Bernhard Otte

Bernhard Otte (born July 12, 1883 in Hopsten , † October 21, 1933 in Grünberg ) was a German politician ( center ) and Christian union leader .

Life

Bernhard Otte was born on July 12, 1883 in the Breischen farmers near Hopsten (Westphalia). After attending primary school, which he left at the age of 14, he completed an apprenticeship as a weaver in Ibbenbüren and then worked in this profession. In 1905 he joined the Christian trade union .

Thanks to his hard work and organizational skills, Bernhard Otte quickly rose to the top of the Central Association of Christian Textile Workers in Germany, which was founded in 1901. In 1908 he became workers 'secretary in Kempen , in 1911 chairman of the Western Westphalia district in Bocholt , in 1917 editor of the "textile workers' newspaper " published in Düsseldorf and in 1920 chairman of the central association of Christian textile workers. Just one year later, the General Association of Christian Trade Unions of Germany (GCG), the umbrella organization for all trade unions , took him into service as general secretary. In the “ Königswinterer Kreis ” of Catholic social scientists and politicians, to which Otte belonged, it was discussed whether the contrast between capital and labor could be balanced out or bridged by professional bodies and a corporatism of Catholic character - proposals as they are also in the encyclical Quadragesimo anno by Pope Pius XI flowed in. Otte pleaded against such hopes. According to Otte, such things can improve the discussion climate between entrepreneurs and workers and are helpful for further developing vocational training or occupational safety. But the bargaining power of strong unions remains essential to protect workers' interests.

When the GCG chairman Adam Stegerwald took over the leadership of the center group in the Reichstag and was appointed Reich Minister of Transport , Bernhard Otte was his successor in May 1929. In 1928 he was also elected chairman of the Confédération Internationale des Syndicats Chrétiens (CISC) / International Confederation of Christian Trade Unions. On April 24, 1932, Bernhard Otte was elected to the Prussian state parliament for the Center Party . He turned down the offer to become Reich Labor Minister in the Schleicher cabinet .

Bernhard Otte initially refused to admit that the National Socialists would smash the trade unions after the transfer of power. But on May 3, 1933, the rump committee of the Christian trade unions was forced to submit to the "Action Committee for the Protection of German Labor" under Robert Ley. Bernhard Otte justified his signature a. a. with the fact that with the end of the socialist trade unions, the Christian trade unions as their counterpart are no longer necessary: ​​"It would be petty of us if we did not want to positively affirm this new fact." In June 1933, the Christian trade union leaders, including Bernhard Otte, who had been designated as fig leaves, were expelled from the labor convention of the German Labor Front .

On the way to start a new existence, Bernhard Otte died on October 21, 1933 in Grünberg (Silesia) as a result of a traffic accident the day before. It cannot be ruled out that the accident was “staged”, ie that it was a murder.

Posthumous honor

• In 1980, the former hospital of the parish of St. Georg in Hopsten was converted into a Catholic folk high school for the diocese of Münster, which was named "Bernhard Otte House" in honor of Bernhard Otte. At the end of 2006 the conference was stopped and the building was sold. In 2010 the Hopsten “Bernhard Otte Foundation” was named after him.
• In Bocholt , Bernhard-Otte-Straße in the Biemenhorst district is named after him.

Fonts

• Christian unions and socialism. Speech by the chairman of the association, Bernhard Otte, at the 4th Congress of Christian Trade Unions in Austria from September 4th to 7th, 1921 . Publishing house of the Central Commission of the Christian Trade Unions in Austria, Vienna 1921.
• Leadership and Future of the Christian Trade Union Movement . In: 25 Years of the Christian Trade Union Movement 1899–1924. Festschrift . Christian trade union publisher, Berlin-Wilmersdorf 1924 (special print).
• Union movement and social goals . In: 25 Years of the Christian Trade Union Movement 1899–1924. Festschrift . Christian trade union publisher, Berlin-Wilmersdorf 1924 (special print).
• Our position on economic and social policy . Christian trade union publisher, Berlin-Wilmersdorf 1925.
• Why does every trade unionist have to be a member of the cooperative? . Christian trade union publisher, Berlin-Wilmersdorf 1926 (2nd, improved edition 1928).
• The crisis of social policy . In: Oscar Müller (Ed.): Krisis. A political manifesto . Lichtenstein, Weimar 1932, pp. 131-139.
• Ways of the professional order in German countries . Christian trade union publisher, Berlin-Wilmersdorf 1932.
• Ways of the professional order . In: Joseph van der Velden (ed.): The professional order. Idea and practical options . Katholische Tat-Verlag, Cologne 1932, pp. 89-102.

literature

• Heinrich Fahrenbrach : Otte, Bernhard . In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions . 2 (1932), pp. 1216-1217 ( digitized version ).
• Ernst Kienast (Ed.): Handbook for the Prussian Landtag , edition for the 5th electoral period, Berlin 1933, pp. 368–369.
• Ludwig Rosenberg , Bernhard Tacke : The way to the unified union . Edited by the DGB Federal Board. Printing: satz + druck gmbh, Düsseldorf 1977.
• Herbert Hömig: Bernhard Otte (1883–1933). In: Jürgen Aretz et al. (Ed.): Contemporary history in life pictures. From the German Catholicism of the 19th and 20th centuries. Volume 3, Matthias Grünewald Verlag, Mainz 1979, pp. 176–190, ISBN 3-7867-0738-5 .
• Michael Schneider : The Christian trade unions 1894-1933 . Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn 1982, ISBN 3-87831-356-X .
• Bernhard Koch: 100 years of Christian trade unions - historical, fundamental, experienced. Edition Bentheim, Würzburg 1999, ISBN 3-934471-10-2 .
• Herbert Hömig:  Otte, Bernhard. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 650 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Eckhard Hansen, Florian Tennstedt (Eds.) U. a .: Biographical lexicon on the history of German social policy from 1871 to 1945 . Volume 2: Social politicians in the Weimar Republic and during National Socialism 1919 to 1945. Kassel University Press, Kassel 2018, ISBN 978-3-7376-0474-1 , pp. 149 f. ( Online , PDF; 3.9 MB).

Footnotes

1. ^ William Patch: Fascism, Catholic Corporatism, and the Christian Trade Unions of Germany, Austria, and France . In: Lex Heerma van Voss (Ed.): Between Cross and Class. Comparative Histories of Christian Labor in Europe, 1840–2000 . Peter Lang, Bern 2005, ISBN 3-03910-044-0 , pp. 173–201, here pp. 185–186.
2. ^ Bernhard Otte: Ways of the professional order . In: Joseph van der Velden (ed.): The professional order. Idea and practical options . Katholische Tat-Verlag, Cologne 1932, pp. 89-102.
3. ^ Bernhard Otte: New ways and goals . In: Central newspaper of the Christian trade unions in Germany . Year 1933, Issue 10 (May 15, 1933), pp. 117–119.
4. ↑ William Seggewiß: Bocholt streets tell stories . In: Unser Bocholt , Jg. 40 (1989), pp. 49-64, here p. 51.

Web links

• Literature by and about Bernhard Otte in the catalog of the German National Library
• Bernhard Otte in the online version of the Reich Chancellery Edition Files. Weimar Republic