Heidenheim cherry war
Protest rallies in the city of Heidenheim in 1920 that were triggered by high fruit prices at the weekly market are known as the Heidenheim cherry war.
Bad food situation
At the beginning of May in 1920 the prices for fruit at the Heidenheim weekly market were very high. Citizens hoped that during the main harvest season the fruit could be bought at lower prices. The food situation in the whole of Germany was still poor, as the First World War had only recently ended. When cherries were still very expensive on the weekly market at the beginning of June, the Heidenheim town council called on the population to "self-breed" and to boycott the fruit traders. The local council thus joined other cities such as Heilbronn or Göppingen, where the citizens also stopped buying fruit.
Worker Defense
The protests in Heidenheim were initially peaceful until, on Wednesday, June 23, 1920, a fruit dealer pulled out a revolver during an argument with a housewife. The outraged women brought their husbands from Voith to reinforce them . These cracked down on the fruit traders and one injured was taken to hospital. The resident army was converted into a workers' army, which had its seat in the town hall and was armed. A leadership group quickly formed, which successfully negotiated with Mayor Jaekle about a subsidy from the city for the fruit prices. She also sent a commission to Stuttgart, which, however, returned without results. A general strike was called for the next two days.
Police from Stuttgart
On Saturday, June 26, 1920, a special commission of the Stuttgart police under the leadership of Government Commissioner Elben arrived that morning. Heidenheim was now under siege: gatherings were forbidden, weapons of the workers' armed forces had to be surrendered, and there were arrests. Although there was still a curfew on Sunday June 27, 1920 and the police carried out house searches , the situation remained calm. The local council published a special edition on the same day ("Reluctance to the state of siege"). In negotiations with the mayor and the government commissioner Elben, a withdrawal of the police was secured as soon as the workers returned to the factories. The good results of the commission sent to Stuttgart gave reason to hope that the strike would end soon. In fact, work in the factories resumed the next day and, at a meeting of the local council, citizens were asked to return the weapons. Nevertheless, the municipal council was still under the control of the government commissioner and many citizens were outraged by the ongoing police checks. In the following days from July 1, 1920, the restrictions imposed by the city administration and the curfew were lifted and the Stuttgart police withdrew. On July 14, 1920, the state of siege was lifted and Heidenheim followed the advice of Government Commissioner Elben, whose report on the events in Heidenheim concluded with the following words: “I hope that this teaching has done the people of Heidenheim good and that they will be well in the long run will find order. "
literature
- Hans Wulz, Manfred Allenhöfer: The Heidenheimer Land, the people of the Ostalb and their history , Volume 4, Heidenheimer Verlagsanstalt 1995.
- Gerhard Schweier: Heidenheimer Chronik 1911–1960 , 1962.