History of the district of Cuxhaven
The history of today's district of Cuxhaven since 1885:
Empire
After a transition phase lasting almost two decades , a district constitution was introduced on April 1, 1885 in the Prussian province of Hanover , the former Kingdom of Hanover annexed in 1866 . The districts replaced the Hanoverian offices, most of which had already lost their administration of justice in the middle of the 19th century. With a few exceptions, they still held the entire public administration in the lower instance.
The transition was made with some consideration for local historical and landscape conditions. The Prussian district Hadeln was z. B. identical to the Hanoverian office of Otterndorf before 1866, which in turn was identical to the Lauenburg state of Hadeln before 1689. The district of Hadeln and the district of Lehe (essentially the old country Wursten , Amt Dorum and the northern part of the Amt Lehe) were together practically congruent with the area of the old Archdiaconate Hadeln-Wursten before the Reformation . In the east of today's district, the Neuhaus an der Oste district comprised the Neuhaus office and the east office with the Lamstedt Börde (this had been part of the Bremervörde office until 1859 ). In the south, the Geestemünde district was formed from the southern parts of the Lehe office and most of the previous Hagen office. These four Prussian districts, together with the Hamburg office of Ritzebüttel , are the legal predecessors of today's Cuxhaven district. In addition, the Bremen exclave of Bremerhaven, which is surrounded by the Lehe district, remained in place , as well as the Oldenburg exclave of land dignities , which is surrounded by the Geestemünde district .
As early as 1872, the rural community of Cuxhaven had been formed from the Ritzebüttel area and the port settlement of Cuxhaven. More than half of the population there still lived from agriculture in 1880 . In addition, fishing was of economic importance, as was the Imperial Navy facilities and the seaside resort founded in 1816. Fort Kugelbake was inaugurated on the prominent headland near Döse in 1879 . Otherwise, agriculture predominantly formed the economic basis in today's district area.
The Prussian district administrators were "executive bodies bound by instructions" , v. a. with police and administrative functions. It was not until 1920 that the district councils headed by the district administrator emerged from general, secret, direct and equal elections . Previously, based on the East Elbe model, only the three electoral associations of the larger rural landowners, rural communities and cities had been involved in the election of the district council members. A political expression of will of the remaining (male) sections of the population thus took place practically only in the Reichstag elections.
Compared with other parts of the German Reich was relatively late, first in 1881 by the Lower Elbe's railway company the railway line Harburg -Cuxhaven ( Lower Elbe Railway ) opened, followed in 1896 by the route Wesermünde (Lehe) -Cuxhaven . As everywhere, the railway lines facilitated the industrial development of the region. Apart from the ports of Bremerhaven and Cuxhaven, a new social class of industrial workers also developed in the vicinity of the Portland cement factory in Hemmoor . Considerable social democratic and trade union activities developed here, which were also well received by the farm workers.
In 1900, Kaiser Wilhelm II gave his widely acclaimed Huns speech in Bremerhaven . Abroad it gave the fateful appearance of the ruler's despotic tendencies and warlike intentions. In 1905 the municipality and the district of Lehe ceded their areas bordering the Weser to Bremerhaven in order to enable the port there to be expanded. After the municipality of Döse was incorporated into the same year, the town of Cuxhaven was granted city rights in 1907 . A year later the old fishing port of Cuxhaven was equipped with a fish market.
In the 1912 Reichstag election , the Social Democratic Party (SPD) received almost a third of the votes in the province of Hanover. This made it by far the largest party in the country, but this was not reflected in the relevant Reichstag mandates because of the Prussian three -class suffrage. In the Elbe-Weser triangle, the bourgeoisie and peasantry largely voted for national liberal representatives of the German state. Her loyalty was more to the German Empire than to the Kingdom of Prussia. The particularist anti-Prussian Guelph Party , which sought a return of the Guelph monarchy, initially found hardly any supporters. Neither is the Catholic Center Party .
