Franz Lanters

Franz Lanters (born March 6, 1877 in Cologne , † October 3, 1956 in Koblenz ) was a German port and traffic director. After the capture of Koblenz by American troops in World War II, he was briefly the first post-war mayor of Koblenz in 1945.

Life and work

After completing his commercial training, Lanters worked in the shipping department of a London company. In 1910 he first moved to the port management of Cologne before he became port and traffic director in Koblenz in 1917. He developed the Moselle port into an important transshipment point. At the “Reichsausstellung Deutscher Wein” in 1925 he campaigned for the construction of the wine village of Koblenz .

After the seizure of power by the Nazis in 1933 the married Lanters was denounced because of an alleged relationship with a subordinate. The National Socialists took up the story willingly because Lanters, a long-time member of the Catholic Center Party, was denounced. However, the allegations could not be substantiated. A criminal prosecution with the aim of dismissal was initiated against him because a cash check in the traffic office had revealed minor discrepancies. The proceedings were dropped in May 1934. Lanters joined the NSDAP on August 1, 1935. He had to retire in 1937 because of an eye problem. After his illness improved, he took over the post of port and traffic director again in 1944 and provisionally rebuilt the port facilities that had been destroyed by the air raids .

Acting as the Lord Mayor of Koblenz

The town hall of Koblenz with the American flag hoisted, March 1945

American troops declared Koblenz taken on March 19, 1945. At that time Lanters was in the east bunker of the Kemperhof , where he had previously undergone an eye operation. In fluent English, he confronted the soldiers and asked them to protect the four Koblenz hospitals and the rest of the city. From here, together with other people, he called on the German soldiers remaining in Koblenz to give up the fighting. On March 18, 1945, a colonel in the 3rd US Army appointed him Lord Mayor of Koblenz. The parts of Koblenz on the right bank of the Rhine were taken by the Americans on March 27, 1945. During the next three months of his tenure, he carried out his task with great difficulty. Since his eye disease was troubling him, he asked the American military government for his release. According to other information, the Americans had learned of his membership in the NSDAP and therefore deposed him. On June 8, 1945, Wilhelm Kurth succeeded him in the office of Lord Mayor.

literature

• Wolfgang Schütz: Koblenz heads. People from the city's history - namesake for streets and squares. Verlag für Werbung Blätter GmbH Mülheim-Kärlich, Ed .: Bernd Weber, 2005 (2nd revised and expanded edition).
• Energieversorgung Mittelrhein GmbH (ed.): History of the city of Koblenz. Overall editing: Ingrid Bátori in conjunction with Dieter Kerber and Hans Josef Schmidt. Theiss, Stuttgart 1992-1993;
  • Vol. 1: From the beginning to the end of the electoral era. 1992, ISBN 3-8062-0876-X ;
  • Vol. 2: From the French city to the present. 1993, ISBN 3-8062-1036-5 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Petra Weiß: The city administration of Koblenz under National Socialism . Dissertation, Fernuniversität Hagen 2011, pp. 99-102 et al
2. ↑ Speech by the mayor of Koblenz on the 200th anniversary of the Kemperhof ( memento of the original from January 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 23 kB), November 18, 2005