Walter Seeler

Walter Friedrich Eduard Seeler (born February 16, 1929 in Riga ; † February 17, 1996 in Hamburg ) was a journalist and restructuring officer in Altona .

Live and act

Walter Seeler was the son of Erich Seeler and his wife Alexandra, née Wischnikoff. His father worked as a doctor in Latvia , where Walter Seeler grew up. From 1936 to 1939, Seeler received private lessons in Skaista . In 1939 the family moved to the vicinity of Posen and then to Bavaria . During this time, Walter Seeler went to high school in Kościan from 1940 to 1941 . He then attended a grammar school in Leszno .

Towards the end of the Second World War , Seeler had to do military service from April 1945. After being wounded, he spent the period up to March 1946 in Russian and American captivity. He then went back to school and graduated from high school in Neustadt an der Aisch in 1948 . He then studied medicine from 1950 to 1952 at the University of Hamburg and from 1952 to 1957 sociology, political science and history at the University of Marburg and the University of Frankfurt am Main . In addition to his studies, Seeler reported on political issues as a freelance journalist for recognized magazines and radio stations from 1951.

On February 1, 1974, Seeler received a job as a restructuring officer at the Altona district office. In this position he should take over the public relations work of the office regarding urban regeneration. He should also maintain contacts with people and interest groups who planned or financed construction projects. He was also responsible for coordinating the cooperation between several authorities. Seeler not only took on the more administrative tasks, but also saw urban development as an extremely diverse process in which numerous aspects should be taken into account. In order to be able to do justice to the various interest groups, Seeler was to be found in Altona every day. During his tenure, several important renovation measures were carried out in Altona. Since 1974, this has included urban renewal in small steps in Karl-Theodor-Strasse in Ottensen and the renewal of Thadenstrasse in Altona-Altstadt , which began in 1967/77. Seeler also played a decisive role in the redesign of the Spritzenplatz in Ottensen in 1978 and the Osterkirchenviertel ten years later.

Seeler proceeded unconventionally and in some cases unauthorized and therefore often got into disputes with the building administration and the district assembly. At the same time he succeeded in convincing private homeowners to have their buildings repaired. Seeler, who had been a member of the SPD since 1972, gave numerous lectures in which he promoted his ideas and reported on experiences he had gained. Politically, he became particularly active in the second half of the 1970s. During these years, many consumer cooperatives decided to give up the existing forms of business and to transform themselves into public limited companies. In addition, several of the companies merged for economic reasons. Seeler, who wanted to keep the cooperative principle, tried to mobilize the SPD and the public in order to be able to keep the cooperatives. However, he was unsuccessful.

In addition to his work as a restructuring officer and politician, Seeler also volunteered. Together with Dieter J. Glienke and later Michael Sachs , he got involved in setting up the Museum of Labor from 1975 . He was also a founding member of the Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft , where he was vice-president from 1980 to 1990. In this position, Seeler dealt in particular with youth culture and the future of work. In 1976 he took over the chairmanship of the Hamburg District Culture Working Group .

At the beginning of 1992, Seeler suffered a stroke and for this reason stopped working in the public service. Seeler then founded the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Academy in Sommersdorf . The facility on a farm should above all be used for encounters with nature. However, Seeler's academy could not establish itself permanently.

After suffering a second stroke, Seeler lived for several weeks in the Reventlowstift in Altona, where he died on February 17, 1996.

literature

• Seeler, Walter . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 4 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8353-0229-7 , pp. 321-323 .