{"id":46363,"date":"2023-07-12T11:10:33","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T09:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.steinmuehle.de\/blog\/2023\/07\/12\/this-is-the-end-of-a-dream\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T17:36:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:36:59","slug":"this-is-the-end-of-a-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/blog\/2023\/07\/12\/this-is-the-end-of-a-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"“This is the end of a dream”"},"content":{"rendered":"

An interview with Principal Bernd Holly on the occasion of his retirement: “Looking forward to life beyond the school gates” <\/strong><\/p>\n

The end of July 2023 is drawing inexorably closer. It is the date on the certificate issued by the Minister of Education that signals Principal Bernd Holly\u2019s retirement from the teaching profession. He has reached the mandatory retirement age. Retirement after 22 years at Steinm\u00fchle, after nearly 40 years in his dream job as a teacher. And now? Angela Heinemann spoke with Bernd Holly about defining moments in his life and his current thoughts. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It’s hard to even bring myself to ask. How are you doing right now? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: It is a little awful. Who would willingly leave a place like this? It\u2019s like saying goodbye to a dream. Right now, I\u2019m really aware of what I\u2019m losing. And I\u2019m having so many very emotional goodbyes. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Until now, it’s been a heavy workload\u2014but now there’s time to travel and spend time with the two grandchildren. Isn’t that something to look forward to? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: Oh, absolutely. They\u2019re looking forward to having Grandpa around more often soon. I also love the idea of traveling through Europe in a RV. Or maybe even visiting Ireland sometime. I have an Irish grandfather\u2014that\u2019s where my last name comes from. But I\u2019m being honest with myself: going from endless work hours\u2014a 60-hour week\u2014down to zero is quite something. First, I need to figure out how I\u2019ll define myself now\u2014just through the Steinm\u00fchle, or as my own person. I\u2019m curious to see what life will be like in front of the bollard. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Retirees often fall into a slump…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: Not really. I have a wonderful social circle, a great family, and I\u2019m privileged when it comes to the people around me. I\u2019ve also had some very lucrative job offers, but I\u2019m not accepting them. I\u2019ll only be volunteering at the Marburg Food Bank, and I\u2019ll be encouraging people to plant trees. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We know that social involvement was important to you during your time at Steinm\u00fchle. So that hasn’t changed? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: I come from a very humble background, from a small village in the Westerwald. My father was a railroad crossing guard, and my mother was a seamstress. They were wonderful parents! In our family of five, there was no money for extras. Whenever I needed money or wanted to buy something, I\u2019d get a part-time job\u2014as a construction laborer, a mail carrier, or an industrial diver. The latter was really risky, but it paid well. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is that why you’re committed to helping the socially disadvantaged?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: The term \u201csocially disadvantaged\u201d is incorrect and derogatory. People labeled that way aren\u2019t socially disadvantaged\u2014they just don\u2019t have money. I know some people who are very wealthy but are truly socially disadvantaged. The problem isn\u2019t in their wallets\u2014it\u2019s somewhere else. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And you don’t have much trouble expressing that? Social skills are important to you… <\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: I’ve always been straightforward, which didn’t always sit well with my own teachers. Although I was an A student, I often rubbed people the wrong way. I was excused from the graduation ceremony and wasn\u2019t allowed to give the student speech, even though that\u2019s what my classmates had actually wanted. The school\u2019s reasoning: \u201cGeneral insubordination and insistence on my own opinion.\u201d <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is that something you wanted to do differently as a teacher?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: Actually, I always wanted to be a teacher\u2014both because of good role models and because of bad ones. Even though I got straight A\u2019s on my exams, I couldn\u2019t find a job at first; as we all know, the job market for teachers has been crazy for decades. Sometimes there are too many teachers, sometimes too few. Then it finally worked out. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After stops in Frankfurt and Giessen, you ended up at the Steinm\u00fchle…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: I came from the Willy-Brandt-Schule in Gie\u00dfen. It\u2019s a vocational school, and to some extent, a school in a high-risk neighborhood. As the youngest staff member, I quickly became a department head and \u201csupervisor\u201d for more than 50 colleagues. That\u2019s where I got to know all the different aspects of the job. At the time, many people didn\u2019t understand my application to Steinm\u00fchle because it didn\u2019t seem to fit at all. I even heard comments like, \u201cYou\u2019re usually a decent person. What do you want at this school?\u201d <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 2001, the Steinm\u00fchle was facing a crisis that threatened its very existence\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: The school had only 445 students, was in a precarious financial situation, and, for various reasons, had a very poor reputation. As a team, we managed to turn the school around back then and, over time, turn it into a sought-after educational institution. This approach\u2014combined with having the right people in various key positions\u2014has made Steinm\u00fchle what it is today. I\u2019ve put a lot of my heart and soul into it. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is the stone mill facing challenges today as well?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: Steinm\u00fchle faces the challenge of finding teachers. Teaching is a highly complex profession; more needs to be invested in building relationships. At Steinm\u00fchle, this is even more difficult because teachers are expected to be more present than at public schools. Presence in more ways than one. And we don\u2019t have tenured positions. Then there\u2019s the power of \u201canti-social\u201d media and a culture of debate that needs to be nurtured. But the last two points apply to all schools. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And at a time like that, Holly’s leaving?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: Well, I’m not going willingly. And I’m not dead, after all. I’ll join the school association and stay on top of things. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So many people are sad to see you go and have expressed their feelings. Something in particular touched you… <\/strong><\/p>\n

Holly: Every day, two girls from elementary school bring me an apple or some other piece of fruit. They want me to stay healthy. They want me to live to a ripe old age\u2014at least until they graduate from high school. Unfortunately, I can\u2019t grant that second wish\u2026 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An interview with Principal Bernd Holly on the occasion of his retirement: “Looking forward to life beyond the school gates” The end of July 2023 is drawing inexorably closer. It is the date on the certificate issued by the Minister of Education that signals Principal Bernd Holly\u2019s retirement from the teaching profession. He has reached […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":46365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,102,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events-celebrations","category-former-students-alumni","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49421,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46363\/revisions\/49421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinmuehle.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}