Zygowski, Dieter

On the 29 November 2002 Dieter died in Münster after a long illness, aged 49 years. During the years from 1976 to 1990 he was a leading light in the Federation of German Caving Clubs. Dieter first became interested in caves after visiting a coal mine in the Sauerland in 1971. He was also a very active caver in many local caving clubs. He joined the Federation in 1976 and produced a National Caving Bibliography for 1980 to 1985. He ran the exchange of publications from 1982 to 1994  and was editor from 1981 to 1995 and played a large part in organising the library. He initiated contact with the East German cavers and in 1981 he organised the AGM at Aggertalhöhle in Ründeroth. On the international scene he attended speleological conferences in Sheffield 1977, Bowling Green 1981, Barcelona 1986, the Symposium for the History of Speleology in Austria in 1979. My special memory of him is going the European Regional Conference in Sofia in 1980. On an epic trip across Europe we visited caves and cavers in all the countries on the way. The high point of his contribution to caving publications was in 1982 when he edited the special publication “The Caves and Karst of Westfphalia”. Dieter was an avid collector of caving books, publications and old prints and it is fitting that his last wishes have been faithfully carried and his collection is now in the Dechenhöhle Museum and is called the “The Dieter W Zygowski Exploration Library”.

In his short life Dieter was an action man, full of ideas and with the ability and determination to carry them out. We have lost a true friend.