Albert Schweitzer

At 12 years of age I had already contacted Richard Kik, who had previously founded the “Friends of A.S.” Working in Aachen, I collected money for Lambarene by holding slide shows in congregations. The contact to Schweitzer himself became closer and reached its peak in a personal meeting in 1959 in Tübingen.
After Richard Kik’s death, I took over editing and organizing the "Newsletters”. I increasingly allowed the issues of Schweitzer’s “intellectual work” to flow into them. Their centre is the Albert Schweitzer Archive in Günsbach (Alsace), where I was able to translate a number of important essays from French [into German], e.g. the anonymously published biography of his first organ teacher, Eugéne Munch.

After intensive preparation and against much resistance I was able to organize and arrange the “Tübingen Albert Schweitzer Week” in January 1975 on the occasion of his one hundredth birthday with lectures of the most important researchers concerned with his work in theology, philosophy, music and tropical medicine, a foundation symposium on “The Cultural Philosophy of Albert Schweitzer and the Present Day” chaired by Walter Schulz and charity concerts —e.g. with Wilhelm Kempff.  

Tübinger
Albert-Schweitzer-Week 1975 on the occasion of his 100th birthday

There were also repeated activities in harmony with Schweitzer's “Weltanschauung”:1970 “Action of the Albert-Schweitzer-Institute for Peace Research” with support of Heinrich Albertz, Ernst Bloch, Rudolf Bultmann, HAP Grieshaber, Walter Jens, Wilhelm Kempff, Golo Mann, Martin Niemöller, among others.

 

Eighty lectures and concerts for the establishment of a school for the physically handicapped near Tübingen or the Leprosy Hospital in Lambarena were my way of expressing my thanks for the intellectual stimulus which I had received.