Heinrich Thöne

This article deals with the politician; on the robbery of the same name see Georg Christian Heinrich David Thöne .

Heinrich Thöne (born November 28, 1890 in Bocholt ; † June 12, 1971 in Mülheim an der Ruhr ) was a city ​​councilor of the SPD and from 1948 to 1969 mayor of the city of Mülheim an der Ruhr.

Live and act

Thöne grew up as the son of a customs officer in Bocholt , Westphalia , where he learned the trade of a former after attending elementary school . At the age of 17 he became a member of the metalworkers' union, at 23 he joined the SPD. In the same year - 1913 - he found a job at the Friedrich Wilhelms-Hütte in Mülheim an der Ruhr, where he was elected to the works council in 1921 and later became chairman of this body. From 1922 to 1929 he was active as a functionary of the metal workers' association.

In 1929 he was elected city councilor and parliamentary group leader of the SPD and from then on devoted himself entirely to local politics. He gave up his job as a moulder and became managing director of the local committee of the "Free Trade Union". When the SPD, under his leadership, rejected Hitler's application for honorary citizenship in the city council in March 1933 , he and his party were excluded from political participation. As a trade unionist and SPD functionary, he was politically persecuted from 1933 to 1945, was imprisoned several times and had to go into hiding for a time with friends.

After the end of the Nazi regime he was a member of the citizens' committee (1945) and was appointed to the city council appointed by the military government in 1946 . On October 13, 1946 (first local election after 1945) he was elected city councilor and parliamentary group leader of the SPD. As mayor, he initially acted as deputy to the then Lord Mayor Wilhelm Diederichs (CDU), before he was finally elected mayor himself on November 18, 1948. He held this office for five legislative periods , longer than any other Mülheim mayor.

Among his greatest achievements are the reconstruction of the city lying in ruins, the expansion of sports and leisure facilities, as well as the expansion of cultural life in Mülheim. He countered the loss of 10,000 jobs during the mining crisis , which began very early in Mülheim, with an initial economic promotion aimed primarily at expanding trade.

Honors

• 1960: Appointed honorary citizen of the city of Mülheim
• 1966: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1968: Ring of honor of the city of Mülheim
• 1968: Establishment of the Heinrich Thöne Foundation to promote care for the elderly by the city of Mülheim
• 1971: Naming of a ship in the White Fleet after him
• 1979: Designation of the Mülheim adult education center as Heinrich-Thöne-Volkshochschule (SINCE 2018 - CURRENTLY CLOSED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION!)

literature

• Kurt Unbehau: The honorary citizens of the city of Mülheim an der Ruhr . Mülheim an der Ruhr, 1974, pp. 74-76.
• Working group of local history associations in Mülheim an der Ruhr (Hrsg.): Historically significant personalities of the city of Mülheim ad Ruhr. Mülheim an der Ruhr 1983, pp. 83-85.

Other sources

• City archive Mülheim an der Ruhr, holdings 1550/8 (Mülheim personalities)
• City archive Mülheim an der Ruhr, holdings 1602 (estate of Heinrich Thöne)
• City archive Mülheim an der Ruhr, inventory 2001/1/250 (reparation file Heinrich Thöne)

Web links

• Mülheim's mayor from 1808 until today