Udo Walz died at 76

reThe hat is a difficult cut. Gerhard Meir, the Munich society hairdresser, only died in September. And on Friday he was followed by Udo Walz, his Berlin counterpart. With the death of the two “star hairdressers”, as they liked to be called, a world is sinking in which the “Figaros” salons star in crucial social contacts of the “kiss-kiss society”. Both come from the pre-digital era, in which first-hand news was not known through Instagram stories, but second-hand, or by diverting from the third-hand “colorful”.

“Fortunately, I do not lack anything. I hope that my happiness lasts as I had it in the last 74 years,” said Walz a year and a half ago in the FAZ magazine questionnaire. And until a few weeks ago this attitude towards life could be felt in his living room, then he greeted the women effusively, enjoyed the stories, poured himself his Coke, and talked about a time past that had left him too.

Udo Walz, who was born on July 28, 1944 in Waiblingen as the son of a professional driver, did his apprenticeship in Stuttgart. But he wanted to go higher and came to St. Moritz at a time when the jet set still liked being there. Stories about Romy Schneider and Marlene Dietrich also carried him through gloomy days in Berlin, where he has been entertaining clients in his own salon since 1985.

The change of course also worked in their favor. The chancellor arrived, something like a Berlin society was slowly establishing itself, Patricia Riekel from the “Bunter” became one of his best friends, and could have gone on and on in her beautiful hall on Kurfürstendamm. But the last cut was made on Friday by death.