Alwine Wellmann

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Alwine Wellmann (born February 24, 1891 in Osnabrück ; † April 17, 1966 there ) was a German politician ( SPD ).

Life

Alwine Wellmann (left) with Evdokia Obreschkova in Sofia , Bulgaria, May 16, 1937

Alwine Wellmann was born the daughter of a locksmith. After graduating from elementary school, she attended business school and completed a commercial apprenticeship in accounting. She then worked as an accountant in Osnabrück. She joined the social democratic free trade unions at the age of 16, although this was still officially forbidden to young people her age at the time. In 1917 she joined the SPD, for which she gave public speeches at an early stage - also far beyond the regional area - and also worked as a journalist (in the social democratic Osnabrücker Abendpost and in its successor newspaper, the Free Press) . In the early 1920s, she completed a vocal course in Osnabrück and Berlin . From 1920 to 1922 she worked in Berlin as an accountant at the Vorwärts publishing house and in the administration of the German University of Politics , a predecessor of the later Otto Suhr Institute.

In December 1924, Wellmann moved up as a member of the Prussian state parliament, to which she - after successful re-election - belonged until the end of the third legislative period in 1932. In parliament, she represented constituency 14 (Weser-Ems). Her later candidacies in the Reichstag elections in the final years of the republic were unsuccessful. Furthermore, as an elected city councilor, she was a member of the city council of citizens of Osnabrück (today's city council) until 1933. During her political activity, she campaigned primarily for women's rights.

Wellmann, also known as the “Rote Alwine”, took part in anti-fascist rallies and appeared there very often - also nationally, sometimes internationally - as a much sought-after speaker. After the National Socialists came to power , they reacted to their increasing influence with an active and very courageous opposition. Among other things, she bravely appeared at public meetings of the NSDAP in order to openly represent opposing positions there despite all opposition. In April 1933, for example, she refused to give the Hitler salute on behalf of her parliamentary group in the Friedenssaal of the town hall at a meeting of Osnabrück city councilors . A month later, she was briefly detained with like-minded people. She then emigrated to Sofia , Bulgaria, under the condition of not becoming politically active again, subject to the threat of severe punishment, and there - under constant surveillance by the German Gestapo - led a life full of privation in the form of private German lessons. Shortly after the start of the war , after being expatriated by the Nazis , she entered into a so-called fictitious marriage with a Bulgarian social democrat, which gave her citizenship there and escaped deportation and imprisonment.

In the late summer of 1948 Wellmann, whose departure had long been delayed by officials in the British Army, returned to Germany. She was immediately recognized as a former political victim. In her hometown Wellmann was again politically active for the Social Democrats . From February 1950 to 1953 she was employed as a person of trust (“shop steward for the former politically, religiously and racially persecuted”) in the reparation office of the Osnabrück government. However, this function was abolished without replacement in 1953 - at the same time as the strengthening of conservative, reactionary and former National Socialist forces in public administrations - against Wellmann's bitter resistance. Until her retirement in 1956, Wellmann remained in professional life in the district government, including in the library of the district government, which, however, refrained from being dismissed "because of her merits".

In May 2019, an information board was put up in her honor at the Johannisfriedhof in Osnabrück, her final resting place.

literature

  • Beatrix Herlemann , Helga Schatz: Biographical Lexicon of Lower Saxony Parliamentarians 1919–1945 (= publications of the Historical Commission for Lower Saxony and Bremen. Volume 222). Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 2004, ISBN 3-7752-6022-6 , p. 385.
  • Ernst Kienast (edit.): Handbook for the Prussian Landtag. Edition for the 3rd electoral term. R. v. Decker's Verlag (G. Schenck), Berlin 1928. pp. 599-600.
  • Heiko Schulze: Our first. Alwine Wellmann. Osnabrück MP and campaigner for women's rights. Stages of an eventful life, Geest-Verlag, Vechta 2018, ISBN 978-3866856950

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Museumsquartier Osnabrück: Alwine Wellmann and women's suffrage. In: museumsquartier-osnabrueck.de. November 30, 1918. Retrieved May 5, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Conny Mönster: Scandal in the Friedenssaal. The "red Alwine" contributed to the party's profile and fought for women's rights . In: New Osnabrück Newspaper. April 23, 2013, accessed May 21, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Ulrike Schmidt: Memory of Osnabrück Nazi opponent Alwine Wellmann. In: noz.de. May 5, 2019, accessed May 5, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Wellmann, Alwine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Red Alwine (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SPD), MdL
DATE OF BIRTH February 24, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Osnabrück
DATE OF DEATH April 17, 1966
Place of death Osnabrück