Theo Burauen

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Theo Burauen (with chain of office) visiting the Belgian royal couple, 1971
Grave of Theo Burauen in the Melaten cemetery (MA between Lit. G and R)

Theodor Burauen (born October 19, 1906 in Cologne ; † October 28, 1987 there ) was a German politician and Lord Mayor of Cologne from November 9, 1956 to December 17, 1973 .

Life

Burauen joined the SPD at the age of 20 . After completing a commercial apprenticeship, he worked as a payroll clerk from 1928 until the SPD was banned in 1933, and from 1932 as sales manager at the social democratic Rheinische Zeitung . In the time of National Socialism, Burauen lived from casual work after three years of unemployment. a. in the market hall and as a vendor's tray in the club bar "Wolkenburg" of the Cologne men's choir, was at times a representative for textiles and insurance and newsagents on the Rhine ships until he was appointed managing director in a medium-sized company manufacturing control elements for printing machines in 1936.

After the Second World War, which he had survived from 1940 as a radio operator with the Luftnachrichtentruppe mainly in the Balkans, Burauen moved into Cologne's city council for the first time in 1946, to which he was a member for a total of 27 years. When the SPD won the local elections in 1956 with 46%, the new city council elected Theo Burauen Mayor with two votes from the FDP. In the 1964 elections, his party won a clear absolute majority of 57.4%. He did not step down from this office until 17 years later in 1973. Before his resignation, the council decided on December 20, 1973 to make him an honorary citizen of Cologne; the award ceremony took place on January 14, 1974. In addition, the University of Cologne awarded him honorary citizenship in 1969 and the law faculty an honorary doctorate .

On the initiative of Burauen, around 80 people from all council parties founded a "round table of former members of the Cologne City Council" in 1977. In 1986, on Burauen's eightieth birthday, it published a commemorative publication with speeches by the former mayor.

Theo Burauen died in Cologne in 1987 and was buried in the Melaten cemetery with a “Cologne funeral”, in which two white horses pulled the coffin on a platform wagon through the city. In the years before his death, he had to rely on a wheelchair due to the long-term effects of a leg injury that he sustained on January 31, 1968 as a guest of the government in Rwanda, Africa, when a sport airplane crashed.

Burauen is considered by many - also because of its social policy - to be the most popular Cologne mayor of the 20th century, who in the city council always relied on non-factional harmony, on what he called the "Cologne faction". During his term of office, u. a. the reconstruction of the town hall , the new construction of the opera house , the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum (the building is now the Museum of Applied Arts ) and the sports university . In addition, the Severins and Zoobrücke were built as new Rhine crossings. Closely connected with the name Burauen is the expansion of the Cologne trade fair into a world-renowned company.

In his hometown the politician was nicknamed "Döres" (nickname of Theodor). The AWO senior center Theo-Burauen-Haus, Theo-Burauen-Platz and the Theo-Burauen-Realschule in Cologne are named after him.

From January 25, 1954 to July 23, 1966, Burauen was a member of the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia .

Awards

literature

  • Peter Fuchs : Theo Burauen. Lord Mayor of Cologne. A biographical picture report , Greven Verlag Cologne 1966.
  • Peter Fuchs (Ed.): Theo Burauen, Lord Mayor of the City of Cologne 1956–1973. Selected speeches ; Cologne, the round table of former members of the Cologne City Council was held in 1986
  • Peter Fuchs: Theo Burauen 1906–1987: texts, images, documents ; Publication series of the City of Cologne 1988
  • Georg Bönisch : The 96 percent man. Cologne's Lord Mayor Theo Burauen , Greven Verlag , Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-7743-0646-2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.stadt-koeln.de/1/stadtrat/ehrenbuerger/06352/
  2. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF file; 6.59 MB)
personal data
SURNAME Burauen, Theo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Burauen, Theodor (full name); Döres (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SPD), Member of the State Parliament, Lord Mayor of the City of Cologne (1956–1973)
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 1987
Place of death Cologne