Franz Schmidt (politician, 1899)

Franz Schmidt (born October 3, 1899 in Südlohn , † May 22, 1973 in Bonn ) was a German Christian Democratic local politician . He was senior city director of Bochum and Bonn.

Live and act

Franz Schmidt passed his secondary school diploma at a high school in Recklinghausen in June 1917 and was then drafted into the artillery. He remained in military service until April 1919 and then began studying political science in Münster . After receiving his doctorate in 1924, he worked for a short time at the Landesbank der Provinz Westfalen and the Westdeutsche Treuhandgesellschaft. From August 1924 he was the second in-house counsel of the United Merchants' Union of the city and district of Bochum, and three months later he became the first in-house counsel there. In 1927 he became a member of the center . At the recommendation of Lambert Lensing , he applied for the position of director of the Dortmund Transport and Press Office and took over on April 1, 1929. He also became an honorary member of the board of the Westphalian Transport Association. In the same year he joined the Catholic Civil Service Association, and later the Association of Catholic Academics.

In 1930 Franz Schmidt married Waldraut Erdmann.

After the " seizure of power " in 1933, the traffic and press office was occupied by a National Socialist, and Schmidt switched to the economic office. When his successor wanted a career change, Schmidt returned to his old position. He became a member of the National Socialist People's Welfare and the National Socialist Motor Corps . At the beginning of 1935 he became general director of the Westfalenhallen .

When the Reich competitions of the Sturmabteilung took place on August 18, 1935 , Catholics in Dortmund were massively disturbed and hindered while going to church. Schmidt's wife was critical of acquaintances the next day. She was arrested on August 27 and detained at the Stone Guard for two days . In the course of the proceedings against Schmidt's wife, it became known that Franz Schmidt himself had expressed himself critical of National Socialism. He was then given a forced leave of absence on September 2, 1935, and charged with insulting the national movement and its branches. However, by order of the Prussian and Reich Ministry of the Interior, proceedings should be refrained from, but the Lord Mayor of Dortmund Willi Banike initiated disciplinary proceedings. However, no incriminating material could be collected against Schmidt and both sides agreed on an early retirement on February 26, 1937. Schmidt had already accepted a position as authorized signatory in Recklinghausen in autumn 1936.

After the Second World War , Schmidt was appointed treasurer of the city of Bochum in 1946 and elected senior city director that same year. In 1951 he was appointed deputy director of the Northwest German Broadcasting Corporation , and in 1956 he was elected senior city director in Bonn. He retired on October 30, 1964.

Awards

During the First World War, Franz Schmidt was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class . In 1964 he was awarded the Great Federal Cross of Merit.

literature

• Dieter Knippschild: And you only say the wrong word ... memories from contemporary witnesses. In: Elisabeth Tillmann (Ed.): Dortmund Catholics under the swastika . Catholic educational work of the Dortmund deaneries, Dortmund 1995, ISBN 3-931183-02-5 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dieter Knippschild: Schmidt, Franz . In: Hans Bohrmann (Ed.): Biographies of important Dortmunders. People in, from and for Dortmund . tape 2 . Klartext, Essen 1998, ISBN 3-88474-677-4 , p. 99 ff .