Günter Felke (4 November 1929 in Laufersweiler – 22 March 2005 in

Sohren Sohren is an ''Ortsgemeinde (Germany), Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (Districts of Germany, district) in Rhinela ...

) was a German furniture manufacturer,

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...

and patron of culture.

Life

Günter Felke was born as the youngest son of the industrialist Michael Felke and his wife Maria in Laufersweiler (State of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

). In 1929 his family moved to Sohren, a village nearby, where his father expanded his furniture factory, the company Felke Möbelwerke. He studied at the Herzog-Johann-Gymnasium in Simmern, which he left in 1948 prior to the final exams to work for his father’s company. With his two brothers Aloys and Walter Felke he worked as a junior boss alongside his father. In 1970 he became chief operating officer and technical director.''Profile aus dem Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis'', Band 1, Rollf-Heiko Buyny, Boppart 1994, In 1960 Günter Felke discovered his fascination with the history of numismatics in Palatinate (Pfalz) and

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. As a collector of Roman, medieval and modern gold coins from the Rhineland, he presented a large collection of rare exhibits to museums in

Veldenz Veldenz is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the former main seat of the County of Veldenz, ...

, Simmern and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. He also wrote several essays on coining in Veldenz. In 1980 Felke became a member of the Bavarian Numismatic Society (''Bayerische Numismatische Gesellschaft''). One year later he published his first book about the history of native gold stamping ''Die Münzen der Herzöge von Simmern''. That book was soon followed by the illustrated book ''Die Goldprägungen der Rheinischen Kurfürsten 1346-1478 in 1989''. 1984 he was one of the founders of the ''Pfälzische Numismatische Gesellschaft''. In the following years Günter Felke subsequently increased his efforts in the cultural sector and the education for young students. His foundation has been presenting the ''Günter-Felke-Award'' to outstanding students at the Herzog-Johann-Gymnasium in Simmern since 1990. Günter Felke was married and the father of three children.

Günter-Felke-Foundation

The Günter Felke Foundation (Günter-Felke-Stiftung) was founded by Günter Felke in October 1989. The foundation has been awarding annual prizes at the ''Herzog-Johann-Gymnasium'' since 1990 to students with outstanding achievements. Since 1990 the Günter-Felke-Foundation has awarded 305 prizes and a total sum of approximately 100.000

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s to 1317 students (as of 2009). The award is largely funded by the benefits of Felke’s last book.

Distinctions

* 1994 – Honorary Award of Simmern * 2000 – Honorary citizen of Simmern''Ehrenbürgerrechte für Günter Felke'',

Rhein-Zeitung The Rhein-Zeitung (''RZ'') is a regional German daily broadsheet newspaper published in Koblenz by Mittelrhein-Verlag GmbH and distributed across Rhineland-Palatinate. In five districts, the editions are unchanged for the respective district; in ...

vom 16. Dezember 1999 * 2001 – Order of Merit of Rhineland-Palatinate''Durch Verdienste Vorbild gegeben'',

vom 3./4. November 2001''Günter Felke - Kulturförderer und Unternehmer starb'',

vom 26. März 2005

Publications

* ''Die Münzen der Herzöge von Simmern'', 1981. * ''Die Goldprägungen der rheinischen Kurfürsten 1346–1478''. Mainz, Trier, Köln, Pfalz. Münz-Zentrum, Köln 1989, .

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Felke, Gunter 1929 births 2005 deaths People from Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis German numismatists People from the Rhine Province