To fight for a cause, but to remain moderate in the argument and to treat your counterpart in a friendly manner – this ability is rapidly disappearing in the current discourses. The complete opposite of this irreconcilability was embodied by the Landshut nature conservationist Paul Riederer, who always demonstrated in an exemplary manner how a contentious matter should be dealt with for the benefit of everyone involved. Riederer represented his opinion calmly and factually, but with emphasis. His respectful manner won him recognition even from those who disagreed. If everyone in the current political debates argued and acted as calmly and prudently as he does, the world would probably be a lot more peaceful.
Riederer was not only a pioneer in matters of nature conservation in Bavaria – among other things, at his instigation, the former training site in Landshut was designated as a nature reserve – but also in the resistance against the use of nuclear power. When the nuclear power plants in Niederaichbach and Ohu were built, he appeared as one of the first admonishers. “Nobody was interested in that at the time,” he often said. But that didn’t stop him from becoming a driving force in the resistance to nuclear power. He lived to see one of his goals in life, the shutdown of the last nuclear power plants in Germany.
Riederer, who, as a trained typesetter and proofreader, was also a master of the language and did not allow himself to be politically influenced by any side, received, among other things, the Bavarian Environmental Medal, the Bavarian Constitutional Medal and the Great Medal of Merit from the Federal Nature Conservation Federation.
Paul Riederer’s advice was sought until the very end, as always he took an active interest in current affairs. A few days after his 93rd birthday he died in his hometown of Landshut.