Because of its increasing importance as a trading and industrial center and its fishing port, the municipality of Geestemünde was granted city rights in 1913 as an independent city . Although the district of the same name no longer had a capital, the administration remained in the city of Geestemünde. Similar efforts to get city rights and district freedom in Lehe were stopped by the outbreak of the First World War.
The first beginnings of a telephone network in the region also took place in the pre-war period. The lectures by engineers from Siemens & Halske aroused initial interest in electrification , even among the skeptical rural population. But as late as 1910, the district administrator of Neuhaus is said to have banned motorized road traffic from the district because the riding horses he preferred were frightened by the noise.
First World War
The outbreak of the First World War aroused, as in the whole of the German Reich, and as in practically all other affected nations, an intoxication of patriotic enthusiasm. Few suspected that the end of an era was preparing. However, many rural residents were completely taken by surprise and rather dismayed by the events. They were in the middle of the harvesting work, which was severely disrupted by the sudden call-up of reservists.
The indirect consequences of the acts of war soon began to have an effect in what is now the district area: For fear of spies, the number of guards was increased. In order not to give any guidance to possible British attackers from the sea, the steeple in Wremen was removed. In addition, the fortifications on the coasts were strengthened. District hospitals have been converted into military hospitals. The previous "youth care" changed into a kind of paramilitary training. There was soon a labor shortage in agriculture. Road construction and the expansion of the electrical overland network came to a standstill, and soon after the beginning of the war, a camp for Russian prisoners of war was built southeast of Wanna , who were to be used in clearing the Ahlenmoor . The first reports of deaths came in.
Already in 1915 the shortage of food and feed began to make itself felt. In peacetime it was believed that potential opponents of war would never use the method of hunger blockade , which is prohibited by international law , and therefore no precautions had been taken. The first refugees from East Prussia were quartered. From August, Russian, French and Belgian prisoners of war were made available to the farmers to do the field work. In the evening they were locked in their guarded communal accommodation.
In April 1916, all district administrators in the Stade administrative district received strictly confidential circulars: Because of the "numerous losses of officials of the internal and general state administration", as well as "out of consideration for the financial situation of the state, they should think about possible savings", especially about reducing the District offices. The Otterndorf district administrator recommended that the Lehe and Geestemünde districts be merged, and the Hadeln, Neuhaus and Kehdingen districts should be merged into one "Lower Elbe" district, with its administrative headquarters in Neuhaus. Here he only feared difficulties with the conservative Guelph Party. This had some influence in Kehdingen, as the old land of Kehdingen, in contrast to the land of Hadeln, was an old Welfish area. At that time nothing came of these plans, but in later times such ideas were taken up again and again.
The shipyards in Geestemünde produced almost exclusively for war needs, and deep-sea fishing practically came to a standstill in the mine-contaminated North Sea . As early as December 1916, bakeries were looted in Lehe. Turnips became the staple food. For the next two years, economic and moral deterioration continued to grow.
Weimar Republic
The empire ended in today's district on November 5th and 6th, 1918. In Cuxhaven and in the Lower Weser towns, revolutionary workers and soldiers' councils were formed without any bloody clashes. Mutinous marines hoisted red flags everywhere on public buildings, and in Cuxhaven they organized a peaceful march with thousands of participants. Revolutionary councils were set up from the cities in the rural areas as well. These officially existed until the district elections in January 1920, but were de facto mostly harmless and were only tolerated by the old forces. Despite the strong agricultural character of the region, z. B. in Hadeln not a single farmer in the workers 'and peasants' council . There was also no personnel change in the district offices; nevertheless, no one was found who would have seriously pursued the restoration of the monarchy.
