Hans Beutz

Hans Beutz and Otto Suhr, 1954

Hans Beutz (born October 2, 1909 in Bant ; † October 8, 1997 in Aurich ) was a German administrative officer and politician ( SPD ). He was one of the leading figures in the reconstruction after the Second World War in Wilhelmshaven and Lower Saxony . He made particular merits in adult education in Lower Saxony and as the last district president in East Friesland .

Life

Early years

Hans Beutz was born on October 2, 1909 in the Oldenburg community of Bant near Wilhelmshaven. His parents 'house was shaped by his father's activity at the naval shipyard and his involvement in the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and in the metalworkers' union. After eight years of elementary school, Hans Beutz began an apprenticeship as an “administrative assistant” on April 1, 1924 at the city council of Rüstringen , which he successfully completed in 1927. Attending grammar school was out of the question for him for financial reasons, but during this time he obtained the secondary school leaving certificate at a private evening school at his own expense (1928). Then Hans Beutz left his hometown and worked as a secretary in the main administration of the "Central Association of Employees / Free German Employees Union" in Berlin , where he worked in the department for government employees , later in the department for social security employees , mainly dealing with collective agreements and social security issues busy.

Berlin

Hans Beutz and Theodor Heuss, 1952

From the summer semester of 1929 onwards, Hans Beutz attended the “Deutsche Hochschule für Politik” (German School of Politics) in evening studies. This educational institution in the building of the old "Royal Prussian Building Academy" (built by Karl Friedrich Schinkel , 1836) was built in 1918 by Friedrich Naumann , Max Weber u. a. emerged as a private, liberal and social democrat-oriented institution of “education for politics” founded “citizenship school” and was one of the most progressive institutions of its kind in the Weimar Republic . Those in employment without any further qualification were able to gain further qualifications at various levels up to an academic degree. Rudolf Hilferding and Hans Delbrück were involved in the school's sponsoring association, and later Otto Braun and Erich Koch-Weser . Intensive efforts were made to achieve an interdisciplinary study approach. One of the full-time study directors was the future Federal President Theodor Heuss for many years . The university was founded in 1933 into line and 1935 integrated into the "Friedrich Wilhelm University" Berlin. In 1948 it was opened a second time under the direction of Otto Suhr as the "German University of Politics", and in 1959 it was accepted into the "Free University (FU) Berlin" as part of the "Otto Suhr Institute".

The "University of Politics" was to have a lasting influence on Hans Beutz's commitment to adult education and university planning in Wilhelmshaven after 1945. At the university's "Social Policy Seminar", he studied business administration and economics, constitutional and administrative law, economic and commercial law and newspaper studies. His thesis was entitled "The unemployment welfare problem since 1918". In 1931 he completed his first study abroad (summer school) in Oxford .

For political reasons, had Hans Beutz, who was also involved in the Social Democratic banner federal, soon after the seizure of power by the Nazis in 1933 his job in the employees union and give up his studies. From then on, he initially earned his living by advertising subscriptions for insurance magazines.

Stays abroad and war years

On the mediation of the trade unions, he had received a one-year scholarship at "Fircroft College", an adult education center in Selly Oak near Birmingham in the United Kingdom , where he studied economics, history, sociology and international law in 1934. For reasons of principle, he refused entry into the British army as well as emigration to the USA . In Birmingham he was able to find another two-semester scholarship at the “International Adult Education Center” in Helsingør, Denmark . Hans Beutz then worked as a language professor and administrator at the “Social Adult Education Center” in Nærum near Copenhagen . The years abroad and in political adult education should shape him for a lifetime.

At the end of 1936, Hans Beutz returned to Berlin and initially worked as sales manager for a sales company for propane gas . On March 1, 1939, he moved to the administration of the "Theater am Nollendorfplatz", responsible for accounting and auditing, and later as deputy administrative manager. At the beginning of the war, because of his language skills, he was called up as a “scientific assistant” in the “Research Office”, the foreign intelligence department of the Reich Aviation Ministry , and was employed until the end of the war.

Back in Wilhelmshaven

Immediately after the end of the war, Hans Beutz returned to Wilhelmshaven to check on his parents. However, his companions from earlier times and the Lord Mayor Friedrich Paffrath , appointed by the British military government , asked him to help with the cooperation with the British and with the rebuilding of the city administration. On July 6, 1945 Hans Beutz got a job in the liaison office to the military government of the city of Wilhelmshaven - not least because of his language skills. A quarter of a year later - on October 1, 1945 - he was appointed city councilor of the city administration, which was being rebuilt. He took on responsibility for youth welfare, press and transport, and later also the municipal business operations, but above all for "cultural maintenance".

