Johannes Häussler

Johannes Häußler (born November 24, 1879 in Arnegg ; † September 16, 1949 in Neckarsulm ) was a German politician, from 1913 to 1941 and again from 1945 to 1949 mayor of Neckarsulm. There he was made an honorary citizen , and Johannes-Häußler-Strasse and the Johannes-Häußler School also bear his name.

Life

Häussler came from an Arnegger mayor family. He began teacher training in 1894, but broke it off and switched to an administrative career. He was initially an administrative assistant in Steinbach near Schwäbisch Hall and assistant to the Hall district notary, entered the civil service in 1904 as an assistant in the Göppingen District Office, and from 1906 as a Senior Agency Secretary in Ravensburg . From 1903 he belonged to the Center Party .

In 1913 he was elected mayor of Neckarsulm (from 1930 the official title was mayor). In 1917 he and Hermann Greiner were among the founders of the homestead cooperative . After the end of the First World War , Häussler succeeded in immensely improving the urban infrastructure, including a. through the construction of the sewer system, the installation of gas and water supplies and the construction of the Charles School. He also promoted local industry by creating a contiguous industrial area. The commercial subsidies mainly benefited the NSU engine works , which got into economic difficulties in the 1920s . In 1923 Häußler was re-elected almost unanimously, and in 1928 he was appointed to the NSU supervisory board. He also belonged to the Supervisory Board the homestead settlement and Weingärtnergenossenschaft on, was managing director of the Swabian village club , district chairman of the district Heilbronn , board member of Wuerttemberg community tags and participated in numerous other committees.

At the time of National Socialism , Häussler remained in office because the disputed local NSDAP could not agree on any other candidate and they did not want to do without Häussler's experience. Nevertheless, in 1933, Häussler lost all previous secondary positions and was also sidelined in the district council and in the mayors' association of the district. In constant opposition to the NSDAP, Häussler's term in office from 1933 was characterized by ongoing disputes with the party. However, he managed to keep the denominational kindergartens and the city hospital largely free of Nazi personnel. Due to a congenital heart defect, who was already weak in constitution, the stresses and strains of his office led to increasingly unstable health. In 1938 he asked for retirement, but this was rejected. Only when Häussler was in mortal danger due to illness in 1941 was he allowed to retire. The advanced Second World War had meanwhile led to a shortage of personnel in the city administration, so that from 1942 onwards, Häussler again volunteered in the administration's finance department.

After the end of the war, Häussler was reinstated in his office by the Americans, but then removed from office for six months before he returned to office as mayor in 1946. During the impeachment he was represented by Hermann Greiner, who ran as an opposing candidate in the mayoral election in 1948, but lost to Häussler. His last term of office was mainly characterized by rebuilding plans for the city of Neckarsulm, which was badly damaged towards the end of the war. For health reasons, Häussler announced his resignation in December 1948. In April 1949 he was made an honorary citizen of the city of Neckarsulm. In addition, the Johannes-Häußler-Straße and the Johannes-Häußler-Schule bear his name there today .

literature

• Barbara Löslein: Johannes Häussler. In: Maria Magdalena Rückert (Ed.): Württembergische biographies including Hohenzollern personalities. Volume II. On behalf of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-17-021530-6 , pp. 103-104.