Bernhard Dowe

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Bernhard Dowe (born October 25, 1890 in Altona ; † September 25, 1963 in Hamburg ) was a German administrative officer, managing director and union chairman .

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Bernhard Dowe, whose father died in 1900, attended an elementary school. After completing a commercial apprenticeship in 1913, he worked briefly as a seaman on a Prussian administration ship. He then attended the Oberrealschule Altona, which he left after completing a short course with the upper secondary qualification . He was seriously wounded as a soldier during the First World War and discharged from the army in 1918. He then worked as an office assistant at the Altona gas works. From 1919 he was employed as city secretary in Altona. From 1930 to 1933 he headed the municipal welfare office II, which at the time was considered the most modern social institution in Altona.

Dowe, who had been a member of the SPD since 1919 , took over the chairmanship of the party-affiliated workers' welfare in Altona. In addition, he was a "consulted citizen" of the welfare commission of the city council of Altona. In 1922 he co-founded the Reichsgewerkschaft Deutscher Kommunalbeamter (RDK), which belonged to the umbrella organization ADB and competed with Komba and the German Association of Officials (DBB). Dowe took over the chairmanship of the RDK after it was founded.

During the Nazi era , Dowe had to take early retirement in 1933 due to his political views and activities. Nevertheless, from 1939 to 1945 he was given a job as a temporary worker at the city's food office, which was located in the municipal administration. After the end of the Second World War , he worked from October 1945 as a department and office manager at the Altona local office . In 1947 he took over the chairmanship of the Hamburg DBB as a founding member. In 1952 the local office promoted him to administrative director.

Dowe had worked closely with Max Brauer , who was Mayor of Altona at the time , before World War II . Brauer, who had taken over the office of Hamburg's mayor in 1947 , ordered Dowes to be appointed chief executive of the German Aid Association . From January 15, 1947 to 1954, Dowe devoted himself in this position creatively and with great personal commitment, in particular to war returnees who had to be integrated. The facility also provided financial support to their family members. During his tenure, the aid community set up a school for guide dogs. The institution also founded the Elsa-Brandström-Siedlung , which offered space for 52 people.

Dowe found the British Military Government's dealings with civil servants to be inadequate. From his point of view, the new trade unions did not care enough about their concerns either. Therefore, together with former members of the civil servants 'union, on October 3, 1947, he founded the German civil servants' union in Hamburg , which in 1961 became the Hamburg State Federation of the DBB. On July 21, 1948 he took over the presidency of the provisional federal leadership of the civil servants' union of the British zone of occupation . For many years he tried to persuade the DBB, which was newly founded in 1949, to join the German Trade Union Federation , but was unsuccessful.

In 1960 Dowe received the Federal Cross of Merit for his activities.

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personal data
SURNAME Dowe, Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German administrative officer, managing director and union chairman
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Altona
DATE OF DEATH September 25, 1963
Place of death Hamburg