Karl Thomä

Karl Thomä (born February 22, 1901 in Eppingen ; † November 5, 1982 there ) was Mayor of Eppingen in the Heilbronn district in northern Baden-Württemberg from 1948 to 1966 .

family

He was the only child of Johann Thomä (born March 19, 1858; † June 15, 1941) and Elisabeth, born Vielhauer (born September 27, 1863; † September 11, 1926). His father was a farmer. Karl Thomä married Wilhelmine nee Dieffenbacher on October 2, 1926 (born January 30, 1904). There were two children from this marriage: Hans Heinz Otto (born December 18, 1927 in Eppingen) and Karin Gisela Wilhelmina (born November 11, 1937 in Karlsruhe ; † April 2, 1944 in Heidelberg ).

Life

Before his election, Karl Thomä was the first director of the VfB Eppingen sports club . He started work before the currency reform in June 1948. Procurement of work clothes and tools for the city workers was only possible in exchange for logs from the city forest. Thomä was a commercial employee until his election as mayor.

In the first mayoral election after the Second World War on February 1, 1948, the secretary of the SPD local association and SPD city council was not an official candidate of his party. Although the SPD did not officially nominate a candidate, he was elected mayor with 1,326 votes in the first ballot. He prevailed against two other candidates. One of the opposing candidates was the previous mayor, Jakob Dörr , who was appointed by the Allies in 1945 . The main priority for Thomä was the procurement of living space for the displaced and the repair of the considerable war damage to many houses in the city. The number of inhabitants had doubled compared to the pre-war period. Karl Thomä was the only applicant to be re-elected for another 12 years in 1954 and retired on March 1, 1966 after this term.

During his tenure, the population of Eppingen grew from 3,500 to 6,000. In 1951, the first general development plan for the city was drawn up, in which the new building areas were also identified: Langenberg, Streckfuß and Schmiedgrund. Other projects during his tenure were the general development plan (1951), road and sidewalk canal construction, the construction of the central sewage treatment plant (1966), school center planning (1965) and the settlement of new businesses such as Bleyle . In addition, during his term of office the correction of compensation, the second land consolidation and the construction of the agricultural school fell . For this purpose, the fire station and the cemetery hall were rebuilt and the city hospital was modernized and a nurses 'and doctors' house was added. Thomä was also responsible for the Talstraße fairground, the Old University local history museum, the Waldstadion and the Otilienberg conference venue. In addition, the restoration of the Jewish cemetery in Eppingen fell during his term of office.

During Karl Thomäs' term of office, trade tax revenue rose from DM 50,000 in 1948 to DM 1.2 million in 1966. The budget of the city of Eppingen increased from DM 475,000 in 1939 to DM 703,000 in 1950 to DM 1,756,000 in 1965 .

Karl Thomä was a member of the district council for the district of Sinsheim from 1953 to 1972 .

literature

Books

• Karl Diefenbacher: Ortssippenbuch Eppingen in Kraichgau . Interest group Badischer Ortssippenbücher, Lahr-Dinglingen 1984 ( German Ortssippenbücher, series A. Volume 109) ( Badische Ortssippenbücher . Volume 52).
• Reinhard Ihle: 100 years of social democrats in Eppingen. 1891-1991 . Eppingen 1991, pp. 43-44
• Manfred Staub: The four mayors after the Second World War . In: The new Eppingen. 1945–1980 . City of Eppingen, Eppingen 1980, pp. 30-34

Newspaper articles

• Heimattag Eppingen 1950, the welcome from the mayor of Eppingen (also as chairman of the tourist office) . In: Eppinger Zeitung , July 8, 1950, p. 1
• Impressions from a study trip for those involved in local politics to the USA - from Mayor Karl Thomä . In: Eppinger Zeitung , June 9, 1965, p. 4
• Solemn municipal council meeting in the Schwanensaal, with the farewell to Mayor Karl Thomä and commitment from Mayor Rüdiger Peuckert . In: Eppinger Stadtanzeiger , March 2, 1966, p. 3
• BM Thomä retired, 18 years in the service of the city of Eppingen - a major part of the reconstruction work after the war . In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung , March 2, 1966
• BM Peuckert introduced in Eppingen . In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung , March 3, 1966, p. 3
• Former Mayor Thomä on his 70th birthday . In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung , February 22, 1971, p. 3
• “Men from the very beginning” (K. Thomä in the post-war period) . In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung , Aug. 7, 1974, p. 3
• When he took up his post, the money was not worth much, former mayor Karl Thomä is 75, always listening to the people . In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung , Feb. 21, 1976, p. 19
• Congratulations and gifts of honor - golden wedding . In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung , October 6, 1976, p. 4
• Retired Mayor Karl Thomä will be 80 on February 22nd . In: Eppinger Stadtanzeiger , February 20, 1981, p. 2
• Great development work done for Eppingen, former mayor Karl Thomä is dead / From 1948 to 1966, the city was in charge . In: Eppinger Zeitung , Nov. 6, 1982, p. 21
• Ke: Former Mayor Karl Thomä dead. Eppingen's image also shaped . In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung of November 6, 1982, p. 4
• Former Mayor Karl Thomä died on November 5th . In: Eppinger Stadtanzeiger , Nov. 12, 1982, p. 2
• Fritz Luz : A lot of work done for Eppingen . In: Heilbronner Voice of November 6, 1982
• 5 death notices for Karl Thomä from the family, the Eppingen municipal council and BM Pretz, VFB Eppingen, SPD local association Eppingen, Eppingen volunteer fire brigade in the Eppinger Zeitung , Nov. 9, 1982, p. 17
• Made a decent life possible for the citizens, Eppingen said goodbye to the former mayor Karl Thomä / Große Mrauergemeinde . In: Eppinger Zeitung , Nov. 12, 1982
• Thanks to the family on the occasion of the death of K. Thomä . In: Eppinger Zeitung , Nov. 27, 1982, p. 23
• "Eppigonien" as the stronghold of carnival - carnival parades 1950/1 (in the series: the 50s in the Heilbronn region by Uwe Jacobi). In: Heilbronner Voice , Feb. 16, 2002, p. 28