Helmut Schlich

Helmut Schlich (born January 26, 1935 in Bochum ; † January 2, 2015 in Cologne ) was director of the German Tenants' Association

Life

Schlich studied economics at the University of Cologne and dealt with the housing market in his diploma thesis. After completing his studies in 1958/59, he initially worked briefly in the insurance industry and then accepted an offer from the German Tenants' Association. At first he worked as an assistant to the then Federal Director of the German Tenants' Association, Berthold Gramse , who died unexpectedly in 1962. As a result, the 28-year-old Schlich was appointed Federal Director of the German Tenants' Association.

In the following years, Schlich was involved in decisions on tenant protection law. The first big topic was the fight against the plans adopted by the then building minister Paul Lücke , which aimed at lifting the rental price control, at least for the old building stock. As a result, rents rose and waves of layoffs rose. Schlich now intensified the public relations work of the tenants' association, which soon became increasingly recognized as a lobby group in politics. This subsequently led to the 1st Housing Termination Act in 1971. In the 2nd Housing Termination Act, the statutory protection against dismissal for tenants could be included as a permanent right through pressure from the German Tenants' Association. In 1982 Schlich was one of the founders of the legal protection insurance of the German Tenants' Association . He was the 1st board member and a member of their supervisory board until his death.

Grave in the Melaten cemetery

After German reunification , Schlich supported the establishment of tenants 'associations in the new federal states and was responsible for the merger of the GDR tenants' association with the DMB.

Schlich developed his own tenant library, which began with a publication under the name "Advice for tenants". The most successful publication was the tenant lexicon . In addition, there was the editor-in-chief of the professional journal Housing Industry and Tenancy Law .

Schlich was honored with the Federal Cross of Merit for his services .

Schlich was married to his wife Doris for almost 60 years, who gave him 3 sons. He was involved in the youth chess sport in Erftstadt, played passionately blitz chess and sharp skat and was a lifetime fan of FC Schalke 04. He was buried in the Melaten cemetery in Cologne (hall 102).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary in: Housing Industry and Tenancy Law. 2015, p. 66