Karl Heinemann receives the Medal of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

He is widely known in Diemelstadt, especially in his home town of Rhoden, and without his tireless voluntary work, many things in the municipality would run less smoothly: Karl Heinemann is synonymous with voluntary, unpaid commitment to the community. Whether training the next generation in the Rhoden Protestant Trombone Choir, presiding over the local court, preserving and promoting the Low German language or "Local Agenda 21" in the town of Diemelstadt, Karl Heinemann was or is at the top of his game everywhere. However, he has probably made his greatest name as a passionate historian - since 2001 he has helped to steer the fortunes of the Diemelstadt district group in the Waldeck Historical Society as vice-chairman.

Due to this extraordinarily dedicated commitment to the community, Karl Heinemann was now able to enjoy a particularly high award. He received the Medal of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, presented by District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst on behalf of Federal President Walter Steinmeier. The ceremony to present the award was a real surprise for the honouree and took place in the Korbach District Hall. He was accompanied by his son and grandson as well as representatives of the association "Historisches Ortsbild Diemelstadt" and the Waldeck Historical Society.

"Anyone who walks through Rhoden with open eyes will see traces of Karl Heinemann's voluntary work everywhere," said District Administrator van der Horst and Diemelstadt Mayor Elmar Schröder in their laudatory speech. He recorded the old local handicrafts in a book and contributed to a documentation of the Jewish cemetery and a brochure on the historical street lamps. City maps and brochures about the city were his initiative, and the honoured man also worked on their realisation. Karl Heinemann also recorded and documented the house inscriptions and house names in Rhoden.

It is particularly impressive that the honouree has managed to ensure the restoration of the church ruins of Alt-Rhoden, a cultural site dating back to the 11th century, by soliciting donations. In his passion for the Low German language, he has collected over 5,500 records of Low German terms, words, idioms and phrases and handed them over to the "Low German Language" working group.

"The Low German language is particularly close to my heart," said Karl Heinemann, adding that the collection of records was the most extensive such work he knew of. In the local working group on the Low German language, which Karl Heinemann founded, he works closely with the middle school in Rhoden - young people are thus directly introduced to the dialect heritage of their homeland. There is also close cooperation with the universities of Marburg and Münster, also with regard to a consideration of Low German in the German Language Atlas.

"When I was mayor of the town of Bad Arolsen, I was able to see how Karl Heinemann's preservation of this important intangible cultural asset was consolidated," said the district administrator. He still fondly remembers a great event in the Massenhausen church, where it was encouraging to meet many young comrades-in-arms in Low German from the honoured's grandchildren's generation. It was therefore a great honour and a beautiful task for Mayor Schröder and himself to be able to honour Karl Heinemann's 56 years of voluntary commitment by presenting him with the Medal of Merit.

"In rural areas, voluntary work is particularly strong and many people do it. But there is always one who stands out, whose life's work seems to be voluntary work, who thus shapes the local community," van der Horst emphasised. Mayor Schröder added: "Karl Heinemann's work not only relates to the preservation of the past, but is above all also oriented towards the future." Very fitting: During the informal conversation at the small ceremony, five new projects were mentioned that are to be tackled in Diemelstadt in the near future with the cooperation of the new recipient of the Medal of Merit.