From Rudolf Wagner.
One wonders why exactly Walter Grupp actually received the Federal Cross of Merit? “There are so many facets to you,” joked the German ambassador two years ago at the award ceremony. Yes, Walter knew his way around as a lawyer and tax expert, as Secretary General of the European Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the Taxpayers Association, he has written about family histories of the Belgian nobility, was on the board of the Belgian-German Society and the most widely read author of Belgiuminfo, and he improvised jazz and classical music on every piano that was nearby. Walter died the day before yesterday, on September 7th. He had survived heart operations in previous years, but not now the consequences of falling down stairs.
All editors and employees of Belgiuminfo.net asbl. mourn, as do the members of the Belgian-German Society. In the rear-view mirror we once again experience Walter’s Swabian, modest and yet blatant presence: his inimitable way of dealing with life’s problems has always been a source of positive coping with life. His suggestions, but also his material commitment to German-Belgian relations in the context of his association work, were an important contribution that cannot be underestimated or forgotten. “He was a designer,” says Hanns-Martin Bachmann from the DBG, who knew him like few others, “and was able to inspire others by standing up for a cause, which is not given to everyone.”
He was an outlier who, to the amazement of many youth pranks, allowed himself to intervene, clearly expressed differences, but also knew how to overcome communication difficulties over a glass of wine. Only he could get into the antiquarian Rolls-Royce in front of his second home in Nice and drive to the nearby Michelin-starred restaurant without dull showing off; that was his fun, in which he liked to let others participate. As an art lover, he was also able to speak in French with a clear Swabian accent about his exquisite Art Nouveau vase collection. Walter Grupp was in reality a man of the world who had outgrown the administrative center of Brussels through his military service in Ulm or Winnipeg and the European places of study and finally as a lawyer with a wide network. Lobbying had been his daily task since 1987. But he wanted more and he wanted it differently.
He wanted to feel good in a circle of friends, to be the way he was, to let his “mirror neurons” run free. These are special nerve cells that make people compassionate beings, he explained. So he took care of wheelchair users in his hometown Heidenheim. He became personally involved in Guinea-Bassau, where he supported a blood bank. Walter never put all of this on the “big bell”. But we know that he also sent money to Rwanda, even if we don’t know exactly what for. Those observers and partners in the European capital who only saw Walter Grupp as a businessman or representative of an association never really got to know him.
We should try to keep his motto in life in these difficult times. It is much easier, he said, “we practice charity, stretch out our hands, help when we can, share, forgive and respect each and every one of us.” These were words from his acceptance speech for the Federal Cross of Merit. Because Covid did not allow receptions and events for months, Walter Grupp was almost never able to wear his award. We will not be able to forget him and his way of life.
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