Herbert Fittschen

Herbert Fittschen (born November 24, 1922 in Osterholz-Scharmbeck ; † September 24, 2012 there ) was a German teacher and vice-principal as well as a local historian , speaker and author . He was a highly regarded contemporary witness from the 1930s to 1950s as well as an expert reporter on the former small railways in his home region in the Elbe-Weser triangle .

Life

Childhood, education and teaching profession

Herbert Fittschen came from a family of teachers and was born on his mother's parents' farm in Osterholz-Scharmbeck, Lower Saxony - the Bredenberg farm of the Wellbrock family, which was located on Bredenberg on the western outskirts of the district town in what is now the Reithbruch nature reserve . The wetland with fish ponds, forest and orchid meadows was already a popular destination for nature lovers at the end of the 19th century, to which school classes from Bremen also traveled. His parents built a small summer house for themselves on the edge of this “natural paradise” and Fittschen spent part of his childhood and adolescence there and on his grandparents' farm, as well as often his school holidays. The “unique beauties of the landscape on the Bredenberg” awakened his love for nature and the north German landscape.

Steam train (around 1905) of the Jan-Reiners-Bahn , which Herbert Fittschen used from 1934 to 1941 as a "learner driver" for the way to school

He first grew up in Embsen (now a town in the city of Achim ) and spent his primary school with his father. In 1934 the Fittschen family moved to Lilienthal . From then on, Herbert Fittschen attended secondary school in Bremen, for which he, as a so-called “driving student”, used the local public transport system that existed at the time to commute between Lilienthal and Bremen. During the seven years of school he sometimes took the bus and tram of the former Bremer Vorortbahnen GmbH (BVG) to Bremen, but mostly with the narrow-gauge small train Bremen – Tarmstedt , which still operated steam trains. The small railway, initiated by the Lilienthal Economics Council Johann Reiners and later simply named "Jan Reiners" by the vernacular after him, was from 1900 to 1956 in the Elbe-Weser triangle an "important connection in the passenger and goods traffic between Bremen and the surrounding area" and ensured economic activity Boom in the impassable moor areas north of Bremen. Fittschen later processed his memories in a book and also wrote several non-fiction books about the small railways in the region.

During the Second World War , Fittschen graduated from high school in 1941 and joined the Air Force as a radio operator in 1942 . At the end of the war he was taken prisoner by the British , from which he returned in December 1945. He studied two semesters Theology at the Georg-August University in Göttingen and then went to Hamburg for training as elementary and secondary school teachers . After 15 months in the Hamburg school service, he returned to his native district town in April 1952.

Fittschen first worked for a year as a teacher at the Menckeschule in Osterholz-Scharmbeck , then went to the Neue Schule (today Heinrich-Horstmann-Schule ) for one year and returned to the Menckeschule in April 1954, where he mainly studied English and Religion taught. After the introduction of the ninth school year, Fittschen specialized in the final classes. In 1964 he became vice principal at the Menckeschule and held the office until the early 1980s. Fittschen completed his professional activity at the small country school in the Osterholz-Scharmbeck district of Buschhausen and retired in 1985.

Local historian, speaker and author

The river landscape of the Hamme was one of Herbert Fittschen's favorite subjects

In addition to his school service, Fittschen worked as a local historian with regional history and as a hobby photographer with landscape photography . So he came to the district home club in 1956. Since 1957 he has been involved in the local Heimatverein Osterholz-Scharmbeck e. V. , which has dedicated itself to the preservation and care of homeland and folk as well as the landscape and local dialect and whose "successful development [by Herbert Fittschen] was decisively shaped". He was a long-time board member of the Heimatverein. Since 1961, Fittschen has held a number of local history lectures in the town and region for decades, for example about the north German landscape and in particular the river landscape of the Hamme , about the "legendary Jan Reiners train" and about the " Moorexpress " train connection between the Cities Osterholz-Scharmbeck and Stade , as well as over the Bredenberg.

He put together a collection of around 4,000  slides , most of which he took himself, documenting around five decades of local history and which he combined in some of his slides with historical recordings. Fittschen was also active in the Jan-Segelken-Kring , which was founded in 1977 by the Heimatverein and which was particularly dedicated to promoting the Low German language . Fittschen held numerous lectures in the Low German language for the Kring , during which he was able to report interesting facts from the north German landscape and the area around the district town as well as the history of the region.

After Fittschen retired, he wrote several books on local history as well as numerous articles for the regional and cultural magazine Heimat-Rundblick , of which he had been a member for decades. Together with Hermann Frese from Lilienthal, he wrote the first fundamental non-fiction book up to that point on the “Jan Reiners” small train, in which vehicles, ongoing operations and railway facilities are described in detail and which is enriched with stories and anecdotes that Fittschen himself experienced. The book was published under the title Jan Reiners. On the trail of a lovable small train in 1985 in the Fischerhuder Verlag Atelier im Bauernhaus , then experienced two new editions and is now regarded as the standard work on this once important small railway line, having remained the only publication on it for decades. Fittschen took part in exhibitions about the Jan-Reiners-Bahn, for example at the "Celebration for the 100th anniversary of the opening of the company" organized by the Lilienthal Heimatverein in Lilienthal in 2000 as a contemporary witness and expert author.

