Paul Collmer

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Paul Collmer (born March 2, 1907 in Stuttgart ; † April 18, 1979 there ) was a Protestant publisher . As a close friend of Eugen Gerstenmaier and Hans Schönfeld , he was the liaison between Protestant church circles in Stuttgart, the Ecumenical Council in Geneva , Dutch resistance circles and the Kreisau Circle during the Third Reich . He was chairman of the diaconal work in Württemberg.

Life

education

Paul Collmer had been a member of the YMCA since his early youth , where he met Eugen Gerstenmaier in 1920. He studied social science, economics and welfare in Tübingen and headed the student union. In 1933 he had to leave Tübingen because of his differences with the National Socialist student group. He went to Frankfurt am Main to be able to complete his studies there.

Church districts and Kreisau district

In 1940 Collmer worked as a German advisor in the Ministry of Social Affairs in the occupied Netherlands . At the same time he made contacts with the Dutch resistance. After his return he formed a Stuttgart circle with Hans Plappert and Wilhelm Hoffmann in the vicinity of the Protestant regional church, which dealt with questions about the rebuilding of Germany after the overcoming of National Socialism and had close connections with the Kreisau Circle through Eugen Gerstenmaier and Adam von Trott zu Solz .

In the winter of 1941, this Stuttgart circle, together with Gerstenmaier, Trott and Schönfeld, director of the Ecumenical Council in Geneva, wrote a memorandum to the Allies in order to receive support for the German resistance. This memorandum, which contained considerations regarding a peace treaty after a coup and the establishment of a European federation, was forwarded to the British and American Foreign Ministers via Geneva. To what extent the addressees were reached remains unclear.

In May 1942 Hans Schönfeld and Dietrich Bonhoeffer had a meeting in Stockholm with the English Bishop Bell von Chicester. This opportunity was used to deliver a further memorandum of similar content which subsequently reached the British government. They showed interest, but not helpful.

Dachau concentration camp

Collmer was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 for supporting Jews and those who were politically persecuted on the run in Stuttgart . His connections to the Kreisau district remained undiscovered. Nevertheless, he was taken to the Dachau concentration camp . He survived concentration camps, punitive battalion and Russian internment and returned to Stuttgart in 1946.

Diaconal work

In 1946, Collmer von Gerstenmaier was appointed managing director of the newly founded evangelical aid organization. A year later he became head of the Protestant publishing house and later publisher of the weekly newspaper " Christ und Welt ", which he founded together with Klaus Mehnert , the first editor-in-chief.

Collmer was appointed to the first board of the u. a. elected by Fabian von Schlabrendorff donated aid organization July 20, 1944 (the later foundation July 20, 1944). In the following period, Collmer took on tasks in the context of the development and expansion of the Diakonie , such as the management of the home foundation and, from 1970, the chairmanship of the Diakonisches Werk in Württemberg.

On November 4th, 1988 the Paul-Collmer-Heim named after him , a senior citizens ' home in Stuttgart - Untertürkheim , was inaugurated.

Publications

  • Social welfare - Diakonie social policy, Paul Collmer . Stuttgart 1969.
  • Countries - People - Universities, Paul Collmer. Stuttgart 1950.

literature

  • Paul Collmer on his 65th birthday, Ev. Verlagwerk, Stuttgart 1972.
  • In memory of Paul Collmer, Ev. Publishing company, Stuttgart 1979.
  • 100 years of Dr. Paul Collmer, Ev. Heimstiftung, Stuttgart 2008.
  • Michael Heisig: Collmer, Paul , in: Hugo Maier (Ed.): Who is who of social work . Freiburg: Lambertus, 1998 ISBN 3-7841-1036-3 , p. 127

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In memory of Paul Collmer , Ev. Verlagswerk, Stuttgart 1979, p. 51
  2. ↑ Joachim Scholtyseck, Robert Bosch and the liberal resistance against Hitler , Verlag CH Beck, Munich 1999, p. 457.
  3. ↑ Klemens von Klemperer , German Resistance against Hitler , Oxford University Press, New York 1992, p. 306.
  4. ^ Ger van Roon : Reorganization in the resistance . R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1967, p. 314.
  5. ↑ Eugen Gerstenmaier, Streit und Friede hat seine Zeit , Propylaen Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1981, p. 254.
  6. ↑ In memory of Paul Collmer , Ev. Verlagswerk, Stuttgart 1979, p. 11.
  7. ^ Klaus Mehnert, Ein Deutscher in der Welt . Stuttgart 1981. p. 330.
  8. ↑ Brigitte and Eugen Gerstenmaier, Two can resist , Bonn / Berlin 1992. P. 69.
  9. ↑ John Michael Wischnath, church in action . Göttingen 1986. p. 393.
personal data
SURNAME Collmer, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protestant publisher and chairman of the diaconal work in Württemberg
DATE OF BIRTH March 2, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH April 18, 1979
Place of death Stuttgart