Karl-Georg Rötter retires

It had the abbreviation with the three dots: two on the “ö” and one behind. The “Rö.” was a trademark in Würzburg journalism for decades. And if Karl-Georg Rötter’s name and its abbreviation will no longer appear in the current reporting by this editorial office, there is a simple reason: colleague Rötter has retired – after 37 years of work as a local journalist.

It was by no means a foregone conclusion that he would accompany the political and above all cultural life in Würzburg for so long. Rötter first studied law, passed the first state examination – and then realized that his heart was beating for a different profession. He learned the journalistic craft from 1983 as a volunteer at the Volksblatt, where he became a local editor from 1985 and soon found a topic that was to shape his professional life: local and regional culture.

Accompanied the Africa Festival for 20 years

However, Karl-Georg Rötter did not first discover his soft spot for music, for exhibitions and architecture as a journalist. The culturally interested parents were particularly influential: “That has remained to me.” As a journalist, Rötter often and often made the young and alternative cultural scene the subject. It was almost inevitable that he accompanied the Africa Festival from the very beginning. “I had no idea about African music at first, but I thought the festival was cool,” he recalls. Karl-Georg Rötter was part of the festival’s organizing team for 20 years and took care of the press work. His love for Africa and African culture has remained to this day.

As much as he was interested in cultural events – Karl-Georg Rötter was never committed to that alone. Würzburg’s municipal policy was already his second major topic at Volksblatt and later as a member of the local editorial team at Main-Post.

A moving encounter with Max Stern’s daughter

What stories, what topics does he remember in 37 years of journalism? “Certainly the construction of the cultural storage, the long debate about the theater renovation or the conversion history on the Hubland,” says Rötter. And then of course there are countless encounters. Three are particularly in his memory: the interview as a young volunteer with the newly-awarded Nobel Prize winner Klaus von Klitzing, a conversation on the summer of the harbor with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and then an encounter that still affects him today: as the city Würzburg invited former Jewish citizens in 2012, Rötter met the daughter of the wine merchant Max Stern. “She spoke alternately English and German and then she said: ‘Now I only want to speak German,” recalls Rötter. “It touched me a lot.”

Karl-Georg Rötter does not fear boredom in retirement. He cannot go to beloved Venice at the moment because of the corona restrictions, but there is still an infinite amount to read and listen to music. And the large record collection – it should be in order again a long time ago.

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• Wurzburg

• Torsten Schleicher

• job and career

• John Paul

• John Paul Jones

• Klaus von Klitzing

• Max Stern

• City of Wuerzburg

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