Article from the Chamber Chat in 2002

He lived only 100 feet away from the Berlin Wall in West Germany. On November 9, 1989, he arrived home from work, and, as usual, checked his voice mail.

The one message he had— from his mother-in-law in Warrenton— proclaimed how excited he must be that the Berlin Wall had opened at last. He didn’t believe it. “I turned around to my American wife and said ‘those crazy Americans.’”

He switched on the TV and there it was— news that East Germany had, indeed, opened the Wall. “It was unbelievable— two hours later, East German cars were everywhere and even the West Berlin malls stayed open late and accepted East German currency that night,” he said.

Little did Klaus-Juergen Fuechsel, a software/test engineer and technical project manager, know then that ten years later, he would be living among those crazy Americans.

Mr. Fuechsel, a graduate of Freie Universität in Berlin with a Diplom (equivalent to Master’s Degree) in Mathematics and Computer Science, started out as a software analyst/specialist at Siemens, known in America for medical equipment.

He successfully completed projects in Hong Kong, South Africa, England, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, Germany and the U.S. He introduced, developed, programmed, tested and installed a complete software solution—the entire cycle of software development— for an electronic motor repair company. In 1999, Siemens promoted him to Technical Project Manager for Intelligent Networks which meant relocating his wife and three daughters, then ages 5, 7 and 8, from Germany to New Jersey.

Two years later, Siemens closed its Northern New Jersey office. So Mr. Fuechsel moved to Warrenton where his wife’s parents, Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Palmer live. He took on some freelance web development projects, joined the Fauquier Chamber of Commerce, and assumed an active role in the Fauquier Technology Alliance, currently serving as Vice President of Membership.

Now, he is looking for contracts and/or work with local high tech companies. “Klaus-Juergen has one of the most impressive resumes I’ve ever seen,” said Chamber Executive Director, Karen Henderson. “But his biggest plus is his altruism— he derives great joy in helping others. He will be a wonderful asset to the lucky company who hires him.”

Mr. Fuechsel helped Cody, a child who suffers from Cerebral Palsy, and Cody’s parents choose and program a computer learning tool called E-talk. He also taught Cody how to use E-talk, a project right up Mr. Fuechsel’s alley because he loves combining his desire to help disabled people with his high-tech expertise. “This work is very fulfilling; especially when Cody smiles so happily at you,” he said.

Mr. Fuechsel describes himself as quality oriented, persistent and good in problem solving. “I love Fauquier and would love to work here. My goal is to use my experience in quality assurance for programming/web design, databases, testing, customer support, etc,” he said. He is currently involved in starting up a local hardware/software troubleshooting and internet services company, Web Kenner, Inc.