Rudolf Brückmann

Rudolf Brückmann (born September 16, 1891 in Wald , † May 27, 1964 in Solingen ) was a German civil servant , manufacturer and politician of the NSDAP .

Life and career

As the son of a Protestant merchant, Rudolf Brückmann grew up in the town of Wald, which was united with Solingen in 1929. After studying law from 1910 to 1914 in Jena and Bonn Brückmann resigned as court clerk in the Prussian a judicial service before the outbreak of the First World War as a volunteer marched and until 1918 remained in military service. In 1919 he received his doctorate. jur., but left the judicial service in the same year and settled down as a manufacturer in Solingen.

Brückmann joined the city council of Solingen on behalf of the NSDAP , but resigned his mandate in May 1930. In 1933 Brückmann became the city's first councilor. As such, after the transfer of the previous Lord Mayor Helmut Otto to Düsseldorf in November 1937, his official duties were transferred to him to take over the office of Lord Mayor there. Since a definitive appointment did not take place, Otto was formally again Lord Mayor of Solingen after his recall in Düsseldorf (on October 1, 1939), but in practice he never held this position again. On March 5, 1941, Brückmann instructed the city archives to create a “Chronicle of the Current War”. After the liberation of Solingen in 1945, Brückmann was removed from office, interned and taken into custody. From 1948 he acted as a representative .

Trial in the Max Leven case

In 1949, proceedings against Brückmann and three other defendants for murder and crimes against humanity in connection with the murder of Solingen editor Max Leven were opened before the jury of the Wuppertal district court . As a communist and a Jew, the bedridden Leven was hated by the local National Socialists. During the Reichspogromnacht on November 10, 1938, the four accused, all high-ranking members of the Solingen NSDAP, gained access to Leven's apartment, tortured him and finally executed him with a shot in the head. As Lord Mayor, Rudolf Brückmann was informed of the course of events and those involved, but left them unmolested. After a two-day trial, the verdicts were passed on July 21, 1949: Brückmann was acquitted, and his co-defendants were sentenced to mild prison terms.

literature

• Horst Romeyk : The leading state and municipal administrative officials of the Rhine Province 1816–1945 (=  publications of the Society for Rhenish History . Volume 69 ). Droste, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-7700-7585-4 , p. 304 .

Web links

• Solingen war chronicle on archive.nrw.de
• Solingen Chronicle 1949 (PDF; 629 kB)
• City archive Solingen, finding aid, holdings: Lord Mayor and Main Office 1922-1945 (PDF; 121 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.adressbuecher.net/entry/show/1009144
2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from December 17, 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. P. 3. 
3. ^ Horst Romeyk : The leading state and municipal administrative officials of the Rhine Province 1816–1945 (=  publications of the Society for Rhenish History . Volume 69 ). Droste, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-7700-7585-4 , p. 663 .
4. ↑ Michael Korn, November 2001 at: archive.nrw.de
5. ↑ Solingen Chronicle 1949, entry from July 21, 1949 ( Memento of the original from May 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) 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. (PDF; 629 kB)