Bernhard Witthaus

Bernhard Witthaus (born February 28, 1903 in Mülheim an der Ruhr ; † July 7, 1971 there ) was a German politician ( SPD ), member of the state parliament and senior city director in Mülheim an der Ruhr (1953-1963).

Life

Bernhard Witthaus was the sixth child (of eight children) to the married couple painter Ernst Witthaus and his wife Clementine Witthaus, born Tellen born. He attended elementary school and then completed an apprenticeship.

At the age of 21 he was elected to the city parliament as the youngest city councilor for the SPD. His professional career with jobs at the employment office and the local savings bank was suddenly interrupted when the NSDAP came to power in 1933 . He lost his job, was expelled from the city parliament - like many of his companions at the time - and briefly taken into " protective custody ". In the time up to the outbreak of war he kept his family afloat with various independent activities. After the outbreak of war he was drafted and served as a fireworker at Flensburg - Mürwik and Dortmund airports , most recently with the rank of sergeant .

Bernhard Witthaus was married to Martha Witthaus (born March 24, 1901), b. Schmitz. There were two children from this marriage: Renate Henrich (1932–2015), b. Witthaus, and Professor Dr. Bernd Witthaus (* 1940).

politics

After the end of the war, he was elected city director in Mülheim an der Ruhr in 1946, alongside the incumbent Lord Mayor Wilhelm Diederichs (CDU) and Oberstadtdirektor Josef Poell , and in 1953 - after Poell's sudden death - senior city director. He held this post in the difficult post-war period of reconstruction until 1963.

MP

As early as 1950 Bernhard Witthaus was elected to the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia for the SPD in the fiercely contested constituency 67 Mülheim-Süd . Here he played a decisive role in shaping the municipal regulations in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as in various water management concepts and legislative procedures (e.g. Bigge Law), which was also expressed in the membership in the committees of the Ruhr Association and Ruhrtalsperrenverein. After 16 years of state politics, in 1966 he made room for the younger MP Fritz Denks .

Offices in business

Bernhard Witthaus was also appointed to various supervisory boards : He performed the function of the "neutral man" on the co-determined supervisory board of Rheinstahl Eisenwerke Mülheim / Meiderich AG, later Rheinstahl Hüttenwerke AG, Essen, acted as deputy supervisory board chairman of RWE AG , Essen, alongside the legendary CEO of Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt, Hermann Josef Abs . He was also a member of the supervisory boards of Rhenag AG, Cologne, and Thüringer Gas AG .

Honors

Bernhard Witthaus has always rejected all honors proposed to him on fundamental grounds.

Web links

• Bernhard Witthaus at the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia