The Bavarian Red Cross has a new president: Angelika Schorer, member of the CSU state parliament. The 63-year-old was elected at the national assembly of the BRK on the weekend – in an unprecedented battle vote. Schorer received about 52 percent of the delegate votes, the counting result was available late on Sunday evening. In doing so, she prevailed against Holger Krems, a dentist and long-time volunteer from Augsburg. “I see it as my job to convince even those whose votes I couldn’t win,” said Schorer about the close result. “My goal is to bring the association together.” The previous incumbent Theo Zellner, 72, no longer ran. The head of the BRK is voluntary.
In the past few months there has been a duel over the chairmanship of the association, which is a social factor with more than 26,000 full-time employees, 180,000 volunteers, for example in standby, emergency services and welfare and with an annual turnover of more than one billion euros. Almost traditionally, the presidency is linked to a CSU party book (often, however, there were no longer active politicians), taking on the task is probably part of the ruling party’s self-image.
When Zellner’s resignation became public, Krems was the first to announce his ambitions. He referred to his practical experience in numerous branches of the CRPD and party political independence. Schorer, who was recently confirmed as district head of the BRK Swabia, listed her work in the association for two decades, but also her “networks”: It is possible for her not only to find the right words in the right place, but also an open door “. The “short distances in Munich” have been brought in “time and again” as district chief. So far she has “proven that I can absolutely separate them”. Practitioner versus networker, that’s what the positions sounded like before the election.
Dispute is “not in the sense of the BRK”
The close result suggests that the debate about the political component of the presidency has kept members and delegates busy. From the scene, however, it was also known that many were struggling with the possibility of a “real selection” for the first time; a dispute and heated election campaign was “not in the interests of the BRK” and its public perception, it was said that in the worst case scenario, wounds could remain.
Schorer should now do everything possible to ensure that there is no bad mood. The MP from the district of Marktoberdorf has been in the state parliament since 2003. There she is in the Committee for Construction and Transport and as a secretary member of the Presidium of the State Parliament. The mother of four is a trained banker and farmer on a dairy farm. She offered “experience, knowledge and assertiveness at all levels”, she promoted for her BRK candidacy. You work “structured and organized” and can therefore bring several tasks under one roof; but possibly she will now give up her job as deputy district administrator in the Oberallgäu.
“Vaccination is a civic duty,” says Theo Zellner
Theo Zellner, an important CSU local politician before his BRK presidency, said goodbye at the state assembly. “I was happy to fill this position out of personal conviction.” He used the meeting to advertise the corona vaccination. “We will not get out of this constant wave ride without achieving a higher vaccination rate. Vaccination is a civic duty and an act of solidarity,” he said.
Zellner criticized the controversial shutdown of the Bavarian vaccination centers in autumn as “a mistake that I had emphatically warned about”. Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) praised the BRK as “a concentrated social force and an indispensable welfare association”. It is “indispensable” to be part of the strong network of the Bavarian security system. The Red Cross in Bavaria is the only regional association that is not organized as a registered association, but as a corporation under public law, with the Ministry of the Interior overseeing it.