Prof. Dr Elmar Wadle, former member of the Siebenpfeiffer Foundation's scientific board of trustees, passed away on 8 April at the age of 86. District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo was personally saddened by the news. Not only was he a research assistant at the chair of the professor from January 1986 to July 1989, Prof Wadle also supervised the district administrator's dissertation entitled "Die Verhandlungen des außerordentlichen Assisengerichts zu Landau in der Pfalz im Jahr 1833", with which he was awarded his doctorate in law in 1994, as his "doctoral supervisor".
Even before the Siebenpfeiffer Foundation was established, Prof. Wadle from St. Ingbert was already researching and publishing on the first land commissioner of the former district of Homburg and freedom fighter Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer, who was also a lawyer and provided significant impetus for the legal sciences of his time. Wadle's contribution "Das rheinische Recht bei Siebenpfeiffer" was published in 1989 in the anthology "Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer. A life for freedom". Wadle was an honorary member of the Siebenpfeiffer Foundation's academic board of trustees from its inception in 1988 until his retirement in 2015. He was also active as director and organiser of the first academic colloquium "Siebenpfeiffer and his time in the field of vision of legal history" in July 1989, which in turn resulted in volume 1 of the series "Schriften der Siebenpfeiffer-Stiftung", which was published in 1991. Numerous writings and publications in various publications can be traced back to Prof Wadle.
"Prof Wadle's intensive examination of Siebenpfeiffer's career and work, primarily from the perspective of legal history, contributed significantly to a deeper understanding of the representative of early liberalism. I am still grateful to Prof Wadle for this today. Our paths crossed again and again after my time at the university. I was very pleased about his commitment to the Siebenpfeiffer Foundation, through which we were also in contact," recalls District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo, Chairman of the Siebenpfeiffer Foundation, and pays tribute to Prof. Wadle as a passionate researcher and teacher, as an extremely upright and open-minded person. Through education and enlightenment, the St. Ingbert native not only inspired numerous students, but also greatly enriched the cultural heritage of the local region and promoted the importance of law and justice in society. "Prof Wadle was one of those people who can unselfishly give others opportunities that are unique and whose use can have a decisive positive impact on the course of a person's life. He was truly a teacher, a supporter and a personality whose advice proved invaluable time and time again. He leaves a gap that will certainly be difficult to fill. My sincere condolences, also on behalf of the Siebenpfeiffer Foundation and the Saarpfalz district, go to Prof Wadle's family, his circle of friends and all those who had the privilege of working with him. We will always honour his memory," said District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo in his condolences.