Hermann Heimerich
Hermann Heimerich (born December 21, 1885 in Würzburg , † January 5, 1963 in Heidelberg ) was a German lawyer and politician ( SPD ).
Life
Heimerich's father was a senior Bavarian judicial officer, his mother a landowner's daughter from Schweinfurt . Since his father was often transferred, Hermann Heimerich attended high schools in Neuburg an der Donau , Bamberg and Nuremberg from 1896 to 1905 . Here he turned to naturalism and came to the free religious movement through his acquaintance with Carl Scholl . He studied law in Munich , Geneva and Würzburg . During his studies in Munich, he participated in the Young German Cultural Association and in the cartel of liberal associations in Munich. He finished his studies in Würzburg and did his doctorate during his traineeship on the subject: The law of the free religious communities in Prussia .
He joined the SPD in Nuremberg in 1911 and became a member of the free religious community. From 1912 to 1919 he ran a law firm. In addition, he was a clerk in the Nuremberg military hospital during the First World War and later in a leading position at the food office. From 1919 to 1925 Heimerich was a paid city councilor and head of the welfare office in Nuremberg . After he had twice applied unsuccessfully for mayor posts in Berlin and Breslau , he became mayor for economy in Kiel in 1925 .
After he had turned down the offer of Cologne mayor Konrad Adenauer to become first alderman there, Heimerich became the first SPD mayor in Mannheim in 1928 . He put his term of office under the maxim "Mannheim, city of work and art" and wanted to fight against the image of the industrial city. In the last major incorporation phase to date, several suburbs were annexed to Mannheim. In 1933 he was taken into protective custody by the National Socialists - he had refused to hoist the swastika flag on the town hall - and in June was deposed as Lord Mayor.
Heimerich moved to Berlin and worked as a public accountant . After the Second World War , he returned to the Rhine-Neckar region and from May to July 1945 was President of the Central Rhine-Saar Provincial Government in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse . After the French military administration dissolved the province that had just been formed, Heimerich settled as a lawyer in Heidelberg. In 1946 he and other people founded the magazine “ Betriebs-Berater ”.
Contemporaries described Heimerich as a proud, unapproachable character, as a steadfast man who the "zeitgeist" could not waft. Not really loved in his own party due to his unbound nature, Heimerich was initially passed over in Mannheim. After the sudden death of the incumbent Mayor Fritz Cahn-Garnier (SPD), even the CDU and DVP demanded Hermann Heimerich's nomination.
His second term in office from 1949 to 1955 was dedicated to the rebuilding of the completely bombed Mannheim. The first step was to create large-scale new living space for those who had been bombed out. During the reconstruction, Heimerich was not only concerned with the material provision of housing. With a policy of "social urban design", which aimed at a greening of the buildings and a decentralization of public facilities, he tried to increase the standard of living of the residents, especially in the suburbs. This happened above all in the outskirts of Schönau , which under the administration of Hermann Heimerich received a center with several community facilities (citizens' office, branch of the library, communal cinema etc.).
In addition, Heimerich also promoted art and culture and was heavily involved in building the new National Theater . The implementation of the first cultural and documentary film week (1952), which lives on at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival to this day, the foundation of the Schiller Prize (1954) and the reorganization of museum relationships with the establishment of the Reiss Museum (opened in 1957) were all on his initiative back.
Unusually for the Adenauer era, he also campaigned for a timely discussion of the “legacy” of the Third Reich. Heimerich fought tirelessly to build a new synagogue, which was finally consecrated two years after his retirement from local politics as the second Jewish place of worship to be built in southwest Germany after the Holocaust. The idea of the common Electoral Palatinate was also held high by him. Therefore, he was committed to the south-west state and against the Baden state. The hope of a correction of the state borders and a connection to the Palatinate on the left bank of the Rhine was not fulfilled.
After the regular expiry of his term of office, Heimerich worked as a lawyer in Mannheim until his death in 1963. He was married to Anna Luise Schilling (1896–1978). His grave in Mannheim's main cemetery , which was designed by his friend, sculptor Philipp Harth , is adorned with a shell limestone stele with a figure niche. Inside is the bronze sculpture “Der Zweifler” by Ernst Barlach from the property of the deceased.
