Walter Witzenmann

Walter Witzenmann (born May 23, 1908 in Pforzheim ; † August 15, 2004 there ) was a German entrepreneur , politician of the FDP and promoter of science and culture.

Life

Walter Witzenmann studied economics, sociology, history and philosophy with Arnold Bergstraesser , Karl Jaspers , Werner Sombart and Alfred Weber , among others . In 1935 he received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Heidelberg . The doctoral thesis was supervised by Alfred Weber and tried to examine the influence of the thinking and the philosophy of history of the Neapolitan scholar and historiographer Giambattista Vico , largely mediated by the work of the social philosopher and syndicalist Georges Sorel , on the "doctrine of fascism" (see publications below ) to prove.

He then joined his father Emil Witzenmann's company, which his grandfather Heinrich Witzenmann founded together with Eugène Levavasseur , the inventor of the metal hose , in 1854. In 1937 he became managing director of the Pforzheim Metallschlauchfabrik, worked in this position until a few years before his death and laid the foundations for the rise of the Pforzheim Metallschlauchfabrik to the Witzenmann Group , a manufacturer of flexible, metallic elements such as metal hoses, expansion joints, and metal bellows Vehicle parts with more than twenty companies in Europe, USA, Brazil, China, Korea and India.

Walter Witzenmann had been married to the theater actress Ruth Wolber (1909–2012) from Pforzheim since 1937, who played a major role in his social and cultural initiatives and activities. Walter Witzenmann has two adoptive sons, Michael Witzenmann-Krell (1939–2002) and Trutz von Trotha (1946–2013).

politics

Walter Witzenmann was a member of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP). From 1959 to 1995 he was a member of the FDP city council in the municipal council of the city of Pforzheim and from 1962 to 1992 chairman of the FDP municipal council group.

Honorary positions

Walter Witzenmann was involved in many honorary positions. From 1968 to 1985 he was President of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) Northern Black Forest in Pforzheim, from 1951 to 2001 honorary commercial judge and from 1956 to 1979 honorary state labor judge .

Other offices

• Chairman of the Association of the German Metal Hose and Compensator Industry, Stuttgart (1946–1998)
• Member of the board of the trade association of the iron, sheet metal and metal processing industry (EBM), Düsseldorf (1958–2000)
• Member of the board of the Baden-Württemberg Industry Association, Ostfildern (1968–1998)

He was also the first chairman of the Pforzheim section of the German Alpine Club from 1944 to 2004 , was one of the founding members when the German Alpine Club was re-established after the Second World War, was a co-founder and, from its inception until 2001, first chairman of the Reuchlin Society in Pforzheim and from 1964 to 2000 chairman of the board of trustees of the Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences (today Pforzheim University ). At a very old age he initiated the Pforzheim Festival "Music of the World", sponsored it for many years and supported the publication of the complete edition of the writings of his teacher Alfred Weber (1997-2003).

Honors

In 1988 Walter Witzenmann was honored with an entry in the Golden Book and in 1995 with honorary citizenship of the city of Pforzheim. He is an honorary senator of the Pforzheim University, which also named its auditorium maximum after him. The IHK Pforzheim made him honorary president in 1985 . Since 1998 he has been honorary chairman of the Association of the German Metal Hose and Compensator Industry, Stuttgart. After leaving the office of chairman, the Pforzheim section of the German Alpine Club made him honorary chairman ; she also named her section and training center in Pforzheim after him ( Walter-Witzenmann-Haus ). Between 1988 and 1998 the commemorative publication "Konstanten für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft", consisting of three volumes, was published , which describes Walter Witzenmann's economic, political, social and cultural commitment (see publications below ).

Walter Witzenmann Prize

In 1997 Walter Witzenmann donated the award named after him to promote young cultural scientists in the state of Baden-Württemberg . The prize is awarded annually and is endowed with € 6,000. The award is given to scientific work in the field of cultural studies that has been accepted as a scientific achievement by a university or a research institute of the state of Baden-Württemberg and published or submitted for publication in the past two years. The proposed researchers should not be older than 35 years. The members of the philosophical-historical class of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences  - which also nominates the winners and awards the prize - as well as scientific institutions of the state universities of Baden-Württemberg and non-university research institutions of Baden-Württemberg are entitled to make proposals .

Publications

• Giambattista Vico and René Descartes. The historical criticism of Cartesian realism . In: Archive for Legal and Social Philosophy 30.4 (1934), pp. 561-579
• Political Activism and Social Myth. Giambattista Vico and the teaching of fascism. Junker and Dünnhaupt, Berlin 1935
• Notes on local politics, compiled from speeches and lectures from 1959 - 1986 , ed. by Hans Eberhard Koch, Labhard, Konstanz 1987, ISBN 3-926937-01-7
• Notes on culture and society, compiled from speeches and lectures from 1962 - 1986 , ed. by Hans Eberhard Koch, Labhard, Konstanz 1987, ISBN 3-926937-00