runs his workshop as an artistic blacksmith.

Franz Graf is also a passionate garden lover with a hidden paradise; -

including a fish pond with three inlets and a waterfall and beautiful golden orfe in it.

Alois Herzog



Mr Herzog (born in 1935) had a decisive influence on the town twinning between Malsch and Sézanne. The Kolping family in Ettlingen and Professor Eichmann from Châlon-sur-Marne negotiated town twinning between Ettlingen and Epernay and between Malsch and Sézanne in 1956, first in Heidelberg and then in Karlsruhe. After his first visit to Sézanne and the very good personal contacts that followed, Mr Herzog managed the twinning for over 40 years from 1967. The then mayor Hirth and contacts with the state government in Stuttgart ordered Alois Herzog to go to Paris for a month to study French intensively. For the 25th anniversary, he organized the care of 200 French guests in Malsch. The town twinning has deepened through many mutual visits by music and sports clubs and student exchanges.

Mr Herzog was awarded the Federal Medal of Merit in 2009 and is an honorary citizen of the Marne department, the city of Sézanne and, since 2013, of Malsch.

Walter Lorenz

Mr. Lorenz was born in 1934.

After the war, Walter Lorenz's father founded the carpentry workshop in the middle of the village. After the need for more space grew, Mr. Lorenz invested in the industrial area and ran the business there independently from 1954 to 2002. But Mr. Lorenz did not retire; among other things, he made around 300 bird nesting boxes. These were hung up and looked after all over the Malscher Forest. He is now looking for successors to look after them.

Nezir Senkal

Mr. Nezir Senkal was the first Turkish "guest worker" in Malsch. He worked as a locksmith in the former paper factory for 27 years and was also chairman of the works council there.

In Malsch he played a key role in organizing the Turkish Cultural Association. He and his wife tend a large vegetable garden in the Kratugärten.

Christl Storz



Ms. Christl Storz is the chairwoman of the neighborhood assistance group and also on the board of the Malsch church social center. She is the community's social soul. She was also heavily involved as a community councilor for over twelve years.

Angelika Koelble

Mrs Angelika Kölble studied music at the University of Karlsruhe. This was followed by a busy concert schedule at home and abroad. She was a lecturer in singing and theory at the Pedagogical University. 40 years ago she founded the Hassler Choir in Malsch, with which she performed many well-known oratorios with orchestra and soloists every third Sunday in Advent. e.g. Messiah, Christmas Oratorio, St. John's Passion, Creation, Mozart and Brahms Requiem, etc.

For 15 years she has been leading an international choir week in Chartres and Venice with a concluding concert. Every year she travels to the South of France with the Hassler Choir to give a concert in the Cathedral of Uzes with a choir she is friends with.

Manfred Heilbrunner

Born in 1950 in Bad Nauheim and in Gambach

( Münzenberg, Hesse ). Manfred received a

Trained as a technical draftsman. From 1978 to 1990 he was a member of the Butzbach Artists' Circle and took part in group exhibitions there, then at Arnsbach Monastery and at Philips Licht GmbH in Cologne. At the beginning of 1990 he moved to Malsch and has been a member of the art circle there since 2000. Several group exhibitions in the gallery in Malsch Town Hall.

Focus of the work with lead - colored - and felt-tip pens. Portraits in lead - sepia or felt-tip pen.

Mr. Genzmer (1931-2022) was a teacher at the Waldhaus in Malsch; he played a decisive role in the development of the institution.

Here in front of the entrance to the model building of Rudolph Steiner and Karl Stockmeyer Jr., the anthroposophical monument in Malsch.