Franz Jensch

Franz Jensch (born February 9, 1906 in Schmottseiffen , † April 6, 1985 in Dresden ) was a Catholic trade unionist and co-founder of the CDU in the GDR . He was a member of the Saxon Landtag , the German People's Council and the Provisional People's Chamber. In addition, he was an important representative of the Kolping Society in the GDR.

Life

Jensch was born in 1906 in Schmottseiffen, Lower Silesia, as the son of a day laborer. After finishing school he learned the blacksmith's trade and then went on a journey through Silesia, Lusatia and Saxony. He joined a Catholic journeymen's association and became increasingly involved in this movement and in the field of Catholic social teaching. For example, in 1927 he took part as a delegate at the 1st International Journeyman's Day in Vienna.

In addition, he joined the Center Party in 1928 and worked full-time in the Christian Metalworkers Association. In the spring of 1933 Jensch was dismissed as union secretary at the instigation of the National Socialists. The reason for his dismissal was his anti-subversive attitude. In addition, Jensch was brought on trial for union infidelity. After a period of unemployment, Jensch initially got a job in a body shop for rehabilitation.

From 1935 he headed the Catholic Parish Tax Association in Dresden. In this function he tried to protect church property in Dresden until the end of the war, but the devastating air raid on Dresden in February 1945 destroyed many of his efforts. From 1935 he was also the diocesan senior of the Kolping Society, which had been named since that year, a function that he also held in the GDR until 1972.

In the summer of 1945 Jensch belonged to a group of Christians who founded a Christian Social People's Party in Dresden on July 8th. This joined the CDU founded in Berlin a little later. Jensch received membership number 4 of the Saxon state association of the CDU, which was founded soon after, and was elected to the provisional state board. At the first state party conference in February 1946, the delegates elected Jensch as one of three deputy state chairmen under the state chairman Hugo Hickmann . As a result, Jensch devoted himself entirely to political work within the Saxon CDU. He ran for the first state elections in October 1946 and, after a successful election within the CDU parliamentary group, was elected managing director. In 1948 the CDU also sent Jensch as a member of the 1st German People's Council. He was also a member of the 2nd German People's Council and was one of the members of the Provisional People's Chamber .

As a long-time colleague of Hugo Hickmann, Jensch got involved in the internal purges of the Saxon CDU in the spring of 1950. However, Jensch stayed in Saxony. He was no longer put up as a candidate by his party for the state parliament and Volkskammer elections in October 1950. Jensch's political career ended when he withdrew into church work, but this allowed him to continue working in the GDR. In 1952 he was one of the vice-presidents of the 75th  German Catholic Convention , which took place in Berlin in August of that year. In 1957 he was the only lay delegate from the GDR to take part in the 2nd World Congress of the Lay Apostolate. In 1962 he took part in an international Kolping pilgrimage to the Pope in Rome. As head of the church administration in the diocese of Meißen , he organized the reconstruction of charitable institutions such as the St. Benno and Albert Foundation until his retirement in 1971.

Honors

• Knight of the Order of the Holy Pope New Year
• Badge of Honor of the Kolping Society (as the first GDR citizen)
• 1976 Otto Nuschke Medal of Honor in gold

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Neue Zeit of February 9, 1981 p. 3
2. ↑ Neue Zeit of April 9, 1985 p. 2
3. ↑ Neue Zeit of August 24, 1952 p. 1
4. ↑ Neue Zeit of February 10, 1976 p. 2