As head of the cultural department , Hans Beutz was one of the key designers of the cultural new beginning in Wilhelmshaven in the post-war period for the next 15 years. Naturally, the focus was on the rebuilding of the cultural institutions in the city destroyed by the war. Especially after the traumatic experiences of the war, people's need for cultural stimulation and reflection was particularly strong. Above all, however, it was also about promoting upbringing and education for democracy - especially in dealing with the consequences of the National Socialist dictatorship - about promoting cultural offers that had not existed in Germany for more than twelve years.

Cultural policy in Wilhelmshaven faced major challenges in those years: the former “armaments smiths of the Reich”, the exclusive naval port, had to create completely new economic livelihoods: light industry, port management, tourism, agriculture and, last but not least, scientific and cultural institutes. Cultural institutions should also make a contribution to the city's economy, but above all they should re-shape the image of the city as a “city of peace”. Seen in this way, the new cultural beginning was inextricably linked with the “new” Wilhelmshaven of the post-war period.

Hans Beutz and Prime Minister Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, 1947

Against this background, the plan for a university arose - inspired by the then British naval commander in Wilhelmshaven, Captain Edward R. Conder (RN) - initially thought of in the former barracks on Mühlenweg. From this, Hans Beutz developed his personal agenda, which he set off in the following years together with Mayor Reinhard Nieter and the City Council of Wilhelmshaven. A university in Wilhelmshaven was not implemented, but in Wilhelmshaven-Rüstersiel the “ University for Work, Politics and Economics ” was built on a college-style campus , not by chance after a “ blueprint ” of the “University for Politics” in Berlin without academic admission requirements and with an interdisciplinary social science study approach. Its founding rector was Wolfgang Abendroth .

Hans Beutz personally founded numerous cultural initiatives and supported them with the opportunities his office offered, including the “Association of Art Friends for Wilhelmshaven” in November 1945, the “Volkshochschule Wilhelmshaven” association in December of the same year, and the “ Northwest German University Society” “In June 1947. Even if he promoted all cultural disciplines equally, he remained particularly focused on adult education. In 1947 he was one of the co-founders of the “Lower Saxony State Association of Adult Education Centers” and in 1949 of the “German Association for Adult Education”. The new building for the adult education center and the city library - for the first time under one roof, inaugurated in 1962 - was the result of his initiative.

District President in Aurich

As of March 1, 1947, Hans Beutz, as city ​​director, was also the general representative of the city director. In 1960 he left the city of Wilhelmshaven and held the office of regional president of East Friesland in Aurich until 1974 . His main areas of work included the building of schools, spatial planning in East Friesland, the creation of more efficient municipalities as well as nature and landscape protection. A particular concern for him was the noticeable improvement in the educational offer, more efficient primary and secondary schools. The establishment of the Volkswagen factory in Emden also bore his signature. Hans Beutz “let nothing come to East Friesland. [...] If East Frisia is perceived today as likeable, rooted in tradition and rich in culture, then Hans Beutz belongs to the first row of men and women who have sowed the seeds for it. "( Horst Milde )

Adult Education Center and City Library Wilhelmshaven (Hans Beutz House)

In 1989, Hans Beutz and his wife Edith Beutz-Thedinga set up a "Foundation for Services to Upbringing and Education in the Ems-Jade Area". In doing so, they have established the ideals of the post-war period, the importance of education and training, especially for the future. Optionally, they also considered possible German scholarship holders at Fircroft College in Birmingham. Since then, the Hans Beutz Foundation has regularly honored schools and other educational institutions for special initiatives and projects in the field of education.

Honors

In 1973 Hans Beutz was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit.

On the occasion of his 100th birthday in 2009, the city of Wilhelmshaven honored its long-time city director and head of cultural affairs by renaming the main building of the adult education center and the Wilhelmshaven city library into Hans Beutz Haus .

literature

• Biographical Lexicon for East Frisia, Volume 3, Aurich 2001.
• Werner Brune (Ed.): Wilhelmshavener Heimatlexikon , Volume 1–3. Brune, Wilhelmshaven 1986–1987.
• Jens Graul : Wilhelmshaven has to become more than it was - the cultural new beginning after 1945. Brune-Mettcker Printing and Publishing Company, Wilhelmshaven 2009, ISBN 9783930510368 .
• Hans Beutz Foundation: Festschrift 100 years of Hans Beutz - 20 years of the Hans Beutz Foundation . Wilhelmshaven / Aurich 2010.
• Remmer Hein: In conversation with Hans Beutz . Leer 1989.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ hans-beutz-stiftung.de: History of the Foundation , accessed on January 21, 2016.

Web links

• Enno Schmidt ( East Frisian Landscape ): Hans (Johannes) Beutz , accessed on January 21, 2016.
• Beutz was a stroke of luck for the city (PDF; 233 kB), accessed on January 21, 2016.