Heinz Soénius

Heinz Soénius (born September 26, 1929 in Cologne ; † February 8, 2020 there ) was a German politician ( CDU ).

Employment

After attending elementary and middle school in 1946, Soénius began an apprenticeship with the Köln-Bonner Eisenbahnen AG, after which he was employed there until 1968. He worked for the company as a works council for eleven years . In 1968 he moved to the Stadtwerke Köln GmbH and the housing company of Stadtwerke GmbH as managing director . In 1989 he also became Labor Director and Management Spokesman for the Stadtwerke Group until he retired in 1994.

politics

In 1947 Soénius joined what was then the ÖTV trade union, now the United Service Union (Ver.di). He held various functions in the union, including from 1983 to 1986 as an external employee representative on the supervisory board of Thyssen Niederrhein AG Hütten- und Walzwerk, Duisburg.

In 1961 Soénius was elected to the City Council of Cologne for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), of which he had been a member since 1947 . There he represented housing policy for the CDU. During his seven-year membership in the council, he helped shape residential construction in Cologne. From 1970 to 1990 he was a member of the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament , where he was a member of the CDU parliamentary group and its spokesman for housing. and for many years chairman of the workers' group of the CDU parliamentary group. Soénius was also chairman of the CDU in Cologne for ten years (1972–1982). At the same time, he represented the employees in the CDU in Germany for decades, as chairman of the largest CDA district association in Cologne, and deputy state chairman of the CDA Rhineland. He had a decisive influence on the Christian Democratic Workforce (CDA), to which he had belonged since 1946, for decades. From 1959 to 2020 he was a member of the federal board of the CDA, of which he was treasurer from 1981 to 1995. He was then appointed honorary treasurer of the CDA. As chairman of the Christian Social Policy Foundation for many years. V. (1985–1998, then honorary chairman), he decisively secured the establishment of the training workshop for workers' center in Königswinter . During his active time, he played a key role in formulating the CDA's tax policy guidelines.

Tenant movement

In 1965 Soénius became a member of the advisory board of the Cologne tenants' association. V. , on whose board he was elected after four years. In 1995 he was elected chairman. He held this office until 2007, after which he also became honorary chairman. Soénius had been a member of the advisory board of the German Tenants' Association since the mid-1970s, the board from 1995 to 2007. Since 2007 Soénius was honorary chairman of the DMB in North Rhine-Westphalia. This regional association was founded in 2003 through a merger of two associations in Rhineland and Westphalia that he operated.

From 1990 to 2012 he was chairman of the supervisory board of the non-profit housing and building cooperative tenant protection .

Social

From 1979 to October 2012 Soénius was chairman of the Stegerwald Foundation. Afterwards he was an honorary chairman of the foundation board. The foundation supports projects for disabled people. In the first place, there is assisted living for the mentally ill, who should be reintegrated into everyday life in this way. This is served by Köln-Ring gGmbH, a subsidiary of the Stegerwald Foundation, of which Soénius was also Chairman of the Board of Directors.

family

Soénius was married to Ruth Lindweiler and had three children.

• Peter Michael Soénius (* 1956) was treasurer of the city of Cologne from 2001 to 2009. Since 2009 he has been managing director of the Gold Kraemer Foundation , Frechen
• Ruth Jeanne Soénius (* 1959) is an industrial designer in New York
• Ulrich Soénius (* 1962) is a historian, archivist, cultural politician, deputy. Managing Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry , Cologne, and Director of the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Wirtschaftsarchiv .

The racing driver Hans Soenius (1901–1965) was a cousin of his father.

Honors

In 2007 Soénius was awarded the Hans Böckler Prize of the City of Cologne as the second prize winner.

literature

Karl-Albert Eßer / Herbert Metzger: Heinz Soénius. Experience - experience - remember, Merzenich 2019 ( ISBN 978-3-00-063763-6 )

Web links

• Heinz Soénius died Obituary of the city of Cologne
• Speech by Mayor Fritz Schramma on the occasion of the award of the Hans Böckler Prize of the City of Cologne on February 26, 2007 (PDF; 29 kB)
• Heinz Soénius at the Koenigswinter employee center
• Heinz Soénius at the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Congratulations. In: Tenant newspaper. Tenants' Association Cologne, May 2009, accessed on December 29, 2009 . 
2. ^ Andi Goral: Heinz Soénius receives the Hans-Böckler Prize 2007. (No longer available online.) Report-k.de, February 7, 2007, archived from the original on February 20, 2007 ; Retrieved December 29, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.