On January 11, 1919, the workers 'and soldiers' council, dissatisfied with the political developments in Berlin , proclaimed the “Socialist Republic of Cuxhaven”. The city was to be separated from Hamburg with the Ritzebüttel office and united with the Hadeln and Neuhaus districts to form a soviet republic . The workers 'and soldiers' council of the Jork district ( Altes Land ) announced its willingness to join the "Republic" of Cuxhaven. However, other politicians and municipal officials were also considering merging the Lehe and Geestemünde districts with Bremerhaven under less revolutionary conditions. Again these plans had no consequences, because when the Berlin Council of People's Representatives , i.e. the incumbent Social Democratic Reich government, had the Lower Weser places military occupied, and the "Republic of Cuxhaven" threatened to deploy troops, the revolutionary adventure was ended after six days.
With the exception of a few radical groups, such as the newly founded local branches of the KPD , almost all political directions demanded the convening of a national assembly. In the following general elections for the Weimar National Assembly , as well as at the state, district and community level, the majority wing of the SPD ( MSPD ) in the Ritzebüttel office received more than 50% of the valid votes. In the Hadler highlands, however, the conservative German National People's Party (DNVP) dominated from now on , which particularly represented the interests of the large farmers. The DNVP was largely hostile to the Weimar Republic and supported the so-called Kapp Putsch . Basically, they wanted the authoritarian structures of the empire back, if not necessarily the emperor. The Otterndorf board of directors included several senior officials and an influential editor of the local press. In Hadler Sietland and in the other circles, on the other hand, the more popular German-Hannoversche Party (DHP) achieved increasing successes until 1928 . This was the likewise conservative but anti-Prussian successor to the Guelph Party. In this party, which particularly addressed the peasant and small-scale trades, there was also a vague, anti-Semitic resentment against the liberal-capitalist economic system, from which many felt disadvantaged. Almost everywhere there were bourgeois-peasant three-quarters majorities against the weak opposition of the SPD.
The Kapp Putsch in Berlin and the so-called food riots in the Lower Weser towns caused a stir in the spring and summer of 1920.
In the same year the municipality of Lehe was spun off from its district and received the long sought city rights. The Geestemünde district had to hand over the municipality of Wulsdorf to the city of Geestemünde. The remaining districts lost a large part of their population and part of their economic power in this way. The almost purely agricultural districts of Hadeln and Neuhaus had also noticeably lost their inhabitants in the last few decades due to emigration to America and migration to the cities.
It was not until 1921 that the last Russian prisoners of war were released to their homeland.
In 1923, the year of inflation , the savings banks issued emergency notes, the face values of which soon reached astronomical values. Eventually there were daily wages and the Otterndorfer District Administrator was asked to pay service housing surcharges in the millions - later even trillions percent.
After the conversion to the Rentenmark , the marsh farmers, in contrast to those on the Geest, faced great difficulties due to high tax demands. The tax offices had u. a. the constant dike and water loads underestimated. The indebtedness of the farms was additionally increased by wage demands of the farm workers.
In 1924 Lehe and Geestemünde were merged to form the city of Wesermünde . Old Bremerhaven remained with the state of Bremen. Therefore the two parts of the city were largely separated and the streets led through another country. By 1927 Schiffdorfer Damm, Weddewarden and part of Langen were also incorporated.
Until the Reichstag election in 1928, the district office in Otterndorf was a domain of the DNVP. For a long time, the party enjoyed the support of numerous “national” groups, such as the Front Soldiers ' Association Stahlhelm , the Bund Deutscher Osten and the Bund der Landwirte (BdL), but also church groups such as the Evangelical Bund . Many of the members perceived the activities of these groups only as an apolitical cultivation of tradition, but in fact some of them had already started to radicalize and withdrew aid from the DNVP. The BdL had already been known from the time of the First World War for its bellicose nationalism , excessiveness in the discussion of war objectives and for anti-Semitism . He now stirred up fears of alleged plans for expropriation by the SPD for property over 5 hectares, called for strong agriculture for a “ people without space ”, the protection of domestic markets, and “arms parity” with other European countries.
