On November 20 of this year, the president of the Baden-Württemberg Aviation Association (BWLV) honored our long-time sales manager Hans-Georg "Biggo" Berger with the Klaus Holighaus Medal in Gold, which fills us with pride and joy.
For the majority of our customers, Biggo is the "face of Schempp-Hirth". For more than 40 years he was the primary contact person for all customers worldwide as head of sales. He played a major role in shaping the company during this time, especially after the much too early death of the company owner, chief designer and managing director Klaus Holighaus in 1994.
But Biggo was not only available for our company and our customers - he was also indispensably committed to the sport of gliding and aviation youth. As early as 1973, he acquired his flight instructor's license, and for more than 50 years he has been training student pilots on a voluntary basis as a flight instructor in the club. The SBW Förderverein, of which Biggo is one of the co-founders, is also dedicated to promoting the next generation of pilots. Biggo worked tirelessly for the interests of air sports in his club and at Hahnweide, with flight safety being particularly close to his heart. Along with Kurt Sautter, Ebbe Scheu and Helmut Montag, Biggo was one of the founding fathers of the Arbeitskreis Sektoren (Sector Working Group), which stands for an unprecedented cooperation with commercial aviation and makes it possible to maintain the airspace for gliding around Stuttgart Airport in the best possible way.
The Klaus Holighaus Medal is intended to commemorate the excellent glider pilot, gifted glider designer and successful entrepreneur Klaus Holighaus, who died in a fatal accident during a flight in 1994. The award is intended to honor personalities with outstanding services to air sports.
Photograph by Simone Bürkle (BWLV)