Max Müller (politician, 1899)

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Max Müller (born June 20, 1899 in Chemnitz ; † July 25, 1977 there ) was a German politician ( KPD / SED ) and resistance fighter against National Socialism . From 1945 to 1951 he was Lord Mayor of Chemnitz.

Life

Müller, with his full name Max Emil, was born the son of a saddler and a housewife . After attending primary school , he did an apprenticeship as a machinist in Chemnitz from 1913 to 1916. Here he came into contact for the first time with the youth metal workers of the German metal workers' association , where he became a member as well as in the socialist youth workers . With his move to the Hilbersdorf district , Müller first met proletarians who organized themselves in the Spartakusbund . Through this he got to know Fritz Heckert , among others , in whose training he took part. In 1917 he finally moved to Nuremberg in order to avoid replication, and took a job as a fitter and fitter at the Süddeutsche Telefon-Apparate-, Kabel- und Drahtwerke (TeKaDe).

When Müller was expelled from Bavaria in May 1919 during the fighting for the Munich Soviet Republic , he returned to Chemnitz, where he worked for the works of Johann von Zimmermann from then on. There he met his future wife Gretel, with whom he had a daughter. In addition, he was elected chairman of the works council by the workers and joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in March , for which he served as district manager in Hilbersdorf from 1924 to 1928. From 1925 onwards, in the KPD district leadership of the Erzgebirge / Vogtland, he played a key role in determining the KPD's regional trade union policy. In addition, Müller was an honorary member of the city ​​council in Chemnitz from 1929 to 1933 . Since 1929 a member of the Revolutionary Trade Union Opposition (RGO), from 1930 he was chairman of the Astra works council , for which he had worked since 1928.

After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists , the NSBO initiated the "cleansing" of communists in the factories. Müller was therefore released on July 15, 1933. Together with Ernst Enge and others, Müller from then on organized the illegal work of RGO, industrial groups and works councils. When individual members were blown, Müller was also arrested in November 1933 and sentenced to two years in prison by the Dresden Higher Regional Court on August 30, 1934 . After his release, he contacted his communist comrades again . Together they met secretly for training courses and distributed anti-war pamphlets among “ Eastern workers ” and Soviet prisoners of war. In the course of the grating campaign , Müller was arrested again in August 1944 and taken to Sachsenhausen concentration camp for a month . After a short time at large, he was arrested again in October for exposing a resistance group. In April 1945 he was sentenced to eight years in prison by the “ People's Court ” for high treason and “decomposition of the military force”.

After his liberation from Waldheim prison by the Red Army in May 1945, Müller returned to his hometown. He joined the re-established KPD in June 1945 and in 1946 joined the SED. In Chemnitz, Müller was second in 1945, then first mayor and was finally mayor until 1951. After his replacement as Lord Mayor, the party appointed him chairman of the Chemnitz and Karl-Marx-Stadt district councils in the following year , and in 1954 he became a member of the district assembly and the People's Chamber, as well as a member of the SED district leadership's secretariat. Due to his poor health, Müller had to give up his political activities in 1962. On August 29, 1974 he was made honorary citizen of the city of Karl-Marx-Stadt.

Max Müller died on July 27, 1977. The funeral service took place in the Chemnitz Opera House , which was rebuilt after the war under the leadership of Müller. Today a street in the Markersdorf district bears his name.

Awards and honors

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Christoph Gollasch: Max Müller . In: Mielke et al .: Trade unionists in the Oranienburg and Sachsenhausen concentration camps , Berlin 2013, p. 575.
  2. ↑ See Christoph Gollasch: Max Müller . In: Mielke et al .: Trade unionists in the Oranienburg and Sachsenhausen concentration camps . Berlin 2013, p. 577.
  3. ↑ See Christoph Gollasch: Max Müller . In: Mielke et al .: Trade unionists in the Oranienburg and Sachsenhausen concentration camps . Berlin 2013, p. 581.
  4. ↑ See Christoph Gollasch: Max Müller . In: Mielke et al .: Trade unionists in the Oranienburg and Sachsenhausen concentration camps . Berlin 2013, p. 582.
  5. ↑ Bernd-Rainer Barth :  Müller, Max . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
  6. ↑ City of Chemnitz: Max Müller ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved August 27, 2017 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chemnitz.de
  7. ↑ Chemnitz through the ages. Meanings of the street names ( Memento of the original dated December 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chemnitzer74.de
personal data
SURNAME Müller, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (KPD, SED), MdV
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Chemnitz
DATE OF DEATH July 25, 1977
Place of death Karl Marx City