Richard Arnold (politician)

Richard Arnold (2015)

Richard Josef Arnold (born January 11, 1959 in Schwäbisch Gmünd ) is a German politician ( CDU ) and since July 2009 Lord Mayor of the Baden-Württemberg city ​​of Schwäbisch Gmünd. Before that, he was head of the representation of the state of Baden-Württemberg to the European Union .

Life

Richard Arnold grew up as the eldest of two brothers and a sister in Herdtlinsweiler, a suburb of today's Schwäbisch Gmünder district Weiler in the mountains . His father ran a farm there as a part-time farmer.

After graduating from Scheffold-Gymnasium Schwäbisch Gmünd , Arnold studied administrative sciences in Constance and Frankfurt am Main until 1986 . He received a scholarship to study abroad at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) , which he graduated in 1988. He received another scholarship from the German Council of the European Movement for a postgraduate course at the Europa-Kolleg in Bruges .

From 1988 to 1990 Arnold was project manager at the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels . Then he was deputy head of the department in the Ministry of Food and Rural Areas in Baden-Württemberg until 1993 . From 1993 to 1996 Arnold was Deputy Head of the European Department in the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg , before moving to the Department for Cross-Border and Interregional Cooperation . He headed this until 2000. From 2000 to 2009 Arnold was head of the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the European Union in Brussels, an office subordinate to the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg. During this time, Arnold was named one of the ten most famous and influential Germans in Brussels in a survey of business companies in Manager Magazin .

In his private life, Arnold was active as chairman of the city association for music and singing in Schwäbisch Gmünd, as a singer in the Weiler id Bergen lieder wreath and as a founding member of the Herdtlinsweiler village development association. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Academy for Spoken Word in Stuttgart.

Richard Arnold lives in his parents' house in Herdtlinsweiler - until his death with his partner, the artist and dramaturge Stephan Kirchenbauer-Arnold (1960–2012).

Acting as Lord Mayor

In 2009 Arnold ran for election to the mayor of Schwäbisch Gmünd. There he was able to prevail in the first ballot on May 10, 2009 with a 55.4% share of the vote against incumbent Wolfgang Leidig ( SPD ), who reached 44.2%. On July 30, 2009, Arnold took up the post of Lord Mayor.

Arnold became known nationwide through his appearance as Lord Mayor and the associated acquisition of large voluntary commitments in the implementation of the 850th city anniversary with the Staufersaga 2012, the State Garden Show Schwäbisch Gmünd 2014 and the ongoing positive effects on city life. For example, 1,300 volunteers were recruited for the 2014 State Horticultural Show. During his term of office, there was also extensive urban redevelopment, for which the city received the special prize of the Otto Borst Prize for urban renewal in 2016 .

In the context of the state elections in Baden-Württemberg in 2016 , Arnold was repeatedly traded as a possible top candidate for the office of Prime Minister . Arnold turned down offers in this direction, however. In October 2016, Arnold announced that he would stand for re-election. and was re-elected for this office on May 7, 2017 with 85% of the vote and a voter turnout of 36.05%.

In February 2020 Arnold, who in the previous weeks had been traded as a possible top candidate of the CDU for the mayoral election in Stuttgart, ruled out a move to Stuttgart and supported Schwäbisch Gmünd as part of his household speech.

“Gmünder Weg” in asylum policy

Arnold gained notoriety throughout Germany when he, in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn , recruited asylum seekers for services for rail customers in July 2013. The refugees from African countries were supposed to help travelers to transport their luggage over a temporary bridge that was set up for renovation work. Since, due to the law, only a charitable remuneration of 1.05 euros was possible, reports in the press (including in Spiegel ; Süddeutsche Zeitung ) sparked controversial discussions. The railway then replaced the asylum seekers with its own employees. Arnold, however, stuck to the form of integration work. As part of the Schwäbisch Gmünd State Garden Show 2014 , 60 asylum seekers were deployed again, and the response was mostly positive. Schwäbisch Gmünd also works with asylum seekers at other events in the city, for example at the European Church Music Festival . Arnold's efforts towards asylum seekers are essentially aimed at integrating the refugees quickly into city life, for which, in addition to German courses and decentralized accommodation, the diverse presence in city life plays a role. This form of asylum policy is represented in the public by Arnold as Gmünder Weg and has received a predominantly positive response in the press.

Awards

• 2012 Mérite Européen medal

Web links

• Homepage of Richard Arnold

Individual evidence

1. ^ Richard Arnold Direkt ( Memento of May 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed May 13, 2009.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Article on the award of the Mérite Européen on remszeitung.de .
3. ↑ Academy for the Spoken Word | Board. Retrieved March 2, 2018 . 
4. ^ Article in Stuttgarter Nachrichten , accessed on July 1, 2012.
5. ^ "Great mourning for Stephan Kirchenbauer-Arnold" ( Memento from December 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Gmünder Tagespost from December 18, 2012.
6. ↑ Richard Arnold (CDU) wins with a clear result , Rems-Zeitung of May 10, 2009, accessed April 23, 2014.
7. ↑ Gmünder OB Arnold: A man makes politics with emotions on schwarzwaelder-bote.de from July 23, 2014.
8. ↑ The maker of Schwäbisch Gmünd on mainpost.de from October 10, 2014.
9. ↑ Gmünd receives one of the Otto Borst prizes for urban renewal , article from April 23, 2016 on rems-zeitung.de.
10. ↑ CDU politician Richard Arnold: Secret bearer of hope on stuttgarter-zeitung.de from September 11, 2014.
11. ↑ Richard Arnold does not (yet) want to turn his back on Gmünd and go to Stuttgart on remszeitung.de on September 17, 2014.
12. ↑ Richard Arnold wants to remain mayor in Gmünd on swp.de from October 7, 2016, accessed on January 14, 2017.
13. ↑ Richard Arnold wins with 85.41 percent on remszeitung.de, accessed on May 7, 2017.
14. ↑ OB Arnold stays in Gmünd , on remszeitung.de from February 12, 2020 (accessed on February 15, 2020)
15. ↑ Mayor Richard Arnold organized a non-bureaucratic and multicultural solution at the station's provisional facility. Rems-Zeitung, July 22, 2013, accessed October 7, 2015 . 
16. ^ The porters from Schwäbisch Gmünd. Zeit Online, July 24, 2013, accessed October 7, 2015 . 
17. ↑ Asylum seekers in Schwäbisch Gmünd: lugging suitcases for 1.05 euros an hour. Der Spiegel Online, July 23, 2013, accessed on October 7, 2015 . 
18. ↑ Asylum seekers in Schwäbisch Gmünd: "We were robbed of a great opportunity." on sueddeutsche.de from July 26, 2013.
19. ↑ At Gmünd train station: Bahn provides its own "luggage rack". Rems-Zeitung, July 24, 2013, accessed October 7, 2015 . 
20. ↑ Many compliments for Gmünd at the opening ceremony of the state horticultural show on rems-zeitung.de on April 30, 2014.
21. ^ The capable refugees from Schwäbisch Gmünd on zeit.de from March 12, 2014.
22. ↑ Refugee talk at Maischberger: "I will be afraid if we continue to slut" on spiegel.de from October 7, 2015.
23. ↑ "We are often insulted" on welt.de from October 7, 2015.
24. ↑ Dark corners and simple messages on faz.de from October 7, 2015.
25. ↑ Richard Arnold - personally! ( Memento of the original from November 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ardmediathek.de (SWR Landesschau) from September 17, 2015.