Initiator Joachim Franz about SAFE HOUSE

'As a person, human being and responsible on behalf of that special award Prix Romantik Liebold I back the idea of the SAFE HOUSE project. It is something very outstanding if a price turns into a movement that puts young people in the centre, gives them an opportunity for a real life. Together with Romantik Hotels, and foremost all the extraordinary personalities that represent this cooperation, I am very proud to launch the SAFE HOUSE movement.'

www.joachim-franz.com

Joachim Franz - a personality making a difference

'If you get to know him, you experience real authenticity. And you understand why Joachim Franz initiates projects that nearly exhaust his powers. He is not doing it for himself or his own success but to change things by motivation.' - Roland Zadra, President of Romantik Hotels & Restaurants

Until January 1990 Joachim Franz, born on November 11th, 1960, lived the normal life of a shift worker at the VW plant in Wolfsburg. Then came the day he said to himself: 'From now on everything changes!' The anti-sportsman weighing 118 kg changed into a marathon runner of 72 kg within three months. The first ten years of his sports career he concentrated on extreme sports. After accompanying an aids-infected friend and meeting with aids during long-distance runs in Africa and Asia Joachim Franz decided to commission his sports to humanitarian projects.