On the occasion of the 80th birthday of Prof. Pilz, we scheduled a seminar talk on his favorite topic in algebra, near rings. His former student Erhard Aichinger gave a vivid overview of the most important results of the area, supplemented with photographs and anecdotes from Günter's academic activities in Linz and around the world. The discussions about near rings and other aspects of life continued after the seminar at a joint dinner.