I just learned that one of my former teacher, Helmar Fanselau, died on January 13th, aged 56. He was a strange man. Many students liked him because of his antics and strange sense for humor. Others did not like him for his harsh and unforgiving marks in his subjects, Latin and History. I think he was always fair, though, even if that worked to my disadvantage, because he actually liked me, but I got bad marks nevertheless. I still fondly remember him balancing rulers on his nose and for his ability to speak several different German dialects. His “weather show” featured them all in a stand-up comedy-like routine.
He always was a controversial person, though. I just found an article I wrote back in ’96 or ’97 about a school mess held by him during which the school parson actually put out the candles in protest.
There were always various rumours about Mr. Fanselau floating around in the school. For example, he was well known for eating from student’s lunch boxes. So, the story goes, a student prepared a special sandwich with tooth paste and put it on the teacher’s desk. Mr. Fanselau entered, saw the sandwich and ate it. When I questioned him about the story, Mr. Fanselau confirmed it, but was quick to add: “Well, I didn’t eat the whole sandwich.”
Finally, the way I found out about Mr. Fanselau’s death is as bizarre as was his personality: A rogue edit on Wikipedia. Goodbye, Helmar!
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