Honors
The Mannheim Commercial College awarded Hermann Heimerich an honorary doctorate in 1932. In 1955 Heimerich was made an honorary citizen of the city of Mannheim due to his services for the reconstruction and the business school appointed him professor. After his death in 1963, the local council named a promenade on the Neckar after him. Later a dormitory of the Mannheim Student Union was named after him. Heimerichstrasse in Nuremberg bears his name.
The Rhine-Neckar Regional Planning Association and the Rhine-Neckar Region Association have been awarding the Hermann Heimerich plaque for special services to the development of the Rhine-Neckar region since 1972 . The previous winners are Hans Reschke , Reinhold Zundel , Kurt Becker-Marx , Ekkehard Lommel , Paul Schädler , Walter Krause , Theo Gießelmann , Gottfried Schmitz , Willibald Kimmel , Klaus Fischer, Georg Kohler , Wolfgang Pföhler , Eggert Voscherau , Werner Schineller , Helmut Beck , Uwe Kleefoot, Roland Schilling and Horst Sieber.
Quotes
"We wanted to summarize the entire life reform movement of that time, wanted to publish yearbooks and handbooks, set up a cultural-political seminar for the training of younger workers, organize Sunday celebrations, expand moral classes and build people's houses."
"It is not enough that a city is properly administered."
Publications
- Memoirs of a Mayor of Mannheim . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-17-007169-6 .
- Communal development since 1945 . Metzner, Frankfurt am Main 1950.
- Armaments order for business expansion and debt settlement . Verl. Ges. Recht u. Economy, Heidelberg 1947.
- Youth welfare and socialist worldview: presentation, go to d. Conference d. Workers' welfare in Kiel . Chr. Hanse, Kiel 1927.
literature
- Eckhard Hansen, Florian Tennstedt (Eds.) U. a .: Biographical lexicon on the history of German social policy from 1871 to 1945 . Volume 2: Social politicians in the Weimar Republic and during National Socialism 1919 to 1945. Kassel University Press, Kassel 2018, ISBN 978-3-7376-0474-1 , pp. 74 f. ( Online , PDF; 3.9 MB).
- Sebastian Parzer: Mannheim should not only rise up as a city of work ...: The second term of office of Mannheim's Lord Mayor Hermann Heimerich (1949–1955) . Ubstadt-Weiher 2008, ISBN 978-3-89735-545-3 .
- Andrea Hoffend: Politics without borders - Hermann Heimerich. : Motor and mentor of the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region . Weinheim 2005.
- Anton Schnack u. a .: Professor Dr. Dr. hc Hermann Heimerich. Honorary citizen of the city of Mannheim. Lord Mayor of the City of Mannheim from 1928 to 1933 and from 1949 to 1955. A friend's gift on December 21, 1960 , Frankfurt: Fritz Knapp 1960.
- Birgit Arnold: Hermann Heimerich . In: Ulrich Nieß (Ed.): The highest distinction in the city: 42 Mannheim honorary citizens in portrait . Mannheim 2002, ISBN 3-926260-55-6 .
- Angelika Tarokic: Hermann Heimerich. A Lord Mayor of Mannheim in the mirror of his estate. Special publication by the Mannheim City Archives. 160 pages with illustrations and CD-Rom, Mannheim 2006, ISBN 3-926260-70-X .
- Existing free religious community Mannheim, access 38/1996.
- Lexicon of Free Religious Persons, Rohrbach o. J.
- Gustaf Jacob: Heimerich, Hermann. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-428-00189-3 , p. 276 f. ( Digitized version ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information on biography ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ W. Münkel: Die Friedhöfe in Mannheim (SVA, 1992) p. 90
- ↑ MARCHIVUM: street names, Hermann-Heimerich-shore. Retrieved August 27, 2018 .
- ↑ Verband Region Rhein-Neckar June 13, 2008 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Mannheimer Morgen, December 9th, 2011 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
See also
Web links
- Literature by and about Hermann Heimerich in the catalog of the German National Library
- Heimerich estate
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Heimerich, Hermann |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 21, 1885 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wurzburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | 5th January 1963 |
| Place of death | Heidelberg |