Heinrich Brück (Mayor)

Heinrich Brück (born August 29, 1815 in Büdesheim ; † October 14, 1879 in Worms ) was a German police commissioner and mayor of the city of Worms from 1861 to 1874 .

Professional background

Brück was initially a police inspector who worked in Worms. The then incumbent mayor of Worms, Ferdinand Eberstadt, complained to the local council in 1849 about Brück's management. Eberstadt was of the opinion that, under Brück's leadership, the entire police apparatus would be provided “extremely poorly”. Eberstadt expressed his opinion to the council that the post should be filled by someone else as soon as possible.

Furthermore, the incumbent mayor Eberstadt told the council that the salary that Brück had received up to then should no longer be paid to him, but should be used “more appropriately and better”. At this point, the rumor was already going around that Brück himself was no longer interested in his job as a police superintendent and was instead looking for a new professional challenge. There was certainly some truth behind this rumor, because as it turned out a short time later, Brück was already in a relationship with a financially well-off widowed daughter of a miller, whom he married shortly afterwards.

Despite the ongoing rumors and the statements made by Eberstadt in the local council, which were directed against him, Brück retained his position as police commissioner, also because the political situation had meanwhile changed in a sense that appealed to him. As a result, Brück spoke out against converting the political associations “Democrats 'Association” and “Citizens' Association” into support associations, since he would have preferred these associations to be dissolved instead of assigning them to a new purpose.

This was followed in 1861 by his election as a councilor and shortly thereafter also by his appointment as mayor.

Term of office as Mayor of Worms

Brück retained his conservative attitude even after his appointment as mayor. He rejected the request of some members of the community council to hold the meetings public. Brück also nipped the attempt in the bud when the council wanted to express criticism of its leadership. Brück was of the opinion that the council was not placed in front of the mayor and that he was therefore not allowed to give instructions or censure.

During Brück's tenure, which at 12 years turned out to be considerably longer than that of his predecessor, there were numerous changes that were initiated, on the one hand, by the citizenry and on the other hand, noteworthy ideas from other politicians in the local community. However, since the city of Worms was extremely financially dependent, important changes dragged on a little.

Despite these adversities, Brück managed to implement important changes during his tenure. Mention should be made, among other things, of newly laid roads between the city wall and the railway site. New residential areas also fell into Brück's tenure, for example the area between Carmeliterstrasse (today's Wilhelm-Leuschner-Strasse), Hundsgasse (today's Siegfriedstrasse) and Gaustrasse. School buildings, which were already incorporated into the planning during Brück's tenure, were later built in this area. Brück's work as mayor is to be granted the successful mediation between the financially destitute city and the residents, who, instead of the city, shouldered the highest financial burdens of these measures.

Heinrich Brück died in Worms in 1879.

literature

• Fritz Reuter: Worms between imperial city and industrial city 1800–1882 . Stadtarchiv , Worms 1993, p. 81 f .
• Gerold Bönnen: History of the city of Worms . 2nd Edition. Theiss , Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-8062-3158-8 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ The (upper) mayor of Worms> Stadt Worms. In: worms.de. Retrieved February 9, 2016 .