Due to the migration of its voters to splinter groups among which the NSDAP had not yet achieved any particular importance, the DNVP lost its absolute majority in Hadeln. As a result of the reallocation in favor of the SPD, Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf became district administrator in Otterndorf. Although Kopf had been a member of the Cuxhaven Soldiers' Council only a decade earlier, he has now been unanimously nominated by his largely conservative district council. During his tenure, the western and eastern ends of Otterndorf became districts of the city. Above all, however, the large pumping station at the confluence of the Medem and Hadelner Canal was put into operation. The previous, almost annual floods in Sietland were finally put to an end.
Rise of National Socialism
During the Great Depression of 1929, prices for agricultural products began to decline. In the early 1930s, farm losses increased dramatically, particularly on the Geest and Sietland, but eventually also in the highlands. The mass unemployment in the cities made the political climate even worse.
The NSDAP had its decisive breakthrough as early as 1930: In Hadeln, it gained around 21% of the votes in the district elections and thus became the strongest party alongside the SPD. Particularly disappointed marsh farmers had turned away from the DNVP and turned to the NSDAP. Among the farm workers in the marshes, however, the SPD continued to gain (approx. 35% of the vote). On the Geest or in Sietland, however, the SPD only achieved around 6%, probably because the difference in class between farmers and farmhands was never so pronounced there. The KPD remained meaningless in the rural areas. Anti-Semitism was only of limited importance in the decision to vote for the NSDAP. Above all, they hoped for an improvement in their own economic situation. However, the persecution of the relatively small Jewish minority that could be expected after the National Socialists won the election was accepted with approval. Most Jews had previously lived as respected cattle dealers.
In 1931 a rainy summer led to the almost complete loss of the harvest in Hadler Sietland . Many farmers suddenly saw themselves threatened with bankruptcy, as they had recently taken out new loans in anticipation of higher harvest yields after the construction of the pumping station. Instead of state aid, almost only food and feed from the “Stahlhelm” arrived. With the help of the voluntary labor service (in which unemployed people from the cities found shelter), the “Stahlhelm” also carried out quick clean-up, supply and repair work. This brought about an enormous gain in prestige for the NSDAP, now supported by the "Stahlhelm". In addition, the promise of the NSDAP to "break interest bondage" found an open ear.
In 1932, as part of a Prussian administrative reform, not without resistance, the districts of Hadeln and Neuhaus, supplemented by the Leher community of Altenwalde , were combined to form the district of Hadeln . This brought together areas that had previously undergone quite different political and social developments. Neither in the Middle Ages nor in modern times, the Neuhaus Office, or the Börde Lamstedt, was ever part of the historical Hadeln landscape. Likewise, the Lehe and Geestemünde districts were merged to form the Wesermünde district. This was easier inasmuch as a common regional center had already formed for the two old districts, namely the cities at the mouth of the Geeste (Bremerhaven), which were growing together.
In the election campaign for the Reichstag election in 1932 , the insecure bourgeois parties continued to portray the (state-supporting) SPD as an enemy. They imitated the successful agitation style of the NSDAP and conjured up the fear that property, family and Christianity were at stake. However, this strategy turned out to be counterproductive as it led voters to vote for the "original" right away. The NSDAP gained an absolute majority in the new Wesermünde district; in the Land Hadeln district it was approaching the 50% mark. It was well above the realm average.
In contrast to the turbulent times at the beginning of the Weimar Republic , this time three of the four old district administrators no longer remained in office, but were either soon transferred or retired. Only the veteran Dr. Walter zur Nieden remained in office as district administrator for the Wesermünde district until 1935. In 1933 he even worked for a short time as head of the Gestapo in the Stade administrative district.
Expansion of the National Socialist rule
After the seizure of power of the NSDAP on 30 January 1933, the flags of the "old regime" were burned before Otterndorfer City Hall. Immediately one began to cleanse the civil servants of "foreign, unsuitable and politically unreliable elements" also at the district level. From now on, all officials had to provide proof of Aryan status. "Men who grew together with the idea of National Socialism" were used right down to the community level.
