Heinz Röthemeier

Heinz Helmut Röthemeier (born February 13, 1924 in Bonneberg / Vlotho ) is a German local politician of the SPD . From 1977 to 1991 Röthemeier was the mayor of the East Westphalian city ​​of Minden in Westphalia .

Life and work

Until his retirement, Röthemeier worked as a primary and secondary school teacher and as headmaster of the secondary school in Minden. From 1963 Röthemeier was the founding chairman of the regional sports association in what was then the Minden district .

Until her death, Heinz Röthemeier was with Helga Röthemeier, geb. Krause (1923-2010), married. In 1985 Helga Röthemeier was the godmother of the rescue cruiser of the DGzRS, which was baptized with the name “ Minden ” .

Political party

Röthemeier is a member of the SPD in the local association Nordstadt - Bärenkämpen . From 1973 he was founding chairman of the SPD city association of Minden. The municipal association of the Mindener SPD local associations was founded after the municipal reorganization in 1973 in order to better coordinate the politics of the SPD in the now much larger city of Minden. This was not always easy, as some very self-confident local SPD associations came to the city of Minden from the surrounding communities (e.g. Dützen , Todtenhausen , Kutenhausen , Hahlen ). The city association was nevertheless successful under Röthemeier's chairmanship. In the local elections in 1975 the SPD was able to defend its absolute majority in the city council of Minden with 50.9% of the votes and in the 1979 local elections to 52.5% of the votes and 27 of 51 seats.

1974/75 Röthemeier ran within the SPD as successor to Werner Pohle for the state parliament mandate in the constituency of Minden, but he was subject to the later state parliament member Hans Rohe (SPD).

Public offices

Röthemeier was a member of the Minden City Council for the SPD from 1969 to 1991 , where he held leading offices in his parliamentary group. From 1973 to 1977 Heinz Röthemeier was deputy mayor. After the death of Mayor Hans-Jürgen Rathert (SPD), the city ​​council elected him as his successor on February 11, 1977.

During Röthemeier's tenure, the redesign and redevelopment of Minden's inner city continued in cooperation with city director Erwin Niermann . Right at the beginning of his term of office, the construction of the new town house at the Kleiner Domhof was started. The building was built in the typical 1970s architecture and was very controversial among the citizens. It was often ridiculed as a “concrete block”, and the obstruction of the historical line of sight from the town hall to the westwork of Minden Cathedral was also criticized . In the eighties, the founding of the Kurt Tucholsky Comprehensive School was pushed through against fierce opposition , the Caroline von Humboldt Gymnasium was merged with the Herder Gymnasium.

Röthemeier remained mayor for over fourteen years and resigned from his office on September 30, 1991. His successor in the office of mayor was the then chairman of the SPD parliamentary group Siegfried Fleissner .

Röthemeier is an honorary citizen of Minden and has received the First Class Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany .

literature

• Joachim Meynert, Ursula Bender-Wittmann (Ed.): No journeymen without a fatherland . Contributions to the history of social democracy in Minden. Uhle & Kleimann, Lübbecke 1994.

predecessor	Office	successor
Hans-Jürgen Rathert	Mayor of Minden 1977–1991	Siegfried Fleissner