Clemens Blanke

Clemens Blanke (born May 9, 1895 in Stadtlohn ; † April 11, 1945 in Rinteln ) was a German politician and district leader of the NSDAP.

Live and act

Clemens Blanke was born as the son of Hermann Blanke (master coppersmith). After attending the rectorate school, he entered his father's business and began vocational training. From May 1915 on he did his military service and at the end of 1916 was taken prisoner by Russia, from which he fled on February 18, 1918. He was a sergeant. After graduating from the Cologne mechanical engineering school in 1919, Blanke took over his parents' successful craft business. In 1921 he married Gertrud Kemper. Blanke completed his master's examination as a plumber and fitter in 1929 in Münster.

He was politically active and was a senior member of the Catholic journeyman's association and from 1920 to 1922 in the Völkischer Block , then until 1926 as a local group leader in the Völkischer Block.

He joined the NSDAP on June 1, 1930 and on November 16, 1930, he became a local group leader in Stadtlohn. In the spring of 1933 he became an alderman and from August 24, 1933 provisional mayor of Stadtlohn. On May 16, 1935, Blanke was finally appointed full-time mayor of the city of Stadtlohn.

In 1933 he became a member of the provincial parish and the district council and district committee of the Ahaus district . From April 1, 1934 to March 1938, he was NSDAP district leader . Afterwards he was appointed district leader on an honorary basis and went to the Rheine city administration as an alderman and treasurer. From October 6, 1939, he was mayor of Rheine and remained in office until 1944.

From June 15, 1939, he was chairman of the district court of the NSDAP in Rheine and was also a member of the district committee of the Steinfurt district . From April 1941 to October 1941 he was the deputy district leader of the NSDAP Steinfurt. At the end of the war, Blanke became district commissioner for makeshift housing and Volkssturm .

His widow had initiated a posthumous denazification procedure for a pension review procedure, with the result that Blanke was classified in Category III in two procedures. The court's findings were “active Nazi”, “pronounced beneficiary of the party” and “party book official”. Therefore, only half of the pension was awarded.

Military awards

Iron Cross 2nd class

literature

• Publications of the State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia, Series C: Sources and Research, Volume 48: Wolfgang Stelbrink: The district leaders of the NSDAP in Westphalia and Lippe, published by the North Rhine-Westphalian State Archive in Münster

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wolfgang Stelbrink, Biography Blanke, p. 136 f.