Dr. Helmut Hauptmeier

It is difficult for me to find the right words for my obituary of such a special friend as you. We both experienced many adventures together.

I still remember the many hours we spent together playing Pokémon GO. We motivated each other to complete our collections and shared our latest achievements. It was a time of fun and joy that I will never forget.

But you weren't just a "playmate", you were also a conversation partner who was always ready to discuss God and the world with me. Your profound thoughts and views often inspired me and made me think. You were also always able to explain exciting things to me that I had just read. I always found that enriching.

And then there was our joint research in Botswana. We worked hard together to achieve the project goals, but it was also a time full of unforgettable experiences and adventures. We got to know the culture and the people of the country and tested our own limits.

I will also miss our lunches together in the noodle bar. We were there so often that you only had to say "the usual" and everyone knew. We had great conversations or just relaxed and spent time together. I enjoyed both.

It's hard to accept that you've gone, especially because you were too young, physically and mentally. But I think about how you fought during your illness and how you stayed strong until the end. Your fighting spirit and confidence impressed me deeply and will always be a part of me.

I will miss you, my friend. You have left an unforgettable mark on my life that will remain in my heart forever. Rest in peace and I hope that you are now in a place where there is no pain and suffering.

Dear Helmut,
How I would love to visit you in the office one more time while you are poring over a bachelor thesis or a strategy paper, greet you with "Dumela rra!", as they do in Botswana, and ask if you fancy a coffee.
You could never say no to a good espresso, a tasty meal and a quality cigar. You were both a passionate cook and a talented connoisseur. You could do both, even with the sparse kitchen facilities at the Sausage Tree Lodge. A Savanna was the best way to spend half the night talking about God and the world. The best way to do this was to drive through the Okavango Delta in a jeep while listening to a record by Iron Maiden.
You were very keen to experience and preserve beauty: nature, science and teaching. It was clear to you that you could only make progress here with determination, and you didn't mince your words. Not even when you were barely retired and your illness broke out. You said to me at the time: "I've already had a good life". But couldn't it have been any longer?
You were also a dog lover. In Botswana, we "adopted" two strays and as a pensioner you wanted to have a bulldog by your side, like the one on the poster in your office.
Many plans that unfortunately weren't allowed to become reality. But I still want to realize one: to write the book about the life of James (007), our field guide from Eretsha, with the many stories we created.
We will miss you very much, dear Helmut. And we will continue what you have built up with your enthusiasm, curiosity, intelligence, skill and humor. Erra!

HH, colleague and friend
HH stands for Helmut Hauptmeier. That was his abbreviation, sometimes he was even called that: "HH called."
I met him for the first time almost 40 years ago. I came to Siegen with two colleagues from a research institute of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Paderborn and he was already there. At the LUMIS Institute - Literature and Media Research in Siegen - which was soon founded as a central scientific institution, we met at the institute's regular weekly working sessions. Constructivism - anyway, preparing the special research area on television history, then also carrying out the research projects supervised by LUMIS colleagues, and so on. - there was a lot to think about, discuss and plan. Beyond that, Helmut and I didn't have much to do with each other, at least not in joint projects.
However, we did meet separately from time to time, advising each other on questions of empirical research practice, for example, and tweaking the formulation of survey instruments and evaluation methods, among other things. Helmut was not at all resistant to advice, which I increasingly appreciated about him. And I learned a lot from him. It was only from 2000 onwards - until I retired at the end of 2008 - that we worked together intensively on courses, supervised theses and supported each other, particularly in carrying out projects with and for students: One particular challenge from 2003 to 2004 was the conception and production of a film for public relations and fundraising for the Balthasar children's hospice in Olpe, which opened its doors to young people not long afterwards. The film was no longer relevant, but no one could take the powerful experiences away from the students and us.
A very important part of our collaboration was our frequent evening meetings in a restaurant in Siegen's upper town. It used to serve Chinese food, later Indian. There we recovered from many an exam marathon, planned courses, developed project ideas, exchanged all kinds of observations and criticism, but also private matters. I had to ask him first, then he showed me one of the first photos of his son. He was so proud of him! And he was happy to take me to my apartment in the Porsche, flipping a certain little switch so that it would roar a little - TÜV-approved - when he stepped on the gas. That made the two friends happy.

Raimund Klauser.

Dear Helmut,
I can't remember how often we met here outside the door for a cigarette or a cigarillo. And in other places too, wherever, during conferences or meetings, always outside the door, whatever the weather. Mostly by chance. But sometimes also leaving a meeting together for a short break.
I can't remember how many people we met there. Mostly by chance, but sometimes they joined us deliberately. It was always just these 10-minute conversations, but I rarely left without a new idea, a new insight, a new impulse.
I can't remember how many longer and more in-depth conversations we've had over the years. And about how many topics that went far beyond our specific research work. Technology and its social impact, of course, that was our job. Philosophy, epistemology, ideology, religion, politics. Travel, the world and worlds, we could talk about anything and you always had something inspiring to say.
What I remember is that I was always able to learn something from our conversations. And that's also because you understood like no other how to combine intellectual insight with personal experience. That made you extremely authentic and credible to me and I know that many of your students felt the same way about you as a teacher. A man who doesn't just talk, but a man who knows what he's talking about. You don't find that very often. Not even in science.
What I also remember is that we didn't always agree over the years. But that you are someone who can tolerate contradictions. However, I don't remember us ever disagreeing. I found your openness to dialogue, your tolerance and also your respect for other opinions to be exemplary, both in scientific discussions and in interpersonal conversations.
In addition to your common sense, I will never forget your distinct sense of humor and the humanity with which you made the modern scientific world much more bearable in everyday life.
Helmut, I will miss our (un)regular meetings. And I'm sure many of your students and colleagues will feel the same. But for me, you are still here and remain an inspiration whenever I stand in front of the door, wherever I am, in wind and weather.
Thank you, Markus

