As „Alf” (trip name) he was active in the „Nerother Wandervogel” and in the „bündische Widerstand”. We owe him songs like: “Wenn die bunten Fahnen wehen”, “Wir sind eine kleine verlorene Schar” or “Wo wollt ihr hin, ihr tollen Jungen”. Born in in a middle-class home, he showed - along with many other interests - an early penchant for music and wanted to be trained as a singer after a very good Abitur. However, his father insisted that he first learned a profession that offered him a materially secure future: He began studying for a subject in biology, physics and sports, which he also completed with the state examination. In 1932 he first came into contact with the Nerothern in Wiesbaden during a film lecture by the Nerother about their trip around the world. He was so impressed that the next day he wrote and composed the song “Wenn die bunten Fahnen wehen” in one go, his most popular song, which became known far beyond the young people in one fell swoop and was even sung in the Hitler Youth. He was imprisoned for four weeks after the ban of the Bündische Jugend in 1933 - because of “federal activities” (at that time it was sufficient to go on a trip with a group that did not belong to the Hitler Youth). His first lyrical products were voyage songs, which were happily received and passed on by his friends in the Nerother Wandervogel. The fact that he was Nerother brought him years of persecution and harassment from the Secret State Police in the Third Reich. At that time he retired from the school service to which he had wanted to devote himself. After the war, in which he had suffered the loss of his left leg as a soldier, he mainly dealt with musical work and music lessons for guitar. Writing verse has been and has been a vital necessity for him since his years in Nerother. His songs have been sung in the frets since 1930; the song “Wenn die bunten Fahnen wehen”, which he wrote at the age of 24, has even achieved the status of a folk song for the entire German-speaking world.
(Rainer Stelle)