Ewald Merkle

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Ewald Merkle (born September 21, 1924 in Villingen in the Black Forest ; † January 22, 2013 in Villingen-Schwenningen ) was a German local politician ( CDU ).

Career

Merkle was born in Villingen. He attended elementary school and business school and then completed a commercial apprenticeship at the Wiebelt company. After the mandatory six-month labor service , he was drafted as a soldier for military service. Towards the end of the war he was taken prisoner by the Americans and French, from which he was released in 1948.

Church engagement

On his return home to Villingen he was commissioned by the Freiburg Archbishop smoke the establishment and management of the Catholic People's office, which was responsible for the South Baden parishes. In 1949, in times of extreme housing emergency, he founded the building cooperative “Neue Heimat” from a building aid collection, later the building cooperative “Familienheim”, of which he was managing director for over 40 years. More than 3,000 apartments were built under his leadership. In this capacity he was also a member of the advisory board of the Association of Badischer Housing Companies, the settlement agency of the Archdiocese of Freiburg .

He helped set up the station mission of the Catholic men's work and in 1948 laid the foundation for Catholic youth work in the deanery. He was the founder and head of the city youth council for many years. He created the “Spechtloch” youth home and the first youth home in southern Baden in Villinger Waldstrasse. Later he was responsible for the administration of the church finances in Villingen, all structural measures and all Catholic kindergartens. He set up a boarding school for girls, a youth hostel for the parentless and the St. Lioba retirement home.

Local politics

After the war, the CDU became Merkle's political home. For 42 years he was a member of the municipal council of Villingen and, after the city merger on January 1, 1972, of Villingen-Schwenningen, including 26 years as deputy mayor. In the state electoral district of Villingen-Schwenningen , he was the CDU's second candidate after Erwin Teufel for more than 20 years .

He was a member of the supervisory board of Villinger Volksbank for three decades .

Folk music

For more than 36 years, until 1991, he was First President of the Villingen City Harmony. On his initiative, the association became the international ambassador for the city of Villingen. Concert tours took him to France and the United States with the Stadttharmonie. In 1955 he merged the brass music associations of the Villingen and Donaueschingen districts in the Schwarzwald-Baar brass music association and was its president until 1991. He was also vice-president of the Federation of German Brass Music Associations .

Private

He married Gretel Veen in 1952. The marriage produced three sons. In 2011 he moved to the St. Lioba retirement home he had built in Villingen, where he died on the night of January 22, 2013.

Awards

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Merkle, Ewald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German local politician (CDU)
DATE OF BIRTH September 21, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Villingen in the Black Forest
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 2013
Place of death Villingen-Schwenningen