In her own words
I came into contact with minerals as a child. My father was a scientist and was interested not only in his own field, botany, but also in mineralogy. At the beginning of the twentieth century he built up a mineral collection, partly from hand specimens he had collected himself and partly from ones he had bought. These beautiful stones, some as crystals, some with polished sections, fascinated me. I delighted in their variety of colours and forms.
After the end of the Second World War we had to leave our flat. We were allocated another place to live in a wooden house, into which we could not take the collection – the load on the floor would have been too great. So the collection was handed over to a mineralogical institute; what remained for me were the memory and the interest that had been awakened in the world of minerals.
I was also able to infect my husband with my interest in landscapes, plants and minerals. At the beginning of the 1970s he retired from working life, and we were able to devote more time to our shared interests. We travelled, partly on our own and partly with members of the Münchener Mineralienfreunde, which we soon joined. For us, collecting meant the experience of nature, the joy and the opportunity of learning a great deal that was new, of developing ideas for arranging our own collection, of preparing talks and lectures, and much more. After my husband’s death, nothing changed for me in these interests; perhaps they have even taken on greater importance.
I am interested in local collections. What matters to me is not primarily completeness but beauty. It gives me particular pleasure to observe the variety of form and colour in crystals of one and the same mineral species. For example, I have many olivenite variations from the Grube Clara in Oberwolfach in my collection, or adamite variations from Lavrion in Greece. I also try to include small specimens from localities that I cannot reach myself; they complement the pieces I found myself. Working with minerals allows me to stay in constant contact with like-minded friends.
I have no family who are interested in minerals. I therefore want my entire micromount collection to go to the micromounter working group of the Münchener Mineralienfreunde. I would like to see a representative selection in the Lithothek; the group may use the remaining pieces as it sees fit. But even now I would like to contribute to the Lithothek with some fine specimens of my own choosing.
Obituary by Manfred Seitz
Our friend “Dorle” Kulicke died on 2 November 2003 after a serious illness – on the evening of the day on which the Munich Mineralientage came to an end. She wanted to experience the show once more, even if only in spirit; only then was she able to let go. Only a few weeks earlier, she had still been laying out leaflets for the forthcoming Mineralientage in hospital – so much did the society belong to her life. On 7 November 2003 a memorial service was held at the Neuer Südfriedhof in Perlach, at which many friends were able to say goodbye to her.