Reinhard A. Bitter

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Reinhard Albert Bitter, 1973

Reinhard Albert Bitter (born March 6, 1906 in Hameln ; † February 5, 1998 in Stadthagen ) was the Ordinary Managing Director of the Beamtenheimstättenwerk , non-profit building society for the public service GmbH, Berlin and Hameln , from 1966 to 1971 . He was a bearer of the Federal Cross of Merit .

Life

Reinhard Albert Bitter's father, the Royal Railway Company Secretary Wilhelm Chr. Bitter, died six months after his birth. Therefore, after graduating from high school in Hameln in 1925 , his son lacked the financial means to study. Instead, he completed a two-year commercial apprenticeship at Sinram & Wendt GmbH, Union clothes hanger factory in Hameln. At the same time he attended commercial college courses at the Leibniz Academy in Hanover .

Even during his school days, he was an enthusiastic rower at the RCOR school rowing club in Hameln, to which Hermann Klare belonged. After finishing school he started for the RV "Weser" Hameln from 1885 in the junior single and with others in the four and eight at regattas of the Northwest German Regatta Association. In 1985 he received the Association's Golden Badge of Honor.

Because of the global economic crisis , he emigrated to the USA in 1929, but returned in 1938 and worked again at Sinram & Wendt GmbH until he was called up for military service in 1939. In March 1945 he was taken prisoner by the British and was an interpreter for a camp commandant until his release in August, whose testimony made it easier for him to work for the British Army and the military administration in Springe and Hameln (North German Timber Control) at the end of 1945 .

On July 1, 1947, he switched to asset supervision (the British military government ) for the city and district of Hameln-Pyrmont as an "investigator" . After December 1, 1947, he acted as a trustee under Act No. 52, Art. I, 1 of the Military Government on the Freezing and Supervision of Property. After January 1, 1948, responsibility was transferred to the Lower Saxony State Office for the Supervision of Blocked Assets (NLA) in Hanover and he became a supervising trustee.

He had numerous assets to look after. This also included, among others

The blocked assets were released from control over time. On March 17, 1951, the Berlin Commission for Claims on Assets decided according to the Control Council Directive No. 50, in accordance with the original share capital of 20,000 RM , a share of the BHW in the amount of 10,000 RM in each of the Deutsche Beamtenbund e. V., (trade union federation of professional civil servants) in Cologne-Deutz and the property and trust company of the German trade union federation GmbH in Düsseldorf as successors of the founding organizations from 1928. The Commission's decision was approved by the British Military Government on March 22, 1951 and took effect on April 1, 1951.

Bitter joined the BHW long before that. He initially headed the credit department and was appointed authorized signatory on December 19, 1950, limited to the operation of the branch. That is why he was temporarily recalled as trustee, but was reinstated immediately at the request of the later new shareholders. The restriction was lifted on June 11, 1952. In 1953 he was appointed deputy managing director and on January 1, 1966, full managing director.

During his time as trustee, the supervisory authorities occasionally made recommendations to leave Hameln or anger about the city administration led to corresponding expressions of will in the management. In 1951 there was an attempt by the Berlin management bodies of the BHW to close the Hameln branch. Bitter always campaigned for the main zone administration to remain in Hameln.

As early as 1948, Bitter warned vigorously against plans by the part of the management, which was still active in Berlin until 1951, to endanger the company through unlimited expansion of the customer base and merger with a dilapidated public building society. In its opinion, the BHW would have lost its exclusive position in relation to the public service and the associated advantages and would not have seen such a successful development. However, these were then lost under new management from around 1976 because, in the opinion of the Berlin Federal Supervisory Office for the Credit System, they were increasingly being used excessively. As early as 1939, the public building societies had tried to obtain these privileges by applying to the Reich Ministry of Economics . Above all, this endeavor to “shape the civil servants' home facility into a professional building society” was highlighted on August 24, 1971 when RA Bitter was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class.

In 1954, against the resistance of one of the managing directors, Bitter played a major role in setting up the BHW pension fund for company pension schemes for the workforce. (This must not be confused with BHW Pensionskasse AG, which was founded as a new line of business in 2003.)

He retired on March 6, 1971 with a ceremony in the Weserbergland Festival Hall in Hameln.

He is buried in the family grave in the Deisterstraße cemetery in Hameln.

Honors

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ student no. 939
  2. ↑ DER SPIEGEL, March 7, 1977
  3. ↑ DER SPIEGEL, November 7, 1977
  4. ^ Information from F. Sandeck, Brandenburgische Provinzialbank und Girozentrale i. L., Berlin and E. Türke, BHW, Berlin of July 13, 1948 in an elaboration on the future business strategy of their companies to be combined
personal data
SURNAME Bitter, Reinhard A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bitter, Reinhard Albert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German managing director of the official home office
DATE OF BIRTH March 6, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamelin
DATE OF DEATH February 5, 1998
Place of death Stadthagen