Franz Zech

Franz Zech (born July 4, 1914 in Tittmoning ; † March 21, 1995 in Traunstein ) was a German doctor , local politician and diverse cultural promoter .

Life

After graduating from the humanistic grammar school of the Benedictine monastery in Metten, Zech studied medicine in Munich from 1934 and was drafted as a military doctor after receiving his doctorate in 1940 . During the war years he worked in Russia and Crete. After the end of the war, he spent a few months in American captivity. In November 1947 he was able to take over a vacant doctor's practice in Grassau. In 1948 he married Johanna Rieder there. From 1968 he was no longer able to continue his medical practice due to a progressive spinal cord disease. Before that he was a local councilor in Grassau from 1960 to 1976 , also acted as a representative of the Bavarian party in the district council and was at times deputy district administrator . Even then he was committed to the interests of his homeland. The rescue and restoration of the historic Streichen Church near Schleching would not have been possible without his substantial help.

From 1968, Dr. Zech devoted all his strength to the realization of his wide-ranging cultural ideas and plans. He could achieve a lot. In 1961 he founded together with Dr. Hugo Decker and Dr. Rupert Dorrer founded the “Association of Friends of Herrenchiemsee e. V. ”, whose chairmanship he took over in 1984. The focus of his efforts to clean up the damage that has occurred on the island in the course of history was the restoration of the water features in the park of the royal castle with the Latona fountain and the other fountains, which was successfully completed in 1992. Another goal of Dr. Zechs, the preservation and redesign of the island cathedral, which has been converted into a brewery, has so far failed due to funding. On the neighboring Fraueninsel , at the instigation of the "Association" by the Prehistoric State Collection (Dr. Hermann Dannheimer), excavations at the former Benedictine monastery and Augustinian canon monastery took place since 1984 , which provided evidence of settlement as far back as the 7th century. Dr. Zech is also to thank for the establishment of a "Torhalle Working Group" on the Fraueninsel, which set up a permanent exhibition there on the history of the Carolingian gate building.

The establishment of a Roman museum in Seebruck, the former Bedaium fort and the founding of an archaeological museum on Aegina supported by Bavaria , which was handed over to the Greek state in 1981, go to Dr. Zech back. Finally, the restoration of the original condition of the Königsplatz in Munich was his idea.

In 1973, Dr. Zech a series of concerts in the Chiemgau , the program of which was to create a harmonious connection between landscape, architecture and music. In August of this year he invited Dr. Robert Münster , the head of the music collection of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek , to help in the planning, which was soon also joined by the Munich church music director Msgr. Alois Kirchberger. The series of events entitled “Chiemgau Concerts ” initially only included the Frauenchiemsee monastery church and the former Baumburg and Seeon monastery churches for two years. Zech-coined title "Music summer between Inn and Salzach" will take place from 1976 in churches and halls in the districts of Traunstein, Rosenheim, Mühldorf, Altötting and Berchtesgadener Land. Essential for the successful realization of the project was the far- sighted, understanding support and support from the Traunstein District Administrator Leonhard Schmucker , who is still the patron of the “Music Summer” today. The successor former district administrator Jakob Strobl also continued to campaign for the “music summer”. For fifteen years, Dr. Zech, together with his two employees, oversees the “music summer between Inn and Salzach”, which has been imitated several times. Justus Franz confirmed to him that the suggestion to found the Schleswig-Holstein Festival goes back to the success of the “Music Summer”. Dr. Zech didn't want a series of “forest and meadow programs”. His idea was: " Music and historical space, carried by the same spirit and attitude towards life, meet and merge into a total work of art in the churches and halls of the music summer ". In accordance with his conception, in addition to tried and tested classical music, many compositions from the region were performed again for the first time in a long time: music from Bavarian monasteries (for which Dr. Münster and Msgr. Kirchberger created numerous performance materials by hand), also music by Mozart (first public Performance of the youth symphony KV 19a, rediscovered by Dr. Münster, Michael Haydn (first performances of the Chiemsee Mass composed for Frauenchiemsee and the Herrenchiemseer Festkantata), but also unknown youthful works by Richard Strauss and Carl Orff .

As the first chairman of the “Vereinigung der Freunde von Herrenchiemsee e. V. “were those of Dr. Zech introduced concerts in the hall of mirrors of Herrenchiemsee Palace, which were held once a year from 1990 to 1994, a particularly popular project. The permanent guest orchestra was the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra under the proven direction of Christian Simonis , the former chief conductor of the Reichenhaller Philharmoniker. Dr. Zech kept the concerts in his care even after the management of the "Music Summer" was handed over to his successors in 1991. Here, among other things, the 7th Symphony by Anton Bruckner, dedicated to Ludwig II, and rarely heard tone poems by Franz Liszt, who was highly valued by the King, played . Finished plans were still available for the years 1995 to 1997, but in the year of Dr. Zechs the concerts were stopped by the "Association".

Awards

For his multiple services, Dr. Zech received the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class and the Bavarian Order of Merit . The communities of Grassau and Chiemsee granted him honorary citizenship .

Fonts

• A new Königsplatz . Grassau: 1966. 47 pp.

Literature and Sources

• Aß, Karl J .: Portrait of the home. Dr. Franz Zech , in: Schönere Heimat 78 (1989) H. 3, pp. 165–166.
• Grabmüller, Uta: The history of the market town of Grassau. The musical life in Grassau and Rottau . Market town of Grassau 2008. Therein: Dr. Franz Zech, pp. 344-347.
• Lihotzky, Rainer: Music summer between Inn and Salzach, in: Peter T. Seeholzer: Unterm Fönhimmel, Trostberg 1993, p. 114f.
• Münster, Robert : Franz Zech to commemorate , in: Music in Bayern 51 (1995), pp. 135-136.
• Münster, Robert: [ On the prehistory of the "Music Summer between Inn and Salzach" ] Greeting in: Program booklet Musiksommer 2015.