Sybille Unterdörfel
Family ties and circle of friends
Sybille Unterdörfel never wanted to leave the Vogtland. Close to her roots and family oriented, a native Vogtlandian: the deputy director of BTZ Plauen cherishes her home region.
“I am deeply rooted here and very attached to my family. That is the reason why I stayed here.”
Sybille Unterdörfel was born in Greiz and used to live in Elsterberg until 1989. Her parents still live there, in a house that has been owned by the family for more than 120 years. “Me wanting to leave was never an issue.” She completed her apprenticeship at Mitropa and started working in the gastronomy industry. In 1989 she started working in the neighboring, bavarian City of Hof.
She returned in 1991 to work in the hotel “Am Theater” as general manager of the restaurant and moved into the home of her husband’s parents close to the Pöhl reservoir. Another family with strong roots. Family ties that shape and empower the sense of home and the affiliation to the region.
“We are a big family, because both of our parents remarried. Together we have four sets of parents who we see very often and all get along well with each other.”
Homeland? These are the people who you share your life with. Living together is based on mutual interest and understanding for one another that is framed by help and encouragement. That works fine in Vogtland since the distances are manageable. There are only 10km between her place and her parents’ house. Her son is doing an apprenticeship at the university hospital in Jena at the moment. He would like to eventually return to his homeland. The focus on family is a tradition that surpasses multiple generations.
A lot of her friends from school are still living here. They have been known each other for more than 25 years. Such longterm relationships have been disappearing in our fast-moving times. For Sybille Unterdörfel they are a matter of course. When asked which qualities she likes best about native Vogtlandians she answers: “They are open-minded and honest, but still warm-hearted.”
Especially on the weekends you might see Sybille Unterdörfel walking her dog along the Pöhl dam in the morning. She loves the scenery. “You could take a picture of it every morning.” Vogtland’s special feature? “That everything is really close by. You are quickly in the city, the Vogtlandbahn has really good connections. And still in ten minutes I can be by the water and in three minutes I am in the forest.”
Sybille Unterdörfel was born 1969 and since 1999 remained deputy director at BTZ Plauen. An institution of FAW (Economic Academy of Further Education) which organizes vocational rehabilitation measures for people with psychological disorders.