Alex Hofmann (Mayor)

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Alex Hofmann (* 1879 ; † August 1959 ) was a German entrepreneur and mayor of Detmold in 1945 .

Life

Alex Hofmann was the brother of Willy Hofmann, who took over the management of Gebr. Klingenberg in Detmold in 1904 . Willy Hofmann died on June 4, 1909 at the age of 39 and Alex Hofmann took over the management from 1910. On February 10, 1959, Hofmann received the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon from the President of the Government Gustav Galle “for his entrepreneurial vision and for his social attitude” .

Hofmann was also mayor of Detmold for a short time. On April 4, 1945 soldiers of the 30th US Division occupied Detmold without a fight, the NSDAP Mayor Hans Keller was deposed. The factory owner Hofmann visited the town hall the next day to get posters from Government Councilor Petri that read “Off Limits”, as the soldiers repeatedly disrupted the processes in his company. There Nacke and lawyer Schnitger urged him to be appointed mayor because of his knowledge of English and his negotiating skills. They also warned that otherwise a communist could possibly fill the post. After some hesitation, Hofmann agreed to serve as mayor for three days. He was introduced to the US commander, who signed him with a handshake. Hofmann's primary task was to bring at least some order into the post-war chaos and to have the rubble of the war removed. He also set up a civilian police force. Hofmann proposed Heinrich Drake as state president to the English commander, Shepard . Since Alex Hofmann wanted to dedicate himself fully to his entrepreneurial activities again, he also made the pre-selection of a successor in the person of Richard Moes , who was then accepted by Heinrich Drake. On June 15, 1945 Hofmann was replaced as mayor.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Vera Scheef, Imke Tappe: 125 years of the Klingenberg brothers. From cigar bands to photo wallpaper . Detmold 1992, p. 15 .
  2. ↑ Office of the Federal President
  3. ↑ Vera Scheef, Imke Tappe: 125 years of the Klingenberg brothers. From cigar bands to photo wallpaper . Detmold 1992, p. 19 .
  4. ↑ Diether Kuhlmann: Old trunk and new heads in the Detmold town hall . In: Detmold in the post-war period . Aisthesis, Bielefeld 1994, ISBN 3-925670-94-7 , p. 67-72 .
  5. ↑ "The saddest and most devastating perceptions of my life ..." The factory owner Alex Hofmann's memories of his time as Mayor of Detmold . In: Kreis Lippe (Ed.): Collapse and Reconstruction. Lippe between 1945 and 1949 . Detmold 1987, p. 58-60 .
personal data
SURNAME Hofmann, Alex
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hofmann, Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur and mayor
DATE OF BIRTH 1879
DATE OF DEATH August 1959