Charles Frey (politician)

Charles Frey

Charles Frey (born February 26, 1888 in Strasbourg ; † October 14, 1955 ibid) was a French ( Alsatian ) politician and journalist who was mayor of Strasbourg twice (1935–1940 and 1945–1955).

The journalist, founder and editor of the Nouveau journal became a member of the liberal Parti républicain démocratique and its chairman in Alsace after the First World War . He was successively four times as a member of the grouping for this Bas-Rhin in the National Assembly elected (1919-1936).

In 1935 he ran for the office of mayor in the local elections. This office had been exercised by the former communist Charles Hueber since 1929, who came into office at the head of a heterogeneous alliance of former communists and Christian democrats ( cléricaux ) due to the widespread dissatisfaction with the new French rule, in particular the exclusive use of the French language united by the desire for autonomy for Alsace. Due to Hueber's increasing sympathy for annexation to Germany and for the ideology of National Socialism , the influential Christian Democrats of the Union populaire républicaine under Michel Walter turned away from him and supported Frey's candidacy together with various other opposition parties that embraced the ideas of the French Republic felt represented. They won 20 seats versus 16 for the previous city government and Frey was elected mayor. One of his official acts was to hoist the French tricolor on the town hall again, which his predecessor had removed there. In September 1939 he led the evacuation of the city due to the outbreak of World War II , but stayed there until the Wehrmacht invaded . During the war and the occupation, he lived in Périgueux , where he was the unofficial “mayor of refugees” ( maire des refugiés ).

After the liberation of Strasbourg, he returned there in 1944 and was re-elected mayor in 1945.In 1947 he was re-elected as a candidate for the Gaullist Rassemblement du peuple français against the Christian Democrat Pierre Pflimlin . He remained in office until his death in 1955 and led the reconstruction of the partially war-torn city. Charles Frey is buried in Cimetière Saint-Gall , a cemetery to the west of the city. Part of the promenade on the Ill is now called quai Charles Frey , and a youth hostel and school also bear his name.