Friedrich Bunte

Fritz Bunte (1899)

Friedrich "Fritz" Bunte (born December 20, 1858 in Vilsendorf (Bielefeld district), † September 18, 1901 in Bielefeld ) was a German trade unionist . He was one of the three "imperial delegates" and the first chairman of a miners' union in the Ruhr area.

Life and accomplishments

Call for a meeting co-signed by Fritz Bunte during the miners' strike in 1889

Fritz Bunte's father was a factory worker. He attended elementary school and then completed an apprenticeship as a lathe operator . During the time of the Socialist Law , he was the cashier of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in Bielefeld and authorized representative of the Metalworkers' Association . Around 1890 he was the owner of a wool store in Bielefeld. From 1899 to 1901, Bunte was a shop steward and at the same time partially paid district manager of the metal workers' association for Westphalia. He was also a member of the agitation commission for eastern Westphalia.

Bunte was a miner at the Westphalia colliery in Dortmund. During the miners' strike of 1889 he was a member of the Central Strike Committee. On May 9, a miners' meeting in Dorstfeld decided to send a deputation to Kaiser Wilhelm II in Berlin to explain the reasons for the strike to the chief miner . This was an unheard-of and sensational decision in the Wilhelmine Empire. Although Otto von Bismarck advised Wilhelm II against receiving the miners, they were given the opportunity on May 14 to bring their complaints to the Kaiser. Together with Ludwig Schröder and August Siegel , Bunte was one of the “imperial delegates”.

Fritz Bunte subsequently became a leading figure in the founding phase of the German miners' unions. When the founding assembly of the association for the protection and promotion of mining interests in Rhineland and Westphalia met in Dorstfeld on August 18, 1889 , Bunte was elected first chairman.

He ran for the SPD in the Reichstag election in 1898 and lost.

Among other things, a street in Duisburg-Walsum is named after Friedrich Bunte.

literature

• Albin Gladen: “The social question” in the process of industrialization in Dortmund . In: Gustav Luntowski (Ed.): Dortmund . 1100 years of city history. Ruhfus, Dortmund 1982, ISBN 3-7932-4071-1 , p. 203-230 (Festschrift).
• Gabriele Unverferth: Mining in Dortmund . A journey through seven centuries. In: Historical Association for Dortmund and the Grafschaft Mark e. V., Dortmund City Archives (ed.): Home Dortmund . City history in pictures and reports. No. 1 , 2003, ISSN  0932-9757 , ZDB -ID 639782-7 , p. 6-14 .
• Wilhelm Heinz Schröder : Social Democratic MPs and Reichstag candidates 1898–1918. Biographical-statistical manual (= manuals on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 2). Droste, Düsseldorf 1986, ISBN 3-7700-5135-1 .

Web links

Wikisource: Invitation to the meeting on May 24, 1889 in the Schützenhofe in Bochum  - sources and full texts

Wikisource: Decision of the miners' delegates from Rhineland and Westphalia on May 24th in the Schützenhofe in Bochum  - sources and full texts