HUBERT'S DESK

In memory of Heinz Nußbaumer

It must have been a good twenty-five years ago - at the Währinger Gürtel, in our mutual friend Tseten's Tibet Restaurant –, when Heinz Nußbaumer and I met for the first time. Our concern for Tibet and our commitment to the Tibetan people and their culture brought us together time and again - as well as ever closer.

One day Heinz invited me to the presentation of his book Der Mönch in mir (The Monk in Me). In it he told of his personal experiences in the secretive monastic republic on Mount Athos. Back home, I read the book spellbound to the end. It was a breath of air for the soul. It was the taste of the eternal. I was inspired and enthralled, called his the very next morning and asked what I needed to do to get there. Heinz offered to take care of the formalities, and, if I would like, I could accompany him on his next journey to Athos.

I had the good fortune of becoming acquainted with the Greek-Byzantine mysticism at his side seven times. Diving into a world of prayer, saturated in chorales, candle scent and incense. It was a gift to hear him tell the thousand-year history of the monastic communities.

Heinz was full of history and stories, and he was a great storyteller. I won't forget the evening hours spent on the balcony of our cloister. The sea at our feet, the flying dances of the swallows before our eyes, listening to ourselves and the world, telling each other secrets and revealing ourselves.

 

A great soul has left us. 🖤🤍🖤 My friend Heinz Nußbaumer was the most considerate, honest and unprejudiced person I've ever met. For all those who knew him, he was a dependable figure in the respectful treatment of those who who held different opinions and beliefs, a mahatma, a great soul.