Georg Ahrens (politician)

Georg Ahrens , full name Georg Friedrich Ahrens (born April 29, 1896 in Delmenhorst , † October 22, 1974 in Hamburg ) was a Hamburg Senator and National Socialist .

Life

After completing commercial training, Ahrens was a soldier in the First World War . After the war he continued to work in the commercial area and managed the Hamburg branch of a company. At the end of 1930 he joined the NSDAP (membership number 402.019), was elected in 1931 as its representative in the Hamburg parliament and became deputy of the parliamentary group leader Wilhelm von Allwörden and managing director of the parliamentary group. He led the negotiations in February and March 1933, which led to the election of the NSDAP-led coalition senate on March 8, 1933. Ahrens was not a member of the Senate elected on March 8, 1933, until March 28, 1933. He was promoted to Council of State by the Senate.

Ahrens was confidante of Gauleiter and Reich Governor Karl Kaufmann and his job was to control the first mayor, Carl Vincent Krogmann . With the expansion of Kaufmann's powers, the position of Ahrens became more and more important. On May 18, 1933, Ahrens was awarded the title of State Secretary by the Reichsstatthalter Kaufmann; Ahrens did not acquire the actual position until July 6, 1933 at the suggestion of the Senate, when he became head of the newly created Hamburg State Office, responsible for general administration, administrative staff and the external representation of Hamburg. In this position he was responsible for dismissing unpopular employees.

On November 7, 1934, Ahrens was appointed senator and deputy mayor by the Reich governor Kaufmann for Wilhelm Amsinck Burchard-Motz , who was dismissed on November 8 . Along with Kaufmann, Ahrens was the most influential figure in Hamburg during the Nazi regime; he headed the Hamburg administration until 1945 and negotiated the Greater Hamburg Law . Ahrens rose past Krogmann in 1938 as State Secretary to the Deputy Reich Governor under Kaufmann and was named President. In addition, under the businessman who was appointed Reich Defense Commissioner in 1939, he took over the administration of Military District X.

In 1935 Georg Ahrens was a member of the HAPAG supervisory board .

Ahrens, accepted into the SS at the end of 1933 with the rank of honorary leader , achieved the rank of SS group leader in this NS organization in November 1942 . Ahrens personally announced the air situation reports for Hamburg on the radio since 1943 . Because of his soothing deep voice, the vernacular gave him the nickname "Uncle Valerian".

Only at the end of June 1945 was Ahrens removed from office by the government of the British Zone of Occupation and interned in Bielefeld . He offered his services as a "specialist" to the first post-war Senate, but Ahrens rejected him as a "gray eminence" and "Nazi terrorist of leading rank". A scandal broke out during the hearing in front of the ruling chamber in 1948: “When the defense attorney concluded with the words that the court should not be too cruel towards the accused, suddenly demonstrative applause from old Nazi supporters rang out from the crowded auditorium - an unheard of public challenge . “ On July 5, 1948, Ahrens was sentenced to six years in prison by the Bielefeld court of rulings. In the appeal proceedings before the Bergedorf Court of Appeal, the sentence was reduced to four and a half years on February 19, 1949, with three years and nine months being counted as internment and remand detention. A piece of land that Ahrens had taken far below value during the “ Aryanization ” was confiscated.

literature

Research Center for Contemporary History Hamburg (Ed.): Hamburg in the Third Reich. Wallstein, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-892-44903-1 , pp. 135f.

Web links

Newspaper article about Georg Ahrens in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Individual evidence

^ State Center for Political Education Hamburg (ed.): Hamburg in the Third Reich, seven articles. Hamburg 1998, p. 131.
↑ Uwe Lohalm: "Model Hamburg". From city-state to Reichsgau . In: Research Center for Contemporary History Hamburg (Ed.): Hamburg in the Third Reich. , Göttingen 2005, p. 136
^ Hamburger Echo of July 10, 1948 according to Maike Bruns u. a. (Ed.): “Everything wasn't so bad here”. Hamburg 1984, ISBN 3-87975-284-2 , pp. 141f.

personal data
SURNAME	Ahrens, Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ahrens, Georg Friedrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German politician (NSDAP), Member of the Bundestag, Hamburg Senator
DATE OF BIRTH	April 29, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH	Delmenhorst
DATE OF DEATH	October 22, 1974
Place of death	Hamburg

[1] State Center for Political Education Hamburg (ed.): Hamburg in the Third Reich, seven articles. Hamburg 1998, p. 131.

[2] Uwe Lohalm: "Model Hamburg". From city-state to Reichsgau . In: Research Center for Contemporary History Hamburg (Ed.): Hamburg in the Third Reich. , Göttingen 2005, p. 136

[3] Hamburger Echo of July 10, 1948 according to Maike Bruns u. a. (Ed.): “Everything wasn't so bad here”. Hamburg 1984, ISBN 3-87975-284-2 , pp. 141f.