Hermann Wallisch

* 1941

  • "I still remember the Americans shelling the city, how it was going off and I quickly ran home, got some documents and something to eat, then went back to the air-raid shelter. The shelter was then bombed. Because of the Maxhütte Ironworks. I still remember the plaster dripping from the ceiling in the cellar. It was in my eyes, the sand. I cried a little then. I still remember very well how we had to leave the shelter. When we got out, we saw the first American soldiers with their guns at the ready. Then we had to march out. We came to an open area where they checked us. Those were my first memories of my childhood."

  • "Of course, we were also deployed on smuggling cases when there was a suspicion that something was going on with smugglers and so on. These cases were normally handled by Customs. But when there were not enough people, we also got involved and we observed, we waited. Often we had to keep patrols right at the border, from one border stone to another. Then it was always two of us. One person had to have at least one machine gun in case there were any incidents. So that we could defend ourselves accordingly. The dog handler was the only one allowed to be alone on the trail. The dog was his second companion, so to speak. But the handler also had his equipment with him. Otherwise, when we had patrols, we usually had almost no contact with the Czechoslovak soldiers. They usually didn't seek contact either."

  • "We've always had problems with cattle. There were a lot of cattle grazing on the border. The cattle often ran away and got to the Bavarian side. It got as far as Dietersdorf. That's a district in Schönsee two kilometres to the east. So we played cowboys and caught the cattle. The border was informed. There was a border commissioner in Furth im Wald who always dealt with such incidents and then made contact with the Czech authorities. He made contact and said that the animals had wandered into such and such a section. Then all we had to do was to use the army and a couple of soldiers, animal keepers, and we caught them and brought them back. It happened more often with animals."

  • Celé nahrávky
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    Schönsee, 01.08.2023

    (audio)
    délka: 01:28:50
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A cowboy from the wild side of the Czechoslovak-Bavarian border, whose uniform didn‘t get heavy

Hermann Wallisch in 2023
Hermann Wallisch in 2023
zdroj: Memory of Nations

Hermann Walisch was born on 14 March 1941 in the Bavarian ducal town of Sulzbach-Rosenberg. His first memories of his childhood date back to the end of the war, when the town was shelled by the Americans. The Maxhütte ironworks, which was important for the German war industry, was located there. He attended primary school in his hometown. He later went on to study at the Gymnasium in Würzburg, where he spent four years. Although he aspired to become an engineer or architect, he did not finish school because of his family‘s financial difficulties. At the age of 15, he returned home and apprenticed himself to the building trade. His next steps led him to serve in the German army. In Munich, he underwent an enlistment procedure to begin his military career at the age of 19 on 3 October 1960 with a motorized artillery battalion unit undergoing basic training in Amberg. He received further military training in Oberviechtach and Mittenwald. While serving in the army, he often met colleagues from the Border Guard who enticed him to join their ranks. He decided to join the Bavarian Border Police after 12 years in the army. He completed his training with the police and joined the office in Schönsee in November 1972. Service in the border area involved many pitfalls, including incidents of various types, such as illegal crossings by citizens from socialist countries or the crossing of grazing cattle. Border guarding can be seen as a less secure activity, yet Hermann Wallisch remained loyal to the border police until 31 March 2001, when he retired at the age of 60. To this day (2023), the witness has retained considerable activity. In addition to his numerous family duties, he volunteers at the Bavaria Bohemia Centre in Schönsee, where he is involved in the organisation of cultural, social and educational activities.