Walter Behrens (politician)

Walter Ernst Hartwig Behrens (born April 19, 1889 in Hamburg ; † November 12, 1977 in Friedrichstadt ) was district leader of the NSDAP in Kiel, councilor and finally mayor of Kiel .

Life

Beginnings

Walter Behrens' parents were the businessman Eduard Behrens and Emma Behrens, née Krull. The family lived in what was then the Barmbek district . Behrens attended secondary school in Uhlenhorst and graduated in 1908 with a university entrance qualification. He then did a banking apprenticeship at Commerz- und Diskontbank and then worked in their headquarters. He also attended lectures on finance and economics at the Hamburg seminar , and in 1912 went to Paris for a year. In 1913 he settled in Kiel as an authorized signatory of his stepfather's wholesaling company , and in 1914 he became a partner.

Due to a slight crippling of his left hand, he did not join the Landsturm until 1915 during the First World War and resigned as a sergeant in 1916. From 1922 he studied political science, finance and law at Kiel University for a few semesters , and in 1924 he took over the company as sole owner. In December 1930 Behrens joined the NSDAP ( membership number 413,583) and in October 1931 became head of the local group on the east bank. In May 1931 he became chairman of the district investigation and arbitration committee , the party court of the NSDAP, and since that month he has also been a member of the SA. On July 1, 1932, he became NSDAP district leader for Kiel.

Lord Mayor of Kiel

On March 11, 1933, National Socialists (SA, SS) and members of the Stahlhelm ( DNVP ) occupied the town hall and declared the mayor Emil Lueken ( DVP ) , elected for a further twelve years in 1932, and the social democratic city councilors to be deposed. On March 10, the National Socialists had Lueken deposed by the district president. Therefore, Behrens could declare the occupation of the town hall "not illegal".

In the local elections on March 12, 1933, the NSDAP (43 percent) and DNVP ( Black-White-Red Battle Front ) won an absolute majority. The National Socialists had 28 seats, the SPD 17, KPD 4, Black-White-Red 5 and Volkswohl 4. Lord Mayor Lueken would have had no more support in the city council. Since the KPD was already banned across the Reich, the communist seats fell into disrepair.

On March 14th, Behrens received the official confirmation of the district president to exercise the provisional exercise of the business of the mayor until the city council elected him on April 28th as mayor. As a result of the enforcement of the Führer principle in Kiel, too, the city council lost its original decision-making power.

Behrens remained Lord Mayor until the end of the war. On May 4, 1945, he surrendered the city to the British, and on May 14, he was deposed and arrested by them.

literature

• Sebastian Lehmann: District leader and party organization of the NSDAP in Kiel. In: Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Kieler Stadtgeschichte, Volume 84, Issue 3, 2008, pp. 115–152.
• Kiel under National Socialism. Materials and documents. Publication of the Asche Process Working Group, Kiel 1994, p. 18.
• Kieler Zeitung, March 13, 1933.
• Jörg Talanow: Kiel as it was. Volume 2. Droste, Düsseldorf 1978, ISBN 3-7700-0509-0 , p. 8ff.

Web links

• Walter Behrens (1889–1977) on the website of the city of Kiel
• Kiel City Archives, March 20, 1961 Anniversary of Emil Lueken's death

References and comments

1. ^ Sebastian Lehmann: District leader and party organization of the NSDAP in Kiel. , P. 124 and P. 146. Lehmann gives November 14th as the date of death, but also dates the obituary in the Kieler Nachrichten to November 14th.
2. ↑ Renate Dopheide: Kiel, May 1945. British troops occupy the navy city (= communications from the Society for Kiel City History Volume 83.) Ludwig, Kiel 2007, ISBN 978-3-937719-58-0 , pp. 50, 104.