After the first district elections in March 1933, the change of power in the population initially gave cause for hope, satisfaction and relief. The indebted farmers were helped with tax breaks, rescheduling campaigns, cheap loans and secured producer prices. In order to achieve the desired food self-sufficiency in Germany, there were several cultivation programs and the expansion of a unitary and compulsory organization. The labor service (no longer voluntary since 1935) was used to build dikes and drainage measures. State armaments contracts, the construction of barracks, the construction of airfields and military training areas soon ensured full employment. All workers were forcibly organized into the German Labor Front (DAF) unified union . The rapidly increasing national debt was initially hardly noticed.
The role of the district councils soon became meaningless and the entire responsibility lay with the person of the district administrator. On the other hand, there was often a confusion of competencies between the state and party organs. In the case of controversial questions, only the respective higher authority could make final decisions.
After the places Groden , Wester- and Süderwisch, Stickenbüttel , Duhnen , Neuwerk and parts of Sahlenburg had been incorporated into the city of Cuxhaven in 1937, another major regional reform took place in 1937. As part of the Greater Hamburg Act , Prussian and Hamburg areas were exchanged. Cuxhaven became Prussian and independent from a district. The Ritzebüttel office, which previously belonged to Cuxhaven, fell to the Land Hadeln district.
In 1939 the city of Bremerhaven became a district of the Prussian city of Wesermünde, now a major city. Much to the displeasure of the people of Wesermünde, the port area remained near Bremen. The Oldenburg exclave of land dignities was not touched.
Second World War
The systematic preparations for war in recent years have had an effect. From the beginning, darkening (darkening vehicle headlights and windows, switching off street lights) was part of everyday life.
After all sorts of official difficulties and embarrassing incidents, party comrade and SA member Erich Hasse took his leave in 1939 as district administrator of the Land Hadeln district. He was replaced by the administrative lawyer Ernst Klemeyer . However, like many other district employees, he was soon called up for military service and was rarely present in the district in the following years. In order to prevent the District Administrator of Wesermünde Theodor Mahler from taking over the official duties during this time, he transferred the representation to the head of the Bremervörden district administration, Baron Schenck zu Schweinsberg . In 1943 the latter was replaced by government councilor Waldemar Büning, who was disabled during the war .
From 1942, the war had an ever greater impact on the economic situation: for many people, food, household appliances and building materials could only be obtained via vouchers. Since many peasant sons were called up for military service, and much more often than in World War I, they never returned, the farms had to be managed by the elderly and women who remained behind. The forced laborers and prisoners of war used were generally treated humanely, as one was dependent on their labor. But there were also cases of mistreatment.
After the heavy air raids on Hamburg in July / August 1943 (→ Operation Gomorrah ), thousands of those who had been bombed had to be accommodated. Apart from the occasional attacks by low-flyers (often on individual passers-by or farmers working in the fields) and the emergency drops by Allied bombers, who got rid of their surplus bombs on the return flight from the major port cities, the rural areas were spared from fighting.
After the massive air raid on Wesermünde (Bremerhaven) on September 18, 1944, which destroyed large parts of the city, accommodation for thousands of bombed-out people had to be found in the area. At the same time, the first waves of refugees and expellees from the eastern German regions arrived (→ Flight and expulsion of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe 1945–1950 ). District residents also disappeared in the concentration camps , and in the course of 1944 there were also executions here of citizens who had expressed derogatory opinion about the regime. We know that around 1900 there were around 300 devout Jews living in the Lehe and Wesermünde districts. A synagogue had existed in Ritzebüttel since 1816 . At the end of the war the region of today's district was " free of Jews ".
