‘Overwhelmed by his welcome’
In 2009, during Heinrich’s last visit to the village at the age of 84, the Panzer grenadier was overwhelmed with the warmth of welcome he received, first at a reception for him in the Royal Hotel library, where he was presented with a booklet on the history of Cultybraggan Camp, and later when he visited Dalginross House care home and the Servite sheltered housing complex.
He reminisced with residents including the late Jenny Macgregor, who remembered clearly the day Mr Steinmeyer and his fellow German soldiers arrived in Comrie.
She told the Herald at the time: “They came into the station on a Sunday at about 12.30pm and were marched up Drummond Street and Dalginross.
“What enthralled me was their marvellous singing. They sang as they marched up the road.
“I don’t know what they were singing – songs about us, no doubt.
“They were very disciplined and smart and held their heads high as if they still thought they had a chance of winning the war. Most of them were very young.”
During an interview with the Herald, Mr Steinmeyer pinpointed the hut he had spent his time in behind the wire on an old map and said he was excited but not nervous at the prospect of seeing the camp again. He described how there were up to 100 prisoners in each of the large huts, which were surrounded by barbed wire.
Despite their confinement, the men were comfortable and had access outside. Inside, there were plenty of stoves to keep them warm.
He loved to gaze up at Ben Halton and what he called “the black hills”.
“It’s a lifetime since I was here,” he said during his visit, “but it hasn’t changed. The countryside is still as lovely as ever. People were very kind to us all over Scotland after the war.
“There was no antagonism towards me. They had no resentment. They just said ‘you had to fight and we had to fight’.”