Eschwege's historical monitor celebrates 75 years: York-Egbert König honored!

Eschwege's historical monitor celebrates 75 years: York-Egbert König honored!

An important day in Eschwege: The city historian York-Egbert König celebrates his 75th birthday today. For many years, König has been intensively committed to dealing 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, in particular the “Stumbling Stone” project, which led to the laying of 150 memorial stones in front of the houses by the National Socialists until 2018. This year there were another 30 stones, which König also researched, such as the Werra-rundschau reported.

a life for history

York-Egbert König was born in Eschwege in 1949 and completed his Abitur there in 1970. His studies in middle and more recent history as well as the historical auxiliary sciences at the Georg August University in Göttingen prepared him for his future work in the city archive and city museum Eschwege. Together with Karl Kollmann, he published the memorial book "Names and Fates of the Jewish victims of National Socialism from Eschwege" in 2012. This work documents the biographies and genealogies of affected people, including journalist Siegfried Bacharach. This information was also summarized in the Wikipedia , which indicates his lifelong Engagement for city and regional history.

In addition to his work on Jewish history, the king is committed to the author and publisher of regional historical works. He is active in the history association Eschwege, whose "Eschweger history leaves" he shaped and in which he recently worked up the fascinating story of the former Eschwegian Lisa Heise, who led a correspondence with Rainer Maria Rilke. In a recent reading with the actress Rita Russek, he managed to keep the cultural heritage of Eschweges alive and bring closer to a broad audience.