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I could not help my need to make notes on observations of this nature, partly in the attempt to kill boredom, partly as I want to record the moments of elevation (as there are not many of those). One and a half hours later I landed in Hamburg and with a distinct sense of achievement, I went straight to the office, looking horrible, with saggy eyes and smelling of gin. Klaus Friedrich was visibly impressed by my success, but tried to hide this fact and his sentiments behind a stony face and to limit his recognition, not only due to his mischievous nature, but also due to the fact that he did not want to allow so much responsibility to his son: he was the top dog!
He needed to do something about this. In his mind his son had developed into a challenger, into a threat, that was the way he was thinking. So he simply said:
„Well, we have good brokers in London...”
He did not even know the broker I had visited. No acknowledgement for me and my thought was: "let's go home and have some Scotch" - alone, celebrate my success and not listen to the endless monologues of my father, how things ought to be done. But then he invited me nevertheless to lunch at Coelln's Austernkeller, one of the best addresses in the City. Still more alcohol, and I was utterly exhausted when I eventually got home. Before I went to bed the thought struck me: I can’t take this for long, but I dismissed the thought momentarily: A man has to do what a man has to do. My father, so I learned later, went back to the office, phoned von Stierlitz, and tried to seize personal control of the new scheme. Over the phone he told his long time client:
"Well that is a fine scheme that you have initiated through my son, but... I think...in consideration of my financial exposure, I mean regarding my companies, I think I ought to deal with this in the future"
But von Stierlitz stopped him:
"I think I’m working very well with your son in this area, leave things as they are.“
That was not at all what my father wanted to hear. After the news broke Assekuranzkontor Weyrauch became the focus of the Hamburg hull insurance Market. The brokers were lining up at the door and I was black listed by the hull committees in Hamburg and Bremen. I was as dangerous as my farther, shaking the foundations of the establishment. Klaus Friedrich however watched this with suspicion. So, when I learned that Klaus Friedrich had phoned von Stierlitz and tried to seize control over the new concept, that was successfully implemented in London by von Stierlitz and myself, I started to reflect on the emotional and professional relationship that I had with my father. Yes, I had success, but there was no happiness on the horizon, as happiness is only real when shared and there was nobody who would share with me.
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