Niels

1934-1923

A man who secured his place in heaven.

We were shocked when we, Niels' former classmates, received the news that he had passed away on October 14 after a severe operation.

Martin and his Knaben are peeling potatoes
at a school summer camp in Rodenberg (Deister) in 1950.
Niels is the boy sticking his head out on the left.

In the early 1950s, our class 7KM (coeducated Knaben und Mädchen) had a teacher, Martin Kirschstein, who had internalized the virtue of comradeship at the front during the last World War. He infected his class with it, and we became a community whose remaining members still meet up every year.

Bullying* is commonplace nowadays. The word was unknown to us. On the contrary, even the weakest were "pulled along," not just in sports.
*Red Baron experienced bullying at a rural elementary school

Niels was a classmate who always helped and who you could rely on. In my experience, he later perfected helping even in small things.

On our bicycle tour 2003, we visited Schiller's house in Jena.
Niels and his wife Christa rest on a bench in Schiller's garden.

I remember my first cycling tour with the 7KM down the Saale River in 2003, where I took part as an inexperienced cyclist. Many a time, Niels, who was riding at the back of the field, helped me back onto the saddle.

Here are some photos. You will find more on Niels' memorial webpage in German.

The 2004 class reunion that Christa and Niels arranged in Hamburg was memorable. 

They had organized an evening reception in their garden, which Niels loved so much. We, his classmates, had brought a small tree as a gift, and he planted it that same evening.

The following day, he led the 7KM into Hamburg's harbor, where we learned from his experience as a former captain of a supertanker.

 He was the co-cyclist who worried about missing people on the 2008 Lower Rhine cycle tour, "Where are you?"

At the 2008 class reunion in Vienna, Niels is struggling with the deboarding Wiener Schnitzel at Figlmüllers.

At the 2014 class reunion, Niels again planted a tree. This time, in the garden of a classmate who had invited the 7KM on a sunny afternoon.

Niels mainly stayed in the back at the 2018 class reunion in Wulksfelde near Hamburg.

His widow Christa invited us to a Niels Memorial Day in Hamburg on November 17, 2023. It began with a visit to the grave site.

Niels is buried near his aunt. We had brought flowers.

Afterward, Christa received us for a coffee party at her new home, the Heiliggeist-Stift in Hamburg's suburb Poppenbüttel.

Over coffee and cake, our classmate Wulf chatted about his special relationship with Niels. He then recited the consoling poem "On a Grave" by Börries von Münchhausen:

Je länger du dort bist, Um so mehr bist du hier, Je weiter du fort bist, Um so näher bei mir. Du wirst mir notwendiger, Als das tägliche Brot ist, - Du wirst lebendiger, Je länger du tot bist!

The longer you are there, The more you are here, The further away you are, The closer you are to me. You become more essential to me, Than is the daily bread - You become more alive, The longer you are dead!

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