Karl Maier (1901 – 25 July 2000) was a German Esperantist and member of the Universala Esperanto Asocio, for more than 50 years. Maier learned Esperanto in 1924. After emigration from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1930, he was living with Esperanto enthusiasts among

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Between 1935 and 1955 he lived in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. After his return to Germany, he managed to unite several esperantists, reaching over 300 subscribers for the Chinese magazine El Popola Ĉinio (The Chinese People); promoted the regular Esperanto conventions in East Berlin (beginning in 1960) and fought for the legalization of the Esperanto language in the

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

Legacy

He died in Berlin at the age of 99. Maier’s testament established that his fortune should be donated to the Esperanto-Ligo Berlin and the Esperanto Movement in China. Resolving this legal situation took several years to the league. The Berlin part of the inheritance was invested to build the Germana Esperanta Kultura Centro, new home of the Berlin Esperanto Movement.

References

*Ulrich Lins, ''Mit 99 ein glücklicher Mensch - Karl Maiers langes Leben in Ostasien und Deutschland'', in ''Esperanto aktuell'', March, 2000. pp. 12–13 *Fritz Wollenberg, ''Ni funebras pri Karl Maier (1901-2000)'', in ''Berlina Informilo'', September 2000. German Esperantists 1901 births 2000 deaths Culture of East Germany German male writers German expatriates in the United States German expatriates in Mexico German expatriates in Japan German expatriates in China {{Germany-writer-stub