by Dr. Iain
Corness
Despite
what you may have heard, Max Rommel is neither the son of the famous
general Erwin Rommel, nor his nephew, even though he is related, and Max
knows more about the entire Rommel family than most of us even know about
just our own parents. Max is a historian who can trace the Rommel family
tree back to AD 1175 and Drakenburg Castle, “Although we don’t own it
any more,” said Max. “We lost it all after WWI.” To back up this
statement, Max dragged out several books to show the Rommel lineage which
also encompasses an Italian great grandmother and some other tenuous
relationships to the UK’s Queen Victoria and one of the German emperors.
Max was born during WWII in Frankfurt. “It was
precisely at 8 a.m. and it was the winter and it was snowing. Maybe
that’s why I like warm countries,” said Max. He was an only child,
“And now I’m an orphan,” he said, showing an innate sense of humour.
His love of history came to him early in life. “Right
from the beginning I was interested in where I came from. I was fascinated
by the smell of old books. I would get up at night after my parents had
gone to sleep and look through old documents my father had saved.”
Having said that, he leaped up and returned with his father’s military
passports. He then leafed through a sheaf of papers. “These documents
are of no value - except to me.” In that particular bundle was a
newspaper from 1860 and a property transfer from the 1600’s.
After his high school, Max went to do a technician’s
course at Daimler Benz, but after six months, he knew this was not what he
wanted to do with his life. He knew that he wanted to see Italy, so at age
20 he pointed his car south and visited some Italian relatives from his
great grandmother’s side of the family. Immediately he felt welcome. He
also enjoyed light Italian food more than the stodgy German cuisine, and
felt that the people themselves were more hospitable than those from
northern Europe. “I was greeted like a son,” said Max.
While he was certainly made welcome, it also became
necessary for the young man to earn a living. A friend was arranging
summer holiday rentals for tourists and he was asked to help. This
appeared to suit young Max, and after an uncle showed him the rudiments of
selling real estate, he was off and running.
He found that in the region of Marche, in Italy, the
local Catholic Church there needed to sell some land which it owned,
adjoining the beachfront. He was only 23 years old, but was becoming
savvy. He knew that if he showed the land to customers, they could go
straight to the church authorities to buy and he would be cut out. He
needed a contract to cover this.
Again, the family helped with advice and he struck a
contract with the Vatican in Rome, to be the agent to sell the church
land. He was not to be paid cash, but given land in lieu. This was
groundbreaking stuff, literally and metaphorically! He even got to meet
the Pope (Paul VI) who remarked, “You are very young to do this work!”
He sold the land very profitably for the church, but he
knew the potential for himself, and when some rich Romans wanted a large
parcel, he threw his holdings in with theirs and they built a resort,
complete with hotel and restaurant. He was 26 and had just become the
general manager of the Villagio Touristico Max Rommel!
With such a meteoric rise, he did not, as you might
have imagined, then set his sights on other targets. No, Max Rommel was
happy to be in Italy, and in charge of his own destiny. He had his resort
and it made enough money to keep his backers, and himself, happy. He had a
nice villa, complete with swimming pool. It was a good life.
However, all good things must come to an end, and so it
was for Max too. The water quality fell in the seas off the resort and the
tourists began to go elsewhere. The expenses in the resort remained, but
the income began to go down sharply. Soon he was eating into his savings,
and after a couple of years he knew he had to leave. He returned to
Germany.
He had first experienced Thailand some 10 years
previously and decided he would set up a tour company to bring German
tourists to the Kingdom. This worked, but he was sitting in Germany, the
land that had been snowing when he was born, and it was still cold. “I
had problems with the weather, the food and the people. I decided I
didn’t want to work in Germany.” Having made that decision, it was not
too long before he came here to live, and after a couple of years, to
retire with his books and curios.
Max has certainly more memorabilia than most of us. He
brought two containers to Thailand, even bringing his grandmother’s
china cabinet (and the china!). But it is the books that dominate the
house. Max has books covering the history of Germany, the history of the
automobile and even the history of the world. On one shelf are books
covering such disparate people as Henry Kissinger, Konrad Adenauer and
Adolf Hitler, and on others, sections covering everything from psychology
to sexology.
Max Rommel has very ‘broad ranging’ intellect. He
is multi-lingual, German born, yet thinks in Italian and admits he picks
up Il Globo before Stern. Great grandmother’s genes dominant perhaps?
Max finished by reiterating that he was very happy. “I can say to the
Lord, it (life) was very nice, thank you!” And after that, we sat down
together for a pasta lunch and a good old chat, as people are wont to do
in Italy!
