List of honorary citizens of Amberg

The honorary citizenship is the highest municipal award of the city Amberg .

They are awarded by resolution of the city council to personalities who have made extraordinary contributions to the well-being of the city. There are no privileges associated with the honor. In the case of need, however, the city of Amberg can pay the funeral costs upon request. The city also takes care of the grave if there are no relatives.

Since 1850 at least 27 people have been made honorary citizens.

Note: The listing is done chronologically according to the date of award.

The honorary citizens of the city of Amberg

Josef Friedrich Rezer (born January 18, 1791 in Amberg, † September 15, 1850 in Freising)

Legally qualified mayor

Awarded on January 31, 1850

Rezer initially served the city as a magistrate and legal advisor, later as mayor. During his term of office the construction of a central hospital falls.
Mathias Trieb (born November 20, 1807 in Teisbach, † October 29, 1883 in Amberg)

Rector i. R.

Awarded on December 10, 1870

Trieb was a high school professor at the city's humanistic high school. As rector, he made great contributions to the Amberg secondary school system. He left the city of Amberg a foundation for the education of neglected children. He was made an honorary citizen because of his great services to the city and the establishment of charitable foundations for poor children.
Philipp Freiherr von Podewils (born May 14, 1809 in Amberg; † November 25, 1885 in Amberg)

Director of the Amberg rifle factory

Awarded on December 31, 1872

As director of the Amberg rifle factory, which he led to great economic success, he made services to the city. Podewils is the inventor of the rifle of the same name .
Ludwig Windthorst (born January 17, 1812 at Gut Caldenhof in Ostercappeln near Osnabrück, † March 14, 1891 in Berlin)

German, Roman Catholic politician of the second half of the 19th century

Awarded on September 6, 1884

The leading politician of the Center Party, Ludwig Windthorst, appeared as an important participant and speaker at the 1884 Catholic Day in Amberg.
Michael Lauerer (born March 13, 1821 in Amberg; † August 1, 1908 in Amberg)

Privatier

Awarded on December 11, 1891

Lauerer was the owner of a bank. He was made an honorary citizen for his services to the city as a member of the council of municipal representatives and the municipal council. He was also a member of the district administrator of the Upper Palatinate and from 1869 to 1881 a member of the state parliament.
Michael Helmberger (born November 13, 1820 in Regenstauf; † November 5, 1900 in Regensburg)

Collegiate canon

Awarded on April 19, 1892

From 1867 to 1898 Helmberger was city dean at the parish church of St. Martin. On his initiative, the Amberg Catholic Day was held in 1884. The founding of the Amberger Volkszeitung and various charities, such as the girls' orphanage, go back to him.
Ernst Herrmann (born October 13, 1831 in Ansbach; † December 4, 1904 in Amberg)

Art locksmith

Awarded on May 26, 1897

Herrmann was first commander of the volunteer fire brigade for 25 years . He earned services to the fire extinguishing system of the city. The fire services were reorganized under his leadership. In addition, he campaigned for the further development of trade and commerce in the Upper Palatinate.
Johann Baptist Ritter von Walter (born October 18, 1831 in Leuchtenberg; † January 27, 1900 in Munich)

Supreme Court Councilor

Awarded on September 1, 1899

Ritter von Walter was a member of the Bavarian State Parliament from 1875 to 1899 and served as its President from 1893 to 1897. For his commitment to the construction of the Amberg blast furnace and the teacher training institute, he was awarded honorary citizenship. The construction of two railway lines is also due to him.
Josef Heldmann (born November 8, 1835 in Vilseck, † October 10, 1910 in Amberg)

Legal Mayor, Kgl. Councilor

Awarded on June 26, 1907

Heldmann served the city for 40 years, initially as a legal advisor in the city administration, and later 15 years as a legally qualified mayor. The aqueduct, the slaughterhouse and the fire station were built under him .
Ludwig Feil (born January 14, 1856 in Amberg; † October 20, 1933 in Amberg)

Operations manager i. R.

Awarded on January 13, 1926

Feil was first in command of the volunteer fire brigade for 22 years and did a lot of work in the city's fire extinguishing system. In addition, he was a member of the parish college and the city council for many years and was head of the city's motor vehicle system.
August Ehrensberger (born April 5, 1841 in Amberg; † December 17, 1930 in Amberg)

General Practitioner

Awarded on March 17, 1926

Ehrensberger was a miners' surgeon in Amberg. He earned services to the war club and medical system of the city. He was the founder and leader of the voluntary Amberg medical column for 40 years.
Anton Ruck (born October 22, 1847 in Tückelhausen; † June 9, 1931 in Munich)

City Planning Officer i. R.

Awarded on September 28, 1927

Ruck worked for more than 40 years as a town planning officer and board member of the town planning department. In this capacity he planned to expand the city beyond the area of the old city wall. He was responsible for the reconstruction of the town hall, the gas works and the slaughterhouse and promoted the construction of three local railways.
Anton Dollacker (born June 1, 1862 in Amberg, † September 24, 1944 in Amberg)

Upper Government Council a. D.

Awarded on March 9, 1934

With the award of honorary citizenship, Dollacker's services to the historical research of his hometown and the Upper Palatinate from prehistoric times to the present as well as his cooperation in the organization and development of the city archive were recognized.
Josef Dollacker (born May 13, 1856 in Amberg; † March 16, 1937 in Amberg)

Major General a. D.

