Oberhof (pps) Harro Esmarch is dead. The long-time media officer of the International Luge Federation (FIL) has passed away at age 84 after a long illness in his adopted home in Thuringia on March 13, 2014. The former editor in charge of the local newspaper “Berchtesgadener Anzeiger” had moved to Oberhof in the Thuringian Forest out of love for his second wife, the 1976 Olympic luge champion, Margit Schumann. They had married on October 5, 2005 with FIL President Josef Fendt acting as marriage registrar.

Harro Esmarch, born in Hamburg and son of Kurt Ernst Gustav Esmarch who is considered as the inventor of the radio show “Hamburger Hafenkonzert” (Hamburg Harbour Concert), officiated as FIL media officer for many years. The greatest part of the official FIL statistics is based on Esmarch’s documents and records.