Stefan Weber honour award
On 17 September 2012, long-time Chemnitz tower keeper Stefan Weber celebrated his 70th birthday. To mark the occasion, Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig presented him with the Honorary Award of the City of Chemnitz for his many years of service in Chemnitz on 28 September 2012 in the City Council Chamber of the City Hall. Stefan Weber also signed the city's Golden Book.
In June, Chemnitz City Council decided to honour Stefan Weber. In doing so, the committee honoured the dedicated work of the current volunteer for his city of Chemnitz and his guild. With the honorary award, the administration recognises citizens who have rendered outstanding services to the development of the city and the well-being of its citizens.
Mayor Barbara Ludwig honoured Stefan Weber with a certificate and a small sculpture entitled "Snow" as well as prize money of 1,500 euros at the ceremony in the town hall.
The eulogy for Weber was held by the director of the Schlossberg Museum Chemnitz, Uwe Fiedler. In addition to the city leadership, representatives from politics and society as well as Weber's German and international guild colleagues were also expected to attend the ceremony.
About the person who received the honour
Hardly any other person from Chemnitz has been photographed and filmed as often as doorman Stefan Weber. With his in-depth knowledge of the city's history, he was and is valued as an expert dialogue partner by guests, locals and the media. He uses his knowledge and his prominence to make Chemnitz known far beyond its borders.
Since starting work as a full-time doorman on 1 March 1991, Weber has accompanied around 200,000 guests through the town hall up to the High Tower. He celebrated his 65th birthday on 17 September 2007. However, retirement age did not stop him from continuing to accompany guests through the town hall and describing the advantages of his home town to them from the tower. In autumn 2010, the city honoured this now honorary commitment at a ceremony for volunteers.
Even today, the man with the black habit is also a sought-after speaker; his work totals almost 300 lectures on the history of the town. Stefan Weber also became a trademark of the city of Chemnitz and thus a valued advertising medium. Not only locals come to his guided tours, but above all tourists from all parts of Germany, from European countries and from other continents; they are shown the beauty of the town hall and enjoy the view of the city from the High Tower. There was also great interest in the tower keeper and his knowledge of the history of Chemnitz and the city's town hall last year on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the town hall.
Citizens also appreciate Stefan Weber for his work on the renaming of Karl-Marx-Stadt back to Chemnitz. Even as a teenager, he was intensively involved with the city's history and collected pictures and documents. Decades later, he also unselfishly made historically valuable documents from his personal possessions available to the public. Passing on the history of the city to future generations - that could be the credo of the soon-to-be 70-year-old.
The people of Chemnitz know that for Weber, this task is not a profession but a vocation: his "Hear ye people and let them tell you" will continue to resound from the tower over the city's market square. Like the guild to which Weber belongs, he sees this work as maintaining tradition. He represents Chemnitz as an outstanding ambassador at the annual meetings of the European night watchmen's and tower keepers' guild. The great respect the guild members have for him is evident from the fact that they organised their 18th European Night Watch and Tower Meeting in 2003 and the Tower Meeting in 2011 in his home town of Chemnitz.
Stefan Weber has another talent - painting: many views of the city are examples of this, as is his distinctive handwriting, which he has been using to give entries in the city's Golden Book an artistic and dignified form since 1992.