The Chemnitz tower keeper Stefan Weber is dead
The city of Chemnitz received some sad news today: the long-serving Chemnitz tower keeper Stefan Weber died today at the age of 72.
Mayor Barbara Ludwig: "In Stefan Weber, we are losing one of the greatest, most passionate ambassadors for our city. He was able to captivate his listeners with stories and anecdotes like no other. Chemnitz was his life. As a Türmer, he had found his destiny. We will miss him very much. We mourn with his family and the many, many people who liked and appreciated him."
Hardly any other Chemnitz resident has been photographed and filmed as often as tower keeper Stefan Weber, who passionately led tours of the town hall until the very end. With his in-depth knowledge of the city's history, he was valued as an expert dialogue partner by guests, locals and the media. He used his knowledge and his prominence to make Chemnitz known far beyond the borders of the state. From the time he began working as a full-time tower keeper in March 1991 until the end, when he retired on a voluntary basis, Weber accompanied an estimated 200,000 guests through the town hall up to the High Tower and described the advantages of his home city to them from the tower.
The man with the black habit was a sought-after speaker right up to the end; his work totalled almost 300 lectures on the history of the city. Stefan Weber also became a trademark of the city of Chemnitz and thus a valued advertising medium. Not only locals came to his guided tours, but above all tourists from all parts of Germany, from European countries and from other continents; they were shown the beauties of the town hall and enjoyed the view of the city from the High Tower.
Citizens also appreciated Stefan Weber for his work on the renaming of Karl-Marx-Stadt back to Chemnitz. Even as a teenager, he had been intensively involved with the city's history, collecting pictures and documents. Decades later, he also unselfishly made historically valuable documents from his personal possessions available to the public.
Passing on the history of the city to future generations: The people of Chemnitz know that for Weber this task was not a profession, but a vocation: his "Listen people and let me tell you" will remain unforgotten by market visitors.
He saw this work - like the guild to which he belonged - as the cultivation of tradition. He represented Chemnitz as an outstanding ambassador at the annual meetings of the European night watchmen's and doormen's guild. The great respect the guild members have for him became clear when they organised their 18th European Night Watch and Tower Meeting in 2003 and the Tower Meeting in 2011 in his home town of Chemnitz.
Stefan Weber had another talent - painting: many views of the city are examples of this, as is his distinctive handwriting, which since 1992 has given entries in the city's Golden Book an artistic and dignified form.
On the occasion of his 70th birthday, he was honoured with the City of Chemnitz Award of Honour.