An obituary:
Helmut Hauptmeier was already a member of Siegfried J. Schmidt's team when SFB 240 'Screen Media' was founded and was also one of the people I was able to welcome when I moved to Siegen at what was then the LUMIS Institute. Together with Gebhard Rusch, he was a member of the scientific team. He was significantly involved in the project work since the first working phase, especially in the conception and application of the project's survey instruments and in the exploration of genre schemes. If I remember correctly, this project included such recent surveys as a kindergarten study on television behavior.
His two relevant publications from 1987 in the journals "Poetics" and "SPIEL" on the theory of television genres and on the question of "typology" or "classification" were among the lasting contributions of empirically based media studies, which contributed not least to the international visibility of this then unprecedented large-scale project of cooperative research. The fact that this project lasted an extraordinary 15 years is also thanks to his personal commitment and his international contacts. He was a highly valued colleague and colleague to me and all those who had the privilege of working with him for a good many years.

Helmut Schanze

I only met Helmut Hauptmeier personally a few times, always on official occasions that had to do with future issues at the University of Siegen. On all these occasions, I found him to be a person who was as attentive as he was competent, as friendly as he was committed. Those few times I worked with him were a pleasure for me. His death leaves a gap that cannot be filled.

Univ.-Prof. em. Dr. Ralf Schnell
Former Rector of the University of Siegen

The Hauptmeier principle

We knew each other through the media studies team, which was always a colorful bunch with many perspectives and interests that didn't always coincide. It was always pleasant with Helmut Hauptmeier, because he was obviously satisfied with his life and assumed that other people should feel the same way. I liked that, so we only talked pragmatically about team matters and otherwise about philosophical topics, but in hand format. Once we came to the subject of the abolition of free will, which a brain researcher he knew well had put forward when he was able to prove through a psychological-neurological test that the decision to act had always been made a second before the test subjects were able to articulate the decision or make themselves and others aware of it. A few months later, however, the abolition of free will was reversed because it was found in car driving simulations that the speed of reaction was sufficient to invalidate the argument. Helmut Hauptmeier said that the evidence did not make sense to him anyway, because racing drivers have a much shorter reaction time, which can also be measured in film footage of the start of car races. If there was no more free will in such situations, every such start would end in pile-up chaos. This can happen, but it is not the norm. In honor of Helmut Hauptmeier, I call this connection "the Hauptmeier principle". It states that our theories about the functioning of the brain (or the mind, or our devices and media) must also be set up in such a way that car races and, above all, their chaotic initial phase remain possible. After all, they are possible. If I remember correctly, free will still had twice as much room in the reaction speed of racing drivers than was expected when it was abolished, partly because movements are perceived even more dynamically from the corner of the eye than from the front. Perhaps it is also better for big theories to only perceive them out of the corner of your eye so as not to collide with them on the short runway of their start-finish landing. But I realize, as always a second too late, that my satirical streak is breaking through, which Helmut certainly appreciated. So I'll turn things around and just say: Cheerio, Helmut. It was good to meet you.

ERHARD SCHÜTTPELZ

Bonn and Siegen, 04.02.2023

Dear Helmut,
It's so sad: you're no longer with us! We miss you as a colleague, close companion and friend. We have worked together in a spirit of trust for the last 15 years. You grew up in the renowned media research department in Siegen - in S.J. Schmidt's environment. After excursions and lecturing at other universities, including Osnabrück, you recognized the potential of university involvement in the region very early on. As Managing Director of the Fortbildungsakademie Medien (FAM), you tried to bridge the gap between media research and regional digitization needs 20 years ago - before the term digitization was on everyone's lips.
After your return to the University of Siegen, you played a key role in shaping the development of the Institute for Media Research (IfM) in the School of Media and Information (iSchool). As its managing director, you set up your own research agenda and represented us on the committees of the international iSchool organization. You were interested in regional problems as well as international challenges. Your several-month assignment in Afghanistan to investigate the effect of media production on the political attitudes of the population in rural areas for the German Armed Forces was legendary (and quite controversial in terms of university policy). In Botswana, together with Konstantin, Rita and Tanja, you investigated the extent to which modern localization technologies can mediate in the conflicts between lions and cattle herders on the edge of the Okawango National Park. Your jeep trips in the research field and their administrative traces in our university administration are legendary. However, you were not only interested in the use of localization technologies in southern Africa, but you also tried to bring these applications into play for the politically highly explosive handling of a herd of bison in our local forests.
Your Protestant work ethic, your intelligence and your understanding and skill in higher education policy have been of great benefit to me over the last three years in the Prorectorates Digital and Regional Affairs. Without your support, I would have sunk into the depths of our digitalization process.
Dear Helmut, ever since I stood at your bedside with Konstantin - you were already in an induced coma - and learned of your death two days later, we have shed tears in friendly remembrance of you. We will always remember your wisdom, your loyalty and your commitment to our group and to a better world ... so much!
You touched me personally until the very end when you asked for me on the day you were put into an induced coma ....... Unfortunately, we arrived at your deathbed a day too late ..... to say goodbye to you ..... So sad .....
We remember you!
Volker