Theodor Thomas

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Theodor Thomas (born March 21, 1876 in Brünlos ; † August 30, 1955 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German trade unionist, roofer , author and chairman and editor of the roofing association.

Life

His father was named Gustav Carl Robert Thomas and his mother was Christine Friedericke. She was only 15 years old when he was born in Brünlos in the Ore Mountains near Zwönitz .

Because of the hardship and the lack of jobs in the Ore Mountains, the family moved to Dresden and lived on Hechtstrasse 18 in the basement from 1886 . The father worked as a roofer and covered buildings with prefabricated slate panels.

The father died after a year of working in Dresden and his brother, the shoemaker Gustav Carl Norbert Thomas, also from the Erzgebirge , took care of the family. His mother and her children continued to live with him at Hechtstrasse 18 from 1887 to 1899. After that, the widowed mother Friedericke Thomas lived alone with her 5 children in this basement apartment until 1901.

From Easter 1890, Theodor Thomas learned the profession of roofer, which his late father had carried out. Mother Friedericke sewed two of his father's old trousers into a new one for his work. Theodor Thomas later wrote his first book about this time with the title "In Father's Pants".

First edition of the novel Give my youth back to me, 1921

He wrote another book about his youth in Dresden on Hechtstrasse. It is titled “Give my youth back to me” and was published in 1921 by the social democratic bookstore Vorwärts in Berlin. The manuscript that Theodor Thomas had submitted to the publisher was 1/3 longer than the printed book later in Fraktur type with 174 pages. The publisher insisted on shortening the novel.

The memories of the youth are based on personal experiences of the author and his childhood friends, as they happened in the Hechtviertel . He describes the poverty , the housing shortage, the worries of the people, the hunger and the diseases in the period from 1886 to 1893. The literal speeches are written in "Dresden Saxon". The fictional character of the shoemaker Radom is his stepfather Gustav (actually Norbert) Thomas.

The graphic on the book cover shows a prison officer taking the boy Karl Radom to Hoheneck Castle in Stollberg / Erzgeb. brings. The castle has been used as a prison (remand prison) since the 17th century , then initially as a prison for women and a little later as the Hoheneck prison for men and young people. The main character of the book, the boy Karl Radom, was imprisoned here for 5 months and the author's descriptions of the conditions in the Hoheneck prison are quite informative.

The life of a social democrat from this period is portrayed with the character of the novel by Josef Stenzel. Among other things, some advisory services are listed by him on how the workers could improve their living and working conditions at that time.

After his apprenticeship as a roofer, during which he already joined the Central Association of Roofers, Thomas worked from 1893 to 1898 as a journeyman in various places within Germany. From 1898 he initially took on voluntary functions within the roofers association, e.g. B. that of the Gauleiter in Rhineland-Westphalia (1898 to 1901).

When he moved to Frankfurt am Main in 1904, he initially continued to work as a roofer until he became an employee of the local Volksstimme in 1905 . During his newspaper activity (until 1916) he held the position of second central chairman of the roofers association on an honorary basis for the last six years.

In 1918 he became an SPD city ​​councilor in Frankfurt am Main. His main areas of work were social policy and education. Together with Hugo Sinzheimer and Ernst Pape, he initiated the Academy of Labor in 1921 , which was closed by the National Socialists in 1933. In 1947 Thomas helped reopen it.

Thomas was involved in education and was head of the socialist education system in Hessen-Nassau for 25 years . In addition, he dealt with literature and wrote a variety of works, including humorous stories, a novel and the history of the Central Association of Roofers. With the assumption of the office as central chairman (1916) he also took over the editor of the Dachdecker-Zeitung . He also worked for the trade union newspaper Voice of Work as editor-in-chief.

In 1931 the roofers' association became part of the German construction trade association and Thomas took over the post of Reichsfachgruppe chairman of the roofing specialist group. On May 2, 1933, the German Building Trade Association, like all trade unions, was dissolved by the National Socialists.

Honors

  • 1953: Cross of Merit (Steckkreuz) of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • The city of Frankfurt / Main has named a street after him, Theodor-Thomas-Straße.

Works

  • Proletarian disease and sick proletarians. A contribution to improving public health . Fifth edition 31st to 35th thousand. Bookstore Volksstimme, Maier & Co., Frankfurt a. M. 1908.
  • The mass feed in words and pictures. A contribution to the development of the Frankfurt war kitchens . Central Kitchen Commission, Frankfurt / Main (1916)
  • Julian in the imperial suit. Funny corridors and trips through Germany . Experienced, conceived and told by Theodor Thomas. Illustrations by WR Heinisch. Union Druck- und Verlags-Anstalt, Frankfurt a. Main 1918. Table of contents
  • What does the socialist republic bring to the craftsman? o. O. (1919)
  • In father's pants. Funny stories . Forward publishing house. Berlin 1920.
  • Purring and swaying. Funny stories . Forward publishing house. Berlin 1920.
  • Give me back my youth ... A city boy's novel . Buchh. Forward. Berlin 1921.
  • Commemorative book for the 40th anniversary of the Central Association of Roofers in Germany 1889 - 1929. A description of the situation up to the founding of the association . Central Association d. Roofers in Germany, Frankfurt a. Main 1929.
  • History of the Central Association of Roofers in Germany from 1889 to August 4, 1914 . Central Association d. Roofers in Germany, Frankfurt a. Main 1931.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Historical address books Dresden 1886, p. 500.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Gustav Dahnke: Thomas, Theodor . In: International Handbook of Trade Unionism . Edited by Ludwig Heyde. 1931/32. P. 1688 (PDF download) Retrieved July 20, 2011
  3. ↑ a b Bildungsserver Hessen: Entry on the 135th birthday of Theodor Thomas Retrieved on July 20, 2011
  4. ↑ Stadtarchiv der Stadt Rosenheim: The dissolution of the trade unions and workers' associations. Accessed on July 20, 2011
personal data
SURNAME Thomas, Theodor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German trade unionist
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Brunless
DATE OF DEATH August 30, 1955
Place of death Frankfurt am Main