Franzi was one of my closest friends and my most sociable pal. We met at the summer university of Victoria, British Columbia (Canada) in 2013. Apart from him standing out academically during the course of this three-week trip, he was known for his passion of pranking his peers (something he luckily stopped doing once we were back in Vienna). He would find the utmost joy in throwing snails at the girls who would let out high pitched screams and run away from him. That's one of the first things I remember about him. Once we were back in Vienna a deeper friendship developed.
I would take him with me to different friends, different groups of people or gatherings. Not only was he always open to meet new people, he managed to capture their hearts. No matter where we went, people instantly liked him. They liked him to such an extent, that even long after he moved to London, people kept asking me about him. With his sense of humour, he cracked up rooms full of people with laughter.
He used to live in first district, at the end of Schwedenbruecke, close to where I am residing, so on numerous occasions I would spontaneously call him up when passing by and whenever time allowed it, he would go for a walk or get food with me and friends.
He was a good friend who always had compassion and empathy for the ones close to him. On one of those occasions, he took me in after I had hit rock bottom in my life. Without any hesitation, he let me stay at his apartment in London for a week, even though he was busy getting ready for his studies at a new school (a week was the time span I had asked for and he had agreed instantly). The support he had given me, was something I treasure deeply until now. I always hoped to be able to repay him one day for the kindness he had shown me during that hard time in my life.
I will always remember him as the fun and life-loving person that he was in my eyes. I miss him deeply.
