Eschwege's history watchdog celebrates 75 years: York-Egbert König honored!

Eschwege's history watchdog celebrates 75 years: York-Egbert König honored!

An important day in Eschwege: The city historian York-Egbert König is celebrating his 75th birthday today. For many years, König has been intensively committed to coming to terms with the Jewish history of his hometown, which makes him a central figure in the culture of remembrance. Mayor Alexander Heppe praised his tireless commitment, especially the “Stolpersteine” project, which led to the laying of 150 memorial stones in front of the homes of those persecuted by the National Socialists by 2018. This year, another 30 stones were added, which König also researched, such as Werra-Rundschau reported.

A life for history

York-Egbert König was born in Eschwege in 1949 and graduated from high school there in 1970. His studies of middle and modern history as well as historical auxiliary sciences at the Georg-August University in Göttingen prepared him for his future work in the Eschwege city archive and city museum. In 2012, together with Karl Kollmann, he published the memorial book “Names and Fates of the Jewish Victims of National Socialism from Eschwege”. This work documents the biographies and genealogies of affected people, including the journalist Siegfried Bacharach. This information was also included in the Wikipedia summarized, which points to his lifelong commitment to city and regional history.

In addition to his work on Jewish history, König is an author and editor of regional history works. He is active in the Eschwege historical association, whose “Eschwege History Papers” he helps to design and in which he recently worked on the fascinating story of the former Eschwege resident Lisa Heise, who corresponded with Rainer Maria Rilke. In a recent reading with the actress Rita Russek, he managed to keep Eschwege's cultural heritage alive and bring it closer to a broad audience.