Karl Lehr (politician)

Karl Lehr , mostly Carl Lehr during his lifetime , (born January 15, 1842 in Meschede , † February 7, 1919 in Duisburg ; full name: Carl Eduard Friedrich Lehr ) was a German lawyer and local politician . From 1879 to 1914 he was Lord Mayor of the city of Duisburg.

Life

Karl Lehr was born in Meschede in the Sauerland in 1842, his parents were the lawyer Carl Lehr and his wife Marianne Henriette Lehr, b. Bender . Lehr graduated from high school in 1861 and then studied first theology , then law at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn , where he became a member of the Alemannia Bonn fraternity . After his first practical training as an auscultator at the Berlin Court of Appeal , he became a trainee lawyer and later a court assessor .

After participating in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/1871 , he was appointed district judge in Kirchhundem and in 1874 moved to Duisburg in the same office. On August 5, 1879, he was elected mayor by the Duisburg city council for the usual twelve-year term of office . From 1881 he held the title of Lord Mayor and was re-elected for a second term in 1891. After the end of 1903, he was unanimously re-elected for life - a process that has remained unique in the city's history. As Lord Mayor, he represented the city in the Prussian mansion from 1892 and sat in the provincial parliament of the Rhine Province from 1908 . In 1914 he resigned from office for health reasons.

Tomb in the old cemetery

Karl Lehr died in 1919 and was buried in the old cemetery in Duisburg right next to the chapel. ( 51 ° 24 ′ 57.84 ″ N , 6 ° 46 ′ 53.14 ″ E ) His wife Marie Lehr was born there. Oechelhäuser (1858–1925) is buried, a daughter of the Siegen machine manufacturer Adolf Oechelhäuser (1819–1896). 51.416066666667 6.7814277777778

Act

During his tenure, Lehr tried to establish new industries. He supported the establishment of a racecourse (1881) and improved the connection to Meiderich by building the Aaker ferry bridge (1902–1904). As early as 1889 he moved the port facilities of the Rhein-Ruhr-Kanal-Aktienverein to the city and thus enabled the later expansion of the Ruhrorter ports into an important inland port. In 1905, Lehr succeeded in incorporating the previously independent cities of Ruhrort and Meiderich, which shortly before had both seemed to agree on a mutual merger after a long dispute, to be incorporated into Duisburg, thus creating the framework for industrial expansion.

In addition, Lehr tried to promote the cultural development of the city. On his initiative, the construction of the Tonhalle (1886–1887) as well as the construction of the city theater (1911–1912) went back. The patriotic -minded teachers succeeded already in 1886 with the same dedication, the Sedan Day maintain as excursion and holiday of the schools in Duisburg, as this already met with resistance from the teacher.

Awards

Since 1904, Lehr has held the honorary title of Privy Councilor . In 1912, on his 70th birthday, he was made an honorary citizen of the city. In 1929 the school at Dickelsbach was renamed Karl-Lehr-Realschule . The new construction of the road bridge from Duisburg to Ruhrort , completed in 1907 , also received his name, as did Karl-Lehr-Strasse.

literature

Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Volume 3: I-L. Winter, Heidelberg 1999, ISBN 3-8253-0865-0 , pp. 264-265.
Patrick Sensburg : The great lawyers of the Sauerland . 22 biographies of outstanding legal scholars. 1st edition. FW Becker, Arnsberg 2002, ISBN 978-3-930264-45-2 (276 pages).

Web links

Commons : Karl Lehr - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Hans Georg Kraume: Carl Lehr (1842–1919), Lord Mayor of Duisburg (1879–1914). In the Internet portal Rheinische Geschichte , accessed on October 11, 2017

References and comments

^ Anton Bettelheim (Ed.): Biographisches Jahrbuch und Deutscher Nekrolog. Volume 3, Georg Reimer, Berlin 1900, list of dead 1896, IX. (Traders and industrialists), column 73.
↑ Adolphs 1976, pp. 54-57
↑ Nothing is known about the basis of the naming of Karl-Lehr-Strasse in Lustadt . Karl-Lehr-Strasse in Wiesbaden-Schierstein was named after the mayor there, Karl Lehr.

personal data
SURNAME	Lehr, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Lehr, Carl; Lehr, Carl Eduard Friedrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German lawyer and local politician, Lord Mayor of the City of Duisburg
DATE OF BIRTH	January 15, 1842
PLACE OF BIRTH	Meschede
DATE OF DEATH	February 7, 1919
Place of death	Duisburg

[1] Anton Bettelheim (Ed.): Biographisches Jahrbuch und Deutscher Nekrolog. Volume 3, Georg Reimer, Berlin 1900, list of dead 1896, IX. (Traders and industrialists), column 73.

[2] Adolphs 1976, pp. 54-57

[3] Nothing is known about the basis of the naming of Karl-Lehr-Strasse in Lustadt . Karl-Lehr-Strasse in Wiesbaden-Schierstein was named after the mayor there, Karl Lehr.