Heidi Hetzer

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Heidi Hetzer (2012)
Grave site , Alt-Gatow cemetery, in Berlin-Gatow
Autograph
Historical advertisement of the family business Hetzer in the underground station Wittenbergplatz , Berlin

Heidi Hetzer (born June 20, 1937 in Berlin ; † April 21, 2019 there ) was a German entrepreneur and rally driver . In obituaries she was referred to as an "intrepid globetrotter".

Life

Heidi Hetzer was born as the daughter of the entrepreneur Siegfried Hetzer, who founded a Victoria vehicle dealership in Berlin in 1919 and ran it as an Opel car dealership from 1933 . From 1954 she learned to be a car mechanic in the family business. After trying to become self-employed at the age of 21, she went back to her father's company. At the age of 31, Heidi Hetzer took over the company based in Berlin-Charlottenburg after the death of her sister three years older than her and her father in 1969 , which she expanded into one of the largest car dealerships in Berlin and which she managed until 2012. Since neither daughter nor son wanted to continue the business, she sold the company.

As one of the few successful entrepreneurs in her branch and as a racing driver, but also because of her social commitment, Heidi Hetzer was one of the best-known personalities in Berlin's economy. The high media presence through newspaper reports, interviews and talk show appearances ensured that it was in the spotlight even beyond Berlin.

Hetzer had a daughter and a son and lived in Berlin-Charlottenburg. On April 21, 2019, she was found dead in her apartment at the age of 81. Heidi Hetzer was buried in the churchyard of the Gatow village church (grave site B-1-2) in her hometown. Before that, she was on a long trip where she was ambushed in South Africa in early April 2019 .

Motorsport

In 1953 Heidi Hetzer took part in a rally around the Müggelberge for the first time - on a Lambretta scooter, but was disqualified for outside help . She took part in a large number of races, including vintage cars from her collection, and won over 150 prizes in rallies.

Among other things, she took part in the following competitions:

At the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico and the Tour d'Europe 1989 she finished third. In the latter, she also won the team classification with her women's team.

A participation in the Dakar Rally planned for 2008 was not possible due to the cancellation of the rally. Their participation plans, which were postponed to the following year, were not implemented.

In addition, she regularly took part in regional vintage car rallies such as the Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt in Eckernförde .

World Travel

On July 27, 2014, she began a trip around the world in Berlin, which she undertook in the footsteps of Clärenore Stinnes with a Hudson Greater Eight from 1930. At first the co-driver was the travel photographer Jordane Schönfelder, but he retired immediately after the start. The Berliner Patrik Heinrichs replaced him as a co-driver from Istanbul, but got out of the project on September 18, 2014 in Tashkent.

The journey led via Eastern Europe to Tehran , then via China to Australia . She arrived in New Zealand on April 4, 2015 . After being transferred to the American continent, she drove through Canada and reached the border with the United States near Emerson at the end of August 2015 . It continued through the USA and South America and reached South Africa in August 2016 after the Atlantic crossing. After a tour of several countries in southern Africa, she returned to Europe on a cargo ship from South Africa about 2½ years after the start. On March 12, 2017, she finished her trip in Berlin and was received by friends, fans and the Berlin State Secretary Sawsan Chebli in front of the Brandenburg Gate .

  • Reception for Heidi Hetzer at the Brandenburg Gate

  • At the Brandenburg Gate in the Hudson Greater Eight "Hudo"

  • Reception at the Brandenburg Gate

  • Welcome home Heidi

  • Welcome home Heidi with a cup and confetti

  • Welcome home Heidi with a trophy

Honors

For her social commitment, for example for a heart for children , she was honored by the Technical University of Applied Sciences Berlin in 2007 with the naming of an orchid from the genus Phalaenopsis .

In the summer of 2004, Heidi Hetzer was a bearer of the Olympic torch in Berlin on her way to the Games in Athens .

Discussion of racist statements

In the ZDF morning magazine on March 13, 2017, Hetzer spoke about Africans she met during her trip; she called them blacks . The subject was her trip around the world, during which she was robbed several times by dark-skinned South Africans:

“As everywhere there are disadvantages - they steal. The blacks steal when they only see a jacket, an old jacket. They steal everything. "

On March 14, 2017, she apologized in an interview with the BZ : “That was a mistake. I apologize for this statement. How can I make it up to you? ”. Your statement refers to a surveillance video on which four dark-skinned South Africans stole their navigation system from the locked classic car . Furthermore, the golden Berlin bear was torn off her neck by a resident in Cape Town and her vehicle in St. Lucia was completely emptied. The presenter of the morning magazine, Jana Pareigis , also commented on the incident on Facebook and condemned the statements as false, racially stereotyped and hurtful. However, she hoped that the interview would at least lead to a discussion of racist prejudice.

Publications

  • Heidi Hetzer with Marc Bielefeld: Living unrestrained: How I was looking for freedom at the age of 77 and just drove off. Ludwig, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-453-28113-4 .

Web links

Commons : Heidi Hetzer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Claudia Bröll: A globetrotter who was underhanded: Heidi Hetzer died in Berlin at the age of 81 , in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung April 24, 2019, page 7
  2. ↑ Viva !, issue 3/2015, p. 7.
  3. ↑ The grave of Heidi Hetzer. In: knerger.de. Klaus Nerger, accessed on July 24, 2019 .
  4. ^ Farewell to Heidi Hetzer in the family circle. Der Tagesspiegel, April 27, 2019.
  5. ↑ Adventurer Heidi Hetzer: Was attacked in South Africa. Welt.de, April 7, 2019.
  6. ^ Heidi Hetzer in Im Palais , rbb on May 19, 2012
  7. ↑ Homepage rally 2000 km through Germany
  8. ↑ Wirtschaftswoche on Düsseldorf-Shanghai 2007
  9. ^ Exit on the occasion of the 150th birthday of Prince Heinrich of Prussia
  10. ↑ Portrait of an old lady traveling the world . Die Welt , accessed July 25, 2014
  11. ↑ World tour with engine breakdown Heidi Hetzer is now stepping on the gas . In: Tagesspiegel, August 1, 2014
  12. ↑ Blog entry from September 18, 2014 , heidi-um-die-welt.com, accessed on September 19, 2014
  13. ↑ Blog entry from April 5, 2015 , heidi-um-die-welt.com, accessed on April 13, 2015
  14. ↑ German senior's global trek in vintage car makes forced pit stop in Manitoba. In: http://www.cbc.ca/ . CBCNews, August 27, 2015, accessed August 31, 2015 .
  15. ↑ 79-year-old drives around the world in a vintage car. Deutsche Welle, March 12, 2017, accessed on March 12, 2017 .
  16. ↑ Heidi Hetzer's triumphal procession in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Der Tagesspiegel, March 12, 2017, accessed on March 13, 2017 .
  17. ↑ TFH Berlin with third orchid baptism: Orchid gets the name? Heidi Hetzer? In: Press Release No. 18/2007. Technische Fachhochschule Berlin , May 31, 2007, accessed on January 13, 2016 .
  18. ^ The Autocrat, Tagesspiegel of January 3, 2007
  19. ↑ World traveler Heidi Hetzer: "But the blacks!" - Übermedien.de on YouTube
  20. ↑ After the racism scandal in MoMa: Now Heidi Hetzer reacts . In: tz . March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  21. ↑ That's what Heidi Hetzer says about her dropout in the ZDF morning magazine . In: BZ . March 14, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Hetzer, Heidi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur and motor sportsman
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 2019
Place of death Berlin