Awarded on March 9, 1934

Dollacker is the author of a chronicle of the city of Amberg from 1864 to 1935. He was awarded honorary citizenship for his services to the history of the city and his Upper Palatinate home.
Georg Blößner (born September 8, 1859 in Burkardsreuth; † January 22, 1950 in Amberg)

Seminar director i. R., Papal House Prelate

Awarded on August 31, 1949

Blößner worked as a preacher at the parish church. At the Amberger Gymnasium he taught as a religion professor and was director of the Kgl. Study seminars. He was made an honorary citizen for his services in the field of Upper Palatinate and local history research.
Emmanuel Reichenberger (born April 5, 1888 in Vilseck; † July 2, 1966 in Vienna)

Pastor, papal secret chamberlain

Awarded on July 18, 1951

Reichenberger was President of the Kolping Family in Chicago and organized the CARE package campaign after the end of World War II . He did some service to the displaced and was an advocate for the German people in the United States.
Julius Dörfler (born January 28, 1872 in Markt Berolzheim; † March 14, 1952 in Munich)

Hospital Director i. R., Medical Council

Awarded on January 29, 1952

Dörfler was initially head of the surgical department from 1917 and director of the Marienkrankenhaus from 1922. He earned special services through the expansion and further development of the hospital. From 1925 to 1933 he was a member of the city council.
Josef Kallmünzer (born February 11, 1871 in Amberg; † December 22, 1957 in Amberg)

Wholesale merchant, councilor of commerce

Awarded on February 6, 1952

Kallmünzer was honored for his services, which he had earned over 30 years as a member of the council of municipal representatives, the municipal council and the city council as well as a member of the district council of the Upper Palatinate. He campaigned for the local railways, the city sewer system, the city hospital and the construction of the secondary school. He was also a longstanding member of the Regensburg Chamber of Commerce.
Georg Baumann (born March 15, 1878 in Amberg, † March 4, 1968 in Amberg)

Factory owner

Awarded on December 10, 1953

Baumann was the owner of the Baumann Brothers enamel company . There he created 3,000 jobs before the First World War. He created more than 400 apartments and his own pension fund in the so-called Baumannviertel for the employees. He was a member of the community college from 1916 to 1919 and a member of the city council from 1948 to 1952. From 1954 to 1956 he was a member of the Bavarian State Parliament. With his involvement in business associations and his participation in local politics, he contributed to the industrial development of the city and political life.
Sebastian Regulator (born November 27, 1884 in Süß bei Hahnbach; † November 10, 1959 in Amberg)

Legally qualified mayor i. R.

Awarded on December 12, 1954

For more than 30 years, regulator has rendered services to the city in his functions as legal advisor and legally qualified mayor. He was also the local air raid chief and district chairman of the Red Cross. Towards the end of the Second World War he saved the city from destruction through personal efforts in April 1945.
Otto Carl Schulz (born April 10, 1880 in Konitz, West Prussia, † April 21, 1964 in Amberg)

Factory owner

Awarded on April 1, 1960

Schulz was the founder of the Depragwerke. In 1944 he set up the Otto-Carl-Schulz-Foundation as a scholarship aid for gifted students , which he increased to 100,000 DM after 1948. He was awarded honorary citizenship for his services to the economic life of the city.
Karl Bauer (born January 13, 1894 in Amberg; † March 28, 1966 in Amberg)

Master electrician

Awarded on February 17, 1964

Bauer worked as a master of electrical engineering and precision mechanics in the apprenticeship system. In the Amberg City Theater, he looked after the technical systems out of idealism. He earned services to the fire extinguishing system of the city.
Josef Karl Regner (born October 6, 1890 in Amberg; † March 18, 1966 in Amberg)

Mayor i. R., managing director

Awarded on September 27, 1965

Regner was a member of the city council from 1929 to 1933 and again from 1945 onwards and held the post of 3rd and from 1958 that of 2nd mayor on a voluntary basis. He was also active in the trade union movement and in the organizations of the Bavarian metalworking trade.
Wolf Steininger (born April 13, 1907 in Amberg; † January 29, 1999 in Amberg)

Lord Mayor ret. D.

Awarded on June 26, 1972

Steininger was mayor of the city from 1958 to 1970. He was also a member of the district assembly of the Upper Palatinate and the Bavarian Senate. With the planning and implementation of many urban development measures, he earned services to the city.
Franz Prechtl (born May 17, 1927 in Amberg; † July 29, 2018)

Lord Mayor ret. D.

Awarded on April 30, 1990

Prechtl was Lord Mayor of Amberg from 1970 to 1990. The renovation of the old town falls during his term of office. It promoted economic and industrial growth in the region.
Helmut Bartelt (born February 13, 1924 - † April 16, 1994)

Rector

Awarded on October 19, 1993

Bartelt was a member of the city council for 30 years and served as second mayor for 18 years. In these functions he made a wide range of services for the common good, especially in the school sector, in the work of expellees and at club level.
Maria Geiss-Wittmann (born March 3, 1934)

politician

Awarded on February 14, 2008

Geiss-Wittmann was a member of the city council for 18 years and a member of the Bavarian state parliament from 1970 to 1986. From 2000 to 2008 she was state chairwoman of donum vitae in Bavaria. She is the initiator of the "Moses Project". In particular, she earned services to the social development of Amberg a. a. through voluntary work as a board member in the social service of Catholic women.

Web links

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