Hubert Krewinkel

Hubert Krewinkel (born March 10, 1844 in Breinig in the Aachen district (today Stolberg (Rhld.) In the Aachen city region ); † March 11, 1898 in Aachen ) was chairman of the Aachen Social Democrats at the time of the Socialist Act (1878–1890).

Krewinkel learned the wood turner's trade and opened his own workshop as a master wood turner in the Aachen district of “Büchel”. He found access to social democratic and socialist ideas early on, and workers' education was particularly close to his heart.

Political activity at the time of the socialist laws

At the time of the socialist laws introduced by Bismarck , he led the social democratic movement in the Aachen region. From this time he received the nickname “Party Pope”, which was used by friends and enemies alike. As a result of the ban on officially participating in party politics, numerous front organizations were founded. In Aachen these were, among others, the “Workers Educational Association” and the “Olympus Carnival Society”.

At that time, Krewinkel organized numerous “trips” of his clubs to Belgium ( Eupen , Verviers ) in order to be able to speak at events there. This political work did not go undetected, but could not be punished, since the meetings were only held in front of a "closed society" - so one tried to escape police spies.

The first speaker appearance by Hubert Krewinkel in Eupen, which he gave together with the hat maker Hugo Neumann, who lives in Eupen, took place on December 16, 1888. The then Eupen police commissioner Zickel reported in a protocol about it:

“Kräwinkel and Neumann each spoke twice. Both went to the limit of what was allowed in their criticism of the pension and disability legislation as well as the labor protection laws. In the end, the former asked those present to also vote for a worker candidate in the elections, since nothing can be expected from two thirds of the current MPs for the workers. "

In the reports from Eupen Police Commissioner Zickel at the time, the name Krewinkel always appears in the wrong spelling, 'Krähwinkel'. His workshop at the “Büchel” developed more and more into an illegal repository for social democratic writings (e.g. the social democrat ). Krewinkel smuggled these mostly from Belgium. It was only in 1886 that the judiciary had found enough material to bring Hubert Krewinkel to justice. He was sentenced by the Aachen regional court to a prison term of 10 months for offending against Section 19 of the Socialist Act. Another two-year sentence from the Aachen regional court was overturned in an appeal judgment in Cologne. The Aachen police were annoyed by this and thereupon put Krewinkel under constant "special observation".

Political activity after the repeal of the socialist laws in 1890

After overcoming the Socialist Law, Krewinkel was able to work openly. From March 1893 Krewinkel was a shop steward of the Aachen SPD . From September 1895 chairman of the Aachen workers' education association . He took part as a delegate to the Rhenish party conventions in Düsseldorf in 1893, Krefeld in 1894, Duisburg in 1895, Solingen in 1896, as well as in the SPD party congresses in 1894 and 1896.

From 1897 he was the publisher of the "Aachener Volksblatt". After his death, the paper was passed on by his widow.

Death and funeral 1898

At his funeral, there were tumultuous riots with opponents of social democracy. The center newspaper “Echo der Gegenwart” said after his funeral that the “Janhagel” (→ common people, lower mob) behaved in an unchristian way and insulted the dead and shouted “Hurray” when the funeral procession marched past. However, it was kept secret that the “Echo” clearly called for these protests in advance. The funeral procession was stopped several times from its place of departure at Büchel to Aachen's Ostfriedhof on Adalbertsteinweg, a few kilometers away. The coffin was spat on, the mourners were beaten.

The police waited for a backlash from the funeral procession participants. Contemporary witnesses report that the then police commissioner Oellrich called on a horse-drawn carriage driver to drive his car into the funeral procession. This did not take place amid strong protests from the coachman. Shortly before the entrance to the cemetery, the funeral procession was attacked again, so that the hearse almost fell over and the coffin fell on the ground.

Was present at the funeral service u. a. also Ignaz Auer , who did not have to give his funeral oration in the cemetery as planned, but later in a Frankenberg beer cellar. Ignatz Auer in his funeral speech, which was quoted on March 17, 1898 by the "Rheinische Zeitung" (issue no. 62):

“The deceased also fought for those who today blasphemed his corpse in foolish delusion. Krewinkel is dead; death will overtake us one after the other; people come and go, but the spirit that already rules millions today remains and it will not rest until it has conquered people and misery and meanness have disappeared! "

Similar scenes subsequently occurred several times at the funerals of Aachen social democrats.

Matthias Schlösser was elected as his successor .

literature

• Michael Klöcker: The social democracy in the Aachen administrative region before the 1st World War. Einhorn-Presse Verlag, 1977.
• Herbert Ruland: A blessing for all of us - authorities, workers in the German-Belgian border region (1871–1914) Grenz-Echo Verlag Eupen, 2000.
• Achim Großmann : The red journeymen in the black west - The early history of the social democratic movement in the Aachen region Hahne & Schloemer Verlag Düren, 2014.