Rolf Karbaum

Rolf Karbaum (born October 29, 1940 in Görlitz ) is a German engineer and local politician . From 1998 to 2005 he was Lord Mayor of the city of Görlitz.

Life

Rolf Karbaum grew up in Görlitz and initially left the city to study engineering in Dresden. During his studies, he specialized in building and room acoustics with a particular focus on noise abatement. After graduating, he worked at VEB Isolierungen in Berlin and later in the research department at Berlin Schönefeld Airport .

In 1972 he returned to his hometown and since then has taught at the Görlitz Engineering School for Electronics and Information Processing, topics ranging from programming and electronic components to microcomputer technology. After the political change in the GDR he became director of the technical school and initiated the merger with the Zittau technical school to form the Zittau / Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, which was founded in 1993. In 1993 he was appointed professor at the newly founded university.

In 1998 he stood as a non-party candidate for election as the successor to the elected Görlitz Lord Mayor Matthias Lechner ( CDU ) and won the elections. Karbaum held the office for seven years. During his official phase, the city of Görlitz applied to host the European Capital of Culture for 2010. However, the candidacy ultimately failed under his successor Joachim Paulick against competitor Essen . He also campaigned for reconciliation and better cooperation with the Polish neighbors. He took Franco-German relations as a model. He intensified the dialogue with the neighboring Polish city of Zgorzelec and established joint city council meetings between the two cities. Since 1998, both cities have presented themselves as the European city of Görlitz / Zgorzelec . On May 7, 2003 - 58 years after the demolition - he laid the foundation stone for the reconstruction of the old town bridge over the Lusatian Neisse between Görlitz Old Town and Zgorzelec Neisse suburb. During his tenure, he also advocated the sale of shares in the public utility company to the French Vivendi group .

On December 5, 2005, Rolf Karbaum was awarded the Order of a Knight of the Legion of Honor for his services to European understanding.

Between 2006 and 2009 Karbaum was chairman of the Association for the Promotion of Culture City of Görlitz / Zgorzelec.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Address by the French ambassador, Claude Martin, on the occasion of the award of the insignia of a knight of the Legion of Honor to Prof. Dr. Rolf Karbaum . (PDF; 35 kB) Retrieved January 22, 2013 . 
2. ^ Dradio.de: My November 9th: Rolf Karbaum . Retrieved January 12, 2012 . 
3. ↑ europastadt.org: Former FVKS chairman Rolf Karbaum turns 70 . (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 10, 2012 ; Retrieved January 12, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.