Ralf Rauch

Ralf Rauch (1998)

Ralf Rauch (born May 12, 1950 in Gera ) is a non-party German local politician and was the first directly elected Lord Mayor of Gera from 1994 to 2006.

Life

Ralf Rauch was born in Gera, where he also graduated from the Extended Oberschule. At the same time he completed a skilled worker training as an agricultural technician. After completing basic military service, he studied structural engineering at the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (forerunner of the HTWK Leipzig ) in 1975 with a degree in engineering. He then worked as a structural engineer in the project planning company of the Gera civil engineering combine and became the main project engineer in 1978 and the technical manager of the company in 1987.

After the political change in the GDR , he was committed to democratic local politics in his hometown and was a member of the SPD until 1993 . Ralf Rauch ran for the office of mayor as early as May 1990, but was defeated by the CDU candidate Michael Galley . The city council elected Rauch as mayor and building officer. For one year he was chairman of the newly founded Thuringia State Association of Workers' Welfare .

In 1994, Rauch ran as an independent candidate for the first direct mayor election by the citizens of Gera, where he was elected for six years. His re-election in 2000 took place in the first ballot with a clear majority. Rauch's terms of office were shaped by demographic and urban development changes after reunification. In 1997, Gera and the neighboring town of Ronneburg were awarded the contract to host the 2007 Federal Horticultural Show . From 2000 to 2006, Gera took part in the EU funding program URBAN II under Rauch's direction .

Ralf Rauch promoted social development in Gera by founding and becoming a member of several associations (Förderverein Berufsakademie, BUGA-Förderverein, Höhlerverein , Tourismusverein, town twinning association "Gera international"). He headed numerous committees such as the Regional Planning Association East Thuringia. From 1990 to 2006, Ralf Rauch was Vice President of the Association of Municipalities and Cities of Thuringia, a member of the Presidium of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities and a member of the main committee of the German Association of Cities .

In the mayor election in the summer of 2006, a runoff election between Rauch and the challenger Norbert Vornehm , supported by the SPD and the Left Party, became necessary, in which Rauch was defeated. In January 2008 Rauch became managing director of the Thuringian long-distance water supply . At the end of 2015 he retired.

literature

• Günter Domkowsky: Lord Mayor of the City of Gera. Events - anecdotes - interesting facts. Publishing house Dr. Frank GmbH, Gera 2007, ISBN 978-3-934805-31-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jens Voigt: 12 Mayor of Gera, 7 years Fernwasser boss: Ralf Rauch is retiring. Ostthüringer Zeitung, December 14, 2015, accessed on December 14, 2015 .