Gerhard Widder

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Gerhard Widder (left) in March 2003
Interview with Gerhard Widder

Gerhard Widder (* 26. June 1940 in Mannheim ) is a German politician of the SPD . From 1983 to 2007 he was Lord Mayor of Mannheim.

Life

After successfully completing his degree in engineering, Widder worked as a vocational school teacher (electrical engineering) at the Werner von Siemens School in Mannheim. He was involved in local politics at an early age. In 1975 he was elected to the Mannheim municipal council. A year later he took over the chairmanship of the non-profit citizens' association in his hometown Mannheim-Vogelstang . In 1980 he was elected chairman of the SPD parliamentary group and after the surprising death of the incumbent mayor Wilhelm Varnholt in 1983, he was elected OB candidate (election slogan: Mannem chooses Widder SPD ).

In the second ballot, he prevailed against the long-standing leader of the CDU, Roland Hartung . In 1991, Widder was re-elected (against Hansjörg Probst ). Likewise in 1999 when he was only just able to prevail against the young Sven-Joachim Otto (CDU) in the second ballot. The election was overshadowed by the decline of the Mannheimer Sparkasse , whose board chairman was Widder. For reasons of age, Aries was no longer allowed to run for the mayoral election in 2007. His successor was Peter Kurz (SPD). Aries is married and has three sons.

As Lord Mayor of Mannheim, Gerhard Widder was automatically chairman of the supervisory board (or chairman of the board of directors) in many municipal or regional companies. The following list is limited to the most important offices that Aries held or still has.

politics

Town house on Paradeplatz
SAP arena

During his tenure, the social democrat Widder initiated and implemented many major projects in Mannheim. The most important ones include the relocation of the Maimarkt to Mühlfeld, the expansion of the Reiss Museum , the Fahrlach tunnel , the N1 town hall , the Carl Benz stadium , the second Rheinau-Hafen access and the SAP arena , as well as the focus of the rose garden as a congress center.

Another focus was his often personal commitment to the reduction of jobs in Mannheim (especially SEL , Hertie , MWM , ABB , Alstom ). The orientation of Aries policy towards economic development issues (jobs and sources of income) and the low importance of environmental and nature conservation issues but also of urban-architectural issues was not always undisputed.

In view of the high proportion of foreigners in Mannheim of 20 percent, Widder promoted the integration of members of different religions and nationalities. He personally campaigned for the synagogue to be built in 1987 and the Yavuz Sultan Selim Mosque in 1995 in the center of the city and not on the periphery.

Widder's term of office was overshadowed by the decline of Sparkasse Mannheim, of which he was chairman of the board of directors. Due to a questionable credit policy of the board of directors, the savings bank lost its independence and due guarantees led to a heavy burden on the city budget. Critics criticized the inadequate control function of the board of directors under Widder.

Honors

In 1995, Mannheim's twin city Swansea made Widder an honorary citizen . 1996 Prime Minister gave him Erwin Teufel , the Medal of Merit of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg . In 2007, Prime Minister Günther Oettinger awarded him the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class . In 2008, Widder became an honorary citizen of Mannheim and the Jewish Community of Mannheim awarded him the Medal of Honor.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mannheimer Morgen , April 3, 2002
  2. ↑ List of medal recipients 1975–2019. (PDF; 180 kB) State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg, p. 40 , accessed on June 12, 2019 .
  3. ↑ State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg October 30, 2007
  4. ↑ Mannheimer Morgen, March 10, 2008

Web links

Commons : Gerhard Widder  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Aries, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SPD), mayor
DATE OF BIRTH June 26, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Mannheim