In 2001, the then 78-year-old retired from active participation in the home club for reasons of age. In the same year he supported the founding of the Jan Reiners association based in Grasberg , which "wants to honor and keep alive the achievements of Johann Reiner's economic council and the importance of the railway".

family

Fittschen met his wife, who also came from a family of teachers and completed a pedagogical training, at the Osterholz-Scharmbeck Menckeschule. The couple married in 1957, settled in Osterholz-Scharmbeck and had two children, one of whom died at the age of 22 after a serious illness. With a few interruptions, his wife worked as a teacher at the Menckeschule and during the last years of service shared the teaching position with him at the Buschhausen country school until she retired with him in 1985. His wife supported him in his activities in the Osterholz-Scharmbeck Heimatverein, of which she also became a member and was involved, as well as in his extensive lecturing activities.

Herbert Fittschen died in 2012 at the age of 89.

Publications (selection)

• Buschhausen through the ages. 1238-1988. Verlag H. Saade, Osterholz-Scharmbeck 1988 (together with: Alfred Stuhrmann and others).
• Jan Reiners. On the trail of a lovable small train. Verlag Atelier im Bauernhaus, Fischerhude 1985, ISBN 3-88132-148-9 ;
  unchanged new editions, Fischerhude 1992 and 2001 (together with: Hermann Frese).
• When I was a learner driver. Experiences and dreams from early years. Osterholz-Scharmbeck 1983.
• Experienced school. Osterholz-Scharmbeck no year
• Report by Herbert Fittschen about a trip with the so-called " Moorexpress " of the then Kleinbahn Bremervörde-Osterholz (KBO), from Osterholz-Scharmbeck to Gnarrenburg . Lilienthal 1941 (under the title Already 1941 End of the Moorexpreß. Report on a trip in the war winter reprinted in excerpts in the Osterholzer Kreisblatt of January 7/8, 1978, front page * , and in the Wümme-Zeitung of January 7/8, 1978 , P. III * ).

Web links

• Literature by and about Herbert Fittschen in the catalog of the German National Library
• Individual entry of the book Jan Reiners in the Common Union Catalog (GVK) of the Common Library Union (GBV) ( clicking on the author's name opens a literature list with works by or with Herbert Fittschen in the GVK)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d e} (mfr): Three educators retired. Farewell to Gisela Ruther, Hildegard and Herbert Fittschen at the Mencke School. In: Osterholzer Kreisblatt from July 19, 1985, title page. *
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Monika Fricke: The Bredenberg is his unforgettable home. Herbert Fittschen resigned from active participation in the Heimatverein after 45 years. In: Osterholzer Kreisblatt of June 26, 2001, p. 4. *
3. ↑ With the small train to the Penne. Herbert Fittschen remembers his time as a "learner driver". In: Weser-Kurier of October 4, 2000, p. 4. *
4. ↑ Karina Skwirblies: Steam locomotives drove from Bremen to the moor until the end. Popular Jan-Reiners-Bahn started operation on October 4th, 1900. In: Weser-Kurier of October 4, 2000, p. 4. *
5. ↑ Monika Fricke: The music plays in honor. Colorful afternoon of the Heimatverein / certificates for deserving members. In: Osterholzer Kreisblatt dated April 11, 2011, p. 2. *
6. ↑ Monika Fricke: Plattdütsch liggt em an't Hart. Jan-Segelken-Kring has existed for 25 years: Today an anniversary celebration with honors. In: Osterholzer Kreisblatt of April 10, 2002, p. 2. *
7. ↑ ^{a b} "Because exactly 20 years ago Hermann Frese and Herbert Fittschen published the only monograph to date on the Bremen-Tarmstedt Kleinbahn [...]. Your comprehensive work of local history - based on solid craftsmanship - sets standards to this day. ” ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Quoted from: Roland Ahrendt: Jan Reiners Souvenirs . Review in the online magazine elbe-weser.bahn (www.niederelbebahn.de) on March 21, 2009. Accessed on November 2, 2012. 
8. ↑ Karina Skwirblies: The incomparable charm of "Jan Reimers". Lilienthaler Heimatverein celebrates the anniversary of the small train with two exhibitions. In: Osterholzer Kreisblatt of October 23, 2000, p. 4. *
9. ^ Johann Schriefer: "Jan Reiners Association" founded in Grasberg. Initiator and chairman Rudolf Schmidt would like to pay tribute to his role model. In: Osterholzer Kreisblatt dated November 2, 2001, p. 3. *

* Available online via the digital newspaper archive of Bremer Tageszeitungen AG (subject to a charge).