Johannes Müller (politician, 1892)

Johannes Ernst Müller (born December 7, 1892 in Dresden ; † February 5, 1971 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German lawyer and Lord Mayor of Dresden from July to October 1945 .

Life

Müller was born as the son of the military veterinarian Friedrich Ernst (* 1853) and his wife Martha Emilie, b. Ringel, born. After attending the Royal High School in Dresden-Neustadt , he studied law in Geneva , Munich and Berlin from 1912 . During the First World War , Müller served as a lieutenant from 1914 to 1918 . He then continued his studies in Leipzig . A year later he passed the first and in 1922 the second state examination in law. In 1920 he had already obtained a doctorate in law at the same time. In 1924 Müller married Käthe Emma, ​​born in 1901. Oelsner. She gave birth to two sons in 1929 and 1933: Hans Joachim and Erhard Helmut.

Professional career as a lawyer

In 1925 Müller was appointed to the District Court Council, until 1927 he worked as a judge at the District Court of Dresden . After a leave of absence, he worked for four years from 1928 as in-house counsel at the energy supply company AG Sächsische Werke in Dresden. In 1932 he returned to the Dresden Higher Regional Court as an assistant judge . In this position he later moved to the Imperial Court in Leipzig. In 1933 he was already director of the regional court and was responsible for managing the 18th civil chamber at the Dresden regional court.

A promotion to the Reich Judicial Council proposed by the President of the Reichsgericht in 1936 was rejected. The reason for this was a violation of the National Socialist race laws , since Müller refused to divorce his Jewish wife even under pressure. According to the German Civil Service Act of January 26, 1937, he was assigned to the Dresden District Court and released from any judicial activity. Until 1944, Müller still worked in the land registry . From 1944 until the end of the war he had to do forced labor in the Louis Herrmann company in Dresden, a supplier factory for the brewing industry. In addition, he was also in prison on Münchner Platz . His apartment was completely destroyed during the air raids on Dresden on February 13 and 14, 1945. He moved with his family to Borna, east of Dresden.

Career as a politician

After the end of the war, Müller moved back to Dresden, where “anti-fascist forces” were sought for public offices. The Russian occupation forces considered him suitable for this because he experienced reprimand during the Nazi era , was not a member of the NSDAP and had the necessary training. In June 1945 Müller was appointed district court director.

On July 5, 1945 Müller was introduced by the previous mayor Rudolf Friedrichs as the new Dresden mayor confirmed by the Soviet city commandant. Friedrichs had been appointed President of the State Administration of Saxony the day before. The thematic focus of the council meetings under the direction of Müller was mostly the restoration of an orderly life in the city (among other things, the supply of the Dresden residents as well as the refugees and displaced persons from the eastern German regions with food, the clearing of rubble and the quick reorganization of the city administration). Difficult negotiations arose with the representatives of the newly founded parties CDU and LDPD , especially about filling vacancies in municipal offices. Here, Müller did not always agree with the radical personnel policy of the KPD . Müller himself was courted by the Saxon liberals, but remained independent. Difficulties were caused by the behavior of some communists in the city and state administration, which was characterized by mistrust and denunciation, especially by his deputy and mayor Walter Weidauer . In a circular on August 8, 1945, Müller called on all municipal departments to strictly adhere to the official channels for all decisions. This meant that these had to be checked first by the state administration in order to then be submitted to the Soviet military administration in Saxony for approval .

A speech that Müller gave on October 22, 1945 gave the reason to replace him after only three months in office. In his speech to a public meeting, Müller spoke not only about reconstruction issues but also about difficulties in working with the Soviet occupying power. Thereupon he was recalled on October 26, 1945 by order of the 1st Vice-President of the State Administration of Saxony, Kurt Fischer (KPD), and in agreement with the head of the SMAD in Saxony as Lord Mayor of the City of Dresden.

Life after mayor's office

A good two months after his release, Müller was appointed Senate President at the Dresden Higher Regional Court on January 1, 1946. After he had not returned from a vacation in the Federal Republic of Germany, Müller was dismissed from the Saxon judicial service on October 31, 1949. From May 1, 1951 until his retirement, he worked as Senate President at the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main .

literature

• Christel Hermann: Lord Mayor of the City of Dresden . Rudolf Friedrichs, Johannes Müller, Gustav Leißner. In: Stadtmuseum Dresden (Ed.): Dresdner Geschichtsbuch . tape 8 . DZA Druckerei zu Altenburg, Altenburg 2002, ISBN 978-3-936300-03-1 , p. 207-227 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Rudolf Friedrichs	Lord Mayor of Dresden 1945	Gustav Leissner