He summed it up. Vice president bernd muller-straub said: "the heidelstein celebration has a long tradition and is one of the highlights of the club's calendar of events." However, the commemoration of deceased rhonklub members is repeatedly described as "old-fashioned and no longer in keeping with the times" denotes. The number of participants is declining, the youth is missing. For himself and many other hikers, however, muller-straub confessed, the heidelstein celebration means one thing above all: a lively encounter. And that experience is something the rhonklub must pass on.
The rhonklub members from wildflecken and oberbach set a good example. This year they set out again for the heidelstein with their hiking guides ottmar bohn from wildflecken and hellmut ruttiger from oberbach. Bohn has been coming to the heidelstein celebration for at least 30 years. "I don't remember being absent from a heidelstein celebration. It is the feeling of belonging and the remembrance of the deceased", bohn explains why he has been involved for so long.
New tasks await
Josef Grundl from oberelsbach already looks back on 54 walks to the memorial service. Every year he leads groups across basalt lake up to heidelstein. "I hope to make it to 55 next year", says grundl. He calls the heidelstein celebration his personal tradition. "Here i meet rhonklub-friends from the surrounding area. This is the most important thing for me."
Rhonklub president ewald kluber and vice president bernd muller-straub laid a wreath in memory of the dead. 266 deceased rhonklub members added since last year's heidelstein celebration, now being mourned. Rhonklub president kluber referred to a well-known quote: "tradition does not mean preserving the ashes, but passing on the fire." But only that which is personally valuable and important can be passed on. And there is something else that kluber emphasized, namely that there is a need for both, the "donors" as well as the "receivers the tradition. The rhonklub in any case contributes to the fact that home care, preservation and demand of the native culture are considered important and worth preserving in the society.
"Tradition is the cultural heritage that is passed on from one generation to the next", printed out by the main culture manager jurgen reinhardt. While the rhon club's original mission was to open up the impassable mountains, today the focus is on environmental protection. "Our aim should be to turn and open ourselves to these new tasks", said reinhard and quoted george bernard shaw in conclusion: "tradition is a lantern. The stupid hold on to it, but to the clever it lights the way."