Tragic loss: Bad Hersfeld entrepreneur and police officer in misfortune

Tragic loss: Bad Hersfeld entrepreneur and police officer in misfortune

Bad Hersfeld, Deutschland - A tragic loss shakes the fashion world: Friedrich Knapp, the visionary founder of the successful New York fashion chain, died at the age of 73. Born in Bad Hersfeld, one of the largest fashion companies in Europe built up from modest conditions. His life path, shaped by courage and entrepreneurial spirit, began in a department store in Hanover before opening his first own shop in Braunschweig. Today New Yorker has over 1200 branches in 49 countries and employs more than 23,000 people.

Knapp's death not only affected the fashion industry, but also awakened memories of a tragic incident in Bad Hersfeld. The police officer Peter Wagner died nine years ago when he wanted to help an accident with two colleagues on the A4. When trying to secure the scene of the accident, the three federal police officers were recorded by another driver. Wagner lost his life while his two colleagues were seriously injured. The Bild newspaper now reports again about this case, which is complicated by an ongoing compensation process.

Litigation to the fatal accident

The family of Peter Wagner is caught in an emotional legal dispute, which raises the question of whether the police have a complicity in the accident. The then Prime Minister Volker Bouffier honored the men in 2016 with the country's rescue medal, but the ongoing lawsuit of the Federal Republic of Germany against the accident driver throws a shadow on this award. The case, which has been negotiated in front of the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court since 2024, employs the bereaved and leaves them with excruciating questions: Would Wagner have behaved differently? Was the accident driver adequately warned? To date, the family has received no apology or contact from the accident driver, which only reinforces the grief for loss.