Until recently, anti-tank barriers and earth fortifications were built in the district for defense purposes, but these were often secretly removed by the population. Old men and young people were set up for the Volkssturm . German troops flooding back and tens of thousands of refugees streamed into the district. But on March 21, 1945, District Administrator Mahler marked a file with the note: "To be submitted again after the victory". The incumbent District Administrator Büning, on the other hand, was able to prevent some senseless destruction at considerable personal risk, such as the blowing up of the Ostebrücke near Hechthausen. The British front advancing from the south and south-east was on the Lintig-Kührstedt-Köhlen line when the surrender took place on May 4th. Bederkesa was still under fire from low-level aircraft and artillery. On May 8, 1945, the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht came into force.
post war period
After the invasion of British tank units, the population was immediately banned from going out at night. First, the political leaders were arrested and interned. All senior officials and mayors were replaced in several waves by people who were not allowed to have been members of the NSDAP. Because of his courageous and prudent behavior, District Administrator Büning was left in his office. The British occupiers were generally correct, cool and matter-of-fact towards the population. However, some of the liberated prisoners of war and forced laborers armed themselves and harassed the farmers they had to work for. Aside from the refugees from East Germany, the villages were also crowded with German soldiers who had withdrawn here during the last weeks of the war, because the British ordered them not to leave the area at first.
In the first year after the surrender, the billeting of refugees increased. Nevertheless, the rural population did not suffer from the food shortage as much as the townspeople, who were dependent on allotments or the black market .
The occupying power soon realized that their original intention of excluding all NSDAP members from public work could not be realized. As a result, denazification commissions were set up to assess the personal burden on each person in charge before he could possibly return to his job. As an educational measure, many former party members had to forcibly remove the anti-tank traps and earthworks. In addition, emphasis was placed on exercises in democratic thinking and acting. The previous "one-man principle" for decision-making has been repealed through the appointment of committees at community and district level.
With the approval of the occupiers, the old democratic parties were re-established. In October 1946 there were already re-elected district assemblies. The re-established SPD dominated only in the independent Cuxhaven. In the two districts, however, it remained in the minority as if nothing had happened since the times of the Weimar Republic. Likewise, the KPD soon disappeared again. Instead, the Lower Saxony state party , later renamed the German Party (DP) , obtained secure majorities . As before, this was the successor party to the Welfisch-anti-Prussian DHP. Above all, she called for the free amalgamation of the Guelph landscapes to form a state of Lower Saxony . (In the later years of established democracy, most of the DP's voters, as well as some of their politicians, migrated to the CDU.) Ultimately, however, the British military government retained the final decision on all matters until 1947.
After the dissolution of Prussia, the state of Lower Saxony was founded on November 1, 1946 by ordinance of the British military government. The former Hadler District Administrator Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (SPD) became the first Prime Minister .
The functions of the district administrators (following the centuries-old English administrative tradition) were largely transferred to the newly created office of senior district director . From then on, he was the mediator between the state authority and the district population and represented the district externally. The district administrator was then only, as the “first among equals”, a member of the district council, which ran the actual municipal administration, and his office became voluntary.
However, the German representatives sometimes lacked understanding for such, in their opinion, secondary projects in the face of the emergency situation to be dealt with, such as the blatant housing shortage and refugee misery. In the rural areas one had almost fallen back into pre-industrial times. Money had almost lost its value. The little that could not be produced was exchanged for food. It was heated with dried peat, the darkness only lit up stable lanterns. They smoked home-grown tobacco, burned black and slaughtered that way.
At the beginning of 1947 the city of Wesermünde was incorporated into the state of Bremen and renamed Bremerhaven. Nevertheless, the administrative seat of the Wesermünde district in Lower Saxony remained in the new city.
As part of the currency reform of 1948, the coercive economy that had prevailed up to now was largely dismantled. Many consumer goods were suddenly freely available, and also available. For the public and private economy, however, this initially meant that many goods were also considerably more expensive. Savings in the administrative costs of the districts, but also tax increases and borrowing, were necessary. The returnees from prisoner-of-war camps felt the scarcity of money at the emergency aid office. The savings banks' deposits melted down to a fraction from one day to the next. So they were no longer able to support the local economy with loans. There were more layoffs and a rise in unemployment in the private sector.
On May 24, 1949, the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany came into force. In the election for the first Bundestag , on August 14th of the same year, a candidate of the SPD was directly elected in constituency 10, which was congruent with today's district. A DP candidate from the constituency entered the Bundestag via the state list. Compared to later elections, the turnout of 72% was not very high. Especially the refugees who had not yet really settled in were hesitant to take part in the formation of political opinions.
On September 21, the military government ceased operations in the area.
At the beginning of 1951 there were flood disasters in Hadler Sietland , near Lüdingworth and in the area around the Balksee, especially because the Otterndorfer pumping station had failed. Unusually high storm surge levels were also noticeable during this time.
In 1951, the former Hadler District Administrator Klemeyer became head of the district in Wesermünde. In 1954, the former Hadler District Administrator Büning assumed the same office in the Hadeln district.
reconstruction
In the 1950s, the problems of sheer livelihoods were more or less resolved. School expansions and additional teaching positions had made everyday life tolerable for the number of pupils, which had risen by more than half due to immigration (refugees) and excess birth rates. The district building authorities promoted the construction of apartments and homes by donating their own funds, as well as procuring state funds and first mortgages.
At the beginning of the 1950s, the reclamation of one of the last remaining raised bogs in Lower Saxony, the Ahlenmoors, was also tackled. The idea behind this was to create new farm positions for the displaced, most of whom also came from rural areas. At that time nobody would have dreamed that one day of all things agricultural overproduction would become one of the biggest problems in the district. The rest of the moor, with the exception of a few small protected areas, was released for industrial potting.
Only a few years later, however, an awakening awareness of environmental protection was already noticeable when it was possible to stop the British bombing exercises on the Großer Knechtsand off the Wurster coast. This important resting and moulting area for shelduck and other sea birds was designated as the largest German nature reserve in 1957 .
At the end of the 1950s, water and power lines were laid in remote districts. The road network has been improved as part of the “Green Plan”.
Although the devastating storm surge of February 16 and 17, 1962 reached the highest water level ever recorded and claimed many lives in Hamburg, the dikes held in the district. In addition to the local dyke associations , volunteer fire brigades , Bundeswehr soldiers, police officers and the technical relief organization also took part in the dramatic defense of the dykes. The damage caused could be repaired quickly.
The living conditions in the countryside began to become more and more similar to those in the city. New schools were built on a large scale. Most of the refugees had gradually migrated to the cities, including other parts of Germany, such as the Ruhr area. Because of the increasing use of machines in agriculture, but also because of the abandonment of many smaller businesses, more and more locals had to look for a job in Cuxhaven or Bremerhaven. On the other hand, many townspeople moved back to the villages in the 1960s to rent an apartment "in the countryside" or to build their own house. The resulting changed appearance of some villages, which were transformed into commuter suburbs, was not perceived by everyone as an improvement.
In the 1960s tourism also developed into a growing economic factor in the “ Cuxland ” region. Before that, it was only important in the seaside resort of Cuxhaven.
In 1969, Oberkreisdirektor Klemeyer resigned and in 1971 also Oberkreisdirektor Büning. Until the completion of the territorial reform, the previous deputy chief district director Jürgen H. Th. Prieß took over the office in the Wesermünde district ; in the district of Hadeln Torsten Quidde , most recently municipal department head at the Osnabrück district government.
Territorial reform
As early as 1966, the Lower Saxony state government set up the Weber Commission, named after its head Werner Weber , to examine the possibilities for improvement in the administrative and territorial structure of the state. The final report from 1969, however, sparked heated discussions in the country, some of which were motivated by party tactics. The number of existing rural districts and urban districts should be reduced by about half. Since the resistance at the state level seemed insurmountable, the reform began first with the weakest links, the municipalities.
When in 1970 and 1971 the communities Sahlenburg, Holte-Spangen and Berensch - Arensch were spun off from the Landkreis Hadeln and incorporated into the city of Cuxhaven, this was done with the active support of the Landkreis. But when the latter was forced two years later to cede the municipality of Altenwalde and the old Adler municipalities of Altenbruch and Lüdingworth to the city, this happened against the will of the district.
In 1974 there were also reorganizations in the district of Wesermünde: The exclave land dignity, which had existed since the Middle Ages, was incorporated into the district and, with Kirchwistedt , Ahe and Altwistedt, also part of the district of Bremervörde . Wesermünde, on the other hand, had to hand over the communities of Axstedt and Lübberstedt to the district of Osterholz . In particular, the merger of the Spaden and Schiffdorf areas across the Geeste and the merger of rural Neuenwalde with the suburb of Langen aroused little enthusiasm among those affected.
While the territorial reform was now complete in other parts of Lower Saxony, the unpleasant turmoil dragged on for several years. The original proposals of the Weber Commission in 1977 were long out of date. In a discussion draft, this had initially spoken out in favor of a district of Cuxhaven-Hadeln-Wesermünde, as this would have simplified the tasks in the area of coastal protection on the Elbe. In the final report, however, the commission revised this layout and considered it disadvantageous, since the Cuxhaven-Bremerhaven-Bremen settlement band should not be cut through several circles. Therefore, a merger of the districts of Wesermünde and Osterholz with the city of Cuxhaven and the western half of the district of Hadeln was considered. Bremerhaven was to become the official seat, although it belonged to Bremen and still belongs to today. The rest of the Landkreis Land Hadeln was to be merged with the Landkreis Stade with its headquarters in Stade. However, when the state government suggested that Osterholz-Scharmbeck be made the district seat instead of Bremerhaven, Wesermünde was rather dissatisfied. On the other hand, the city of Cuxhaven tried to maintain its status as an independent city. In the Landkreis Land Hadeln, on the other hand, depending on the party political orientation, the parliamentary groups were not in agreement as to whether the Landkreis should be affiliated with Wesermünde or Stade. A division of the district was not an option for anyone.
The not exclusively negative effect of the discrepancies meant that the district administrations felt pressured to quickly implement some long-cherished projects while they still existed. Libraries and psychological counseling centers were set up, school centers built, historical buildings turned into museums, bridges and old people's homes, old windmills restored, etc.
A total of eight laws were required to complete the territorial reform. Finally, with effect from August 1, 1977, the districts of Hadeln and Wesermünde were merged with the independent city of Cuxhaven to form the district of Cuxhaven. The official seat became Cuxhaven. Jürgen H. Th. Prieß remained in office as the new senior district director of the enlarged district.
Assignment of the Land Hadeln district to the city of Cuxhaven
On June 1, 1970, the communities Holte-Spangen and Sahlenburg were ceded. On February 1, 1971, Berensch-Arensch came to the city of Cuxhaven. Altenbruch, Altenwalde and Lüdingworth followed on July 1, 1972.
literature
- Erich von Lehe : History of the country sausages. With a contribution by Werner Haarnagel. Bremerhaven 1973
- Rudolf Lembcke (Ed.): District Land Hadeln. History and present. Otterndorf 1976.
- Rudolf Lembcke: 100 years of circles at the mouths of the Elbe and Weser, 1885 - 1985. The district of Cuxhaven and its legal predecessors. Otterndorf 1985.
- Hans Jürgen Hansen, Klaus Rohmeyer: Coastal district of Cuxhaven. Urbes Verlag Graefelfing in front of Munich, 1983.
Individual evidence
- ^ Federal Statistical Office (ed.): Historical municipality directory for the Federal Republic of Germany. Name, border and key number changes in municipalities, counties and administrative districts from May 27, 1970 to December 31, 1982 . W. Kohlhammer GmbH, Stuttgart and Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 241 .