Event man with heart and soulCornell Hoppe, 13 December 2024
Achim Hanf from Themar has experienced a lot in his professional career. He was a clubhouse manager, inland fisherman, deputy mayor and event manager. A look back shortly before retirement.
Achim Hanf has an unusual work biography, which got off to an unusually weird start: He completed his Abitur at the extended secondary school in Hildburghausen and then spent his basic military service in the NVA in Burg near Magdeburg. When his service was coming to an end, he wrote to the district asking if they had a job for him in the cultural sector. They did. And on May 1, 1980, at the age of 21 and without any training or studies, Joachim Hanf became the director of the cultural center in Themar. “I didn’t feel like studying, more like sex, drugs and rock’n’roll,” he says with a grin.
No desire to study
From then on, he was in charge of the “Nikolai Ostrowski” district youth clubhouse in Themar. Today it is known as the Schützenhaus. Week after week, he booked bands for concerts and organized discos. It had little to do with a youth club as we know it today. “I was only responsible for the events and for renting out the clubhouse,” he says. He certainly had the audience for it. There were a good 300 apprentices in the city during the week back then. The furniture factory and catering college each had a dormitory for apprentices. At least one event took place during the week. “Later there were two, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And then there were also some at the weekend,” he remembers. Achim Hanf learnt the job as he goes along. “I don’t know why they thought I could do it back then,” he says. “It would be unimaginable today.”
The secret police assigned him four unofficial employees. Probably because he also regularly organized blues events. At the time, these attracted customers from “Berlin downwards” to Themar. Smaller places away from the major centers were retreats for the scene, to which Hanf also felt he belonged. “When I wasn’t organizing events myself, I was also out and about at the weekend for such happenings.”
However, his earnings as a cultural center manager were rather meagre. 500 marks was a low wage, even in GDR times. When he got married and had his first child, he needed to earn more money. Joachim Hanf decided to go into inland fishing in 1983. He trained as a skilled worker and worked in Themar and Trostadt. Shortly thereafter, the town needed him again and convinced him, now with better earning potential, to take over the management of the clubhouse once more. He returned to the clubhouse in 1987. It was another brief interlude, as Joachim Hanf became deputy mayor of Themar for six months shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Once again employed by the town, he began a correspondence course in “State and Law”, which Joachim Hanf describes as something like today’s administration specialist.
While working for the city, he also studied, spending time in Suhl once a week. He was unable to complete his studies. “It was never canceled, but at some point the doors were simply closed in Suhl because there was no one left.” After reunification, it was difficult for him to continue working for the city. “I quit and then retrained as a commercial administrator.” Joachim Hanf then worked in tourism for 15 years at his father-in-law’s company as a bus operator. He wrote schedules and clocked in the drivers and took over the accounting. In the end, there were 18 scheduled buses and six coaches. “I mainly worked in the office. But for many years I was also a tour leader on trips.”
Joachim Hanf later returned to the town of Themar. For almost 15 years, he managed the newly created tourist information office, which was set up as part of a Leader project. In the beginning, there were still 120 guest beds in the town, says Hanf. He organized at least 15 events a year. Mostly smaller formats, but they usually found an interested audience in the Amtshaus. He established the “Texts and Sounds” series with readings and concerts. “And I was suddenly the clubhouse manager again because I was responsible for renting and leasing the Schützenhaus,” he says. He worked on the board of the Werratal Tourism Association for ten years and was there when the Werra-Burgensteig, the Werra water hiking trail and the Werratal cycle path were created.
When Themar was faced with restructuring as a result of the regional reform, he left the tourist information office and took a job at the Henneberg Museum Kloster Veßra. With half a job as a cultural manager, half a job in visitor services this was more than 100 percent for his job. In April 2019, he was exactly the right person for the museum. There was no predecessor, and no administration manager at the time. The museum’s program had already been prepared at the time and, after all, Achim Hanf comes from a professional background. “I’m an events person with heart and soul,” he says of himself. He has an incredibly large network thanks to his work in various positions. And he always takes his work into his free time. “When we were out and about at markets, museums or events, I always had my flyers with me,” he says. He has recruited many people to the museum in this way. Many people appreciate this shirt-sleeved and direct approach. Again and again, the artists and musicians let us know that they are happy to come to a guest performance because Achim Hanf and the museum team make it easy and enjoyable for them.
More time for volunteering
So now on duty for the last time. But he can’t quite let go of the work yet. From next year, he will still be working part-time in the visitor service, will also give his successor a helping hand and will continue in his role as treasurer of the Hennebergisch-Fränkischer Geschichtsverein. He will continue to manage the association’s trips from Themar to Europe and organize the meetings of Jewish families in Themar.
He would also like to become more involved in photography again. Hanf is a founding member of the Themar Photo Club. He is also a member of the town council. And then there are his four grandchildren, who keep him busy. “When will I take a step back? I don’t know yet. But my wife is already worried that I might be at home all day,” he says with a grin.