Paul Mülhens

Paul Franz Julius Mülhens (* 10. December 1875 in Cologne-Ehrenfeld ; † 14. March 1926 of Schomberg ) was mayor in Hamborn and president of the municipal association Ruhrkohlenbezirk .

Life

Paul Franz Julius Mülhens came from a branch of the well-known Cologne entrepreneurial family Mülhens (Kölnisch Wasser "4711") and was the son of the businessman Peter Josef Mülhens and his wife Marie Piecq. He attended the Apostle High School in Cologne and graduated from high school here at Easter 1896. After serve the one-year military service , he studied in Freiburg , Munich and Bonn law . He completed his legal traineeship in the district of the Cologne Higher Regional Court. After being appointed court assessor on May 16, 1904, Paul Mülhens found a job for a short time at the Cologne District Court and then employed as a research assistant at the Rhineland Provincial Administration . Here he worked in welfare administration (state poor people), disability insurance and in road affairs. From April 1, 1906, he worked as a legal alderman for the city of Hamborn, focusing on the reorganization of the municipal tax system . With Mayor Friedrich Schrecker , Mülhens built up the social administration of the rapidly growing industrial city. Hamborn's population quadrupled between 1900 and 1910. On April 1, 1911 Hamborn was raised to the city. Mülhens was appointed First Deputy. He was non-party, but was close to the Center Party .

He did his military service as a reserve officer from September 1914 on as a captain and battalion commander in a Landwehr infantry regiment on the western front. Then deployed in the Balkans, at the end of the war he was one of the occupying forces in the Ukraine. After the armistice on November 11, 1918 and the occupation of the Black Sea ports by French troops, the German soldiers were prevented from returning home, arrested in Odessa and taken to Saloniki, where they were interned until July 1919. From here Mülhens applied on July 1, 1919 with the help of his wife for the position of Lord Mayor, which had become vacant through the resignation of Friedrich Schrecker. On July 14th, when he returned to Hamborn, he took over the provisional management of the city administration as first alderman. Hamborn's city council elected him mayor on August 6th. On December 12, the Prussian Minister of the Interior approved the use of the official title of Lord Mayor .

The 20s were marked by violent social unrest in the entire Ruhr area, which culminated in March / April 1920 with a workers' uprising. Hamborn was under the rule of the radical left-wing Red Ruhr Army for a good two weeks . She left Mülhens in office, but monitored the work of the top management of the city administration. Hamborn was saved from looting because Mülhens and the leaders of the Red Army had found a modus vivendi in maintaining public security and order.

With effect from July 18, 1920 he was appointed by the Prussian government as the first president of the Ruhr coal district settlement association . The day before he resigned his position as Lord Mayor and left the city administration after fourteen years of activity. Mülhens played a decisive role in the establishment and further development of the authority. He directed this until his death. He was on a cure in Schomberg in the Black Forest, where he died unexpectedly at the age of fifty. Here he wanted to get relief from the advanced lung disease, the beginnings of which he had contracted during the war. On March 18, 1926, he was buried in the Melaten cemetery in Cologne.

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• Kanther, Michael A .: Paul Mülhen's digitized version in: Internet portal Rheinische Geschichte, accessed on January 7, 2020