Friedrich Fröhlich (politician)
Friedrich Fröhlich (born September 20, 1880 in Heutingsheim ; † September 23, 1964 in Crailsheim ) was mayor of Crailsheim from 1911 to 1945 . From 1938 to 1945 he was a member of the NSDAP .
Life
Fröhlich's mother died in the first year of his life, so that he grew up with his childless uncle and his aunt, who ran an inn together. Cheerful only attended elementary school . Despite the lack of financial opportunities for a higher education, he managed through intensive preparations to pass the exam for senior administrative service as the best of 172 candidates.
In 1902 he began his first job as a municipal civil servant with the Crailsheim city administration . In 1906 he temporarily moved to the Stuttgart city council for five years, before winning the mayoral election of Crailsheim in 1911 as a non-party candidate . In 1921 and 1931 he was re-elected with a large majority.
After the seizure of power by the Nazis in 1933 it was the district leader allowed to settle, as it the NSDAP do not have enough support. A corresponding process dragged on over several months.
“But the influence of the party was not always enough to remove an unpopular mayor. So the Crailsheim city council Fröhlich remained in office despite angry protests from the district leader. "
In 1938 he joined the NSDAP; however, the entry date was dated back to May 1, 1937. In this context he also became a supporting member of the National Socialist Aviation Corps and the National Socialist People's Welfare .
Until May 17, 1945 Fröhlich was at the head of the city. For the mayoral election in 1948, he ran again at the request of a group of Crailsheim citizens, but lost significantly to his opponent Wilhelm Gebhardt .
Fröhlich was married and had two children.
Act
During Fröhlich's tenure, the city area and the population of Crailsheim doubled. Between 1911 and 1933, the Crailsheim non-profit building cooperative founded by him built around 400 apartments. 75% of these were built on urban land acquired by Fröhlich. Through emergency work , he achieved that Crailsheim's first welfare beneficiary did not exist until 1931.
During his term of office, some industrial settlements such as the jam factory Bourzutschky and the food manufacturer Schaper, the furniture factory König, as well as a branch of Robert Bosch GmbH . The construction of the Crailsheim Air Base was also omitted in 1935 during his term of office. Furthermore, he began building the local history museum and opened up the Kreuzberg building area.
Fröhlich was considered an excellent financial manager. When he left, the city had, according to him, set up reserves of one million Reichsmarks , which in today's currency would be around 3.7 million euros .
In his denazification process , he was classified as a follower . The fact that in 1937, under pressure from the party, he had banned Jewish traders from entering the market played a negative role here. The trigger was a picture of Jewish traders on the Crailsheim pig marketplace , which was printed in the striker . Among other things, however, he benefited from the encouragement of Jews from Crailsheim. The last chairman of the Jewish community in Crailsheim, the soap, oil and grease dealer Hermann Hilb , confirmed that he had often prevented worse things from happening. Despite an appeal by the public prosecutor, Fröhlich's classification was maintained throughout his life.
“Mr. Fröhlich has always and always shown the highest degree of justice, legality, deep human disposition, high human dignity combined with tireless activity, always striving to achieve only the best for his community. He never made a distinction between classes and religions and races. He only knew one thing, justice. He has always given the Jewish community and its property protection and protection as far as it was in his power, even in times when it was in no way possible without personal danger. "
After 1945, already in retirement, he also worked on the building land allocation committee for the reconstruction of the city.
Honors
According to various sources, on September 8 or 20, 1955, the Crailsheim City Council unanimously granted him honorary citizenship. The reason given was:
"In almost 35 years as mayor, Bgm ret. Friedrich Fröhlich has led the fate of the city of Crailsheim in an exemplary and foresighted manner for the good of the city and the population, and also after his term of office made a significant contribution to the reconstruction of the war-torn city."
The Bürgermeister-Fröhlich-Strasse in the Mittlerer Weg building area in Crailsheim has also been named after him since 1968 .
criticism
From today's perspective, Fröhlich's role is controversial. Among other things, he is held responsible for the war damage and various repression measures during the Nazi regime.
Among other things, he was jointly responsible for the deportation of the Crailsheim Jews and the so-called Aryanization of their property. City archives show that these processes took place with the knowledge and support of the city administration.
During the last days of the war he also fled to his family in Wäldershub , which is why no responsible person was in the city while it was being destroyed by attacks. Appropriate action could at least have contained the considerable war damage.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b https://www.crailsheim-zeitgeschichte.de/biographien/bm-fr%C3%B6hlich/
- ↑ https://www.stadtarchiv-crailsheim.de/fileadmin/images/web/stadtarchiv/projekte/stolpersteine/Broschuere_2_Stolpersteine_2014-05_web.pdf
- ↑ a b https://www.swp.de/suedwesten/staedte/crailsheim/umstrittener-ehrenbuerger-friedrich-froehlich-war-buergermeister-18767449.html
- ↑ a b https://www.stadtarchiv-crailsheim.de/stadtgeschichte/ehrenbuerger/
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Happy, Friedrich |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German NSDAP functionary, mayor of Crailsheim |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 20, 1880 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Heutingsheim |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 23, 1964 |
| Place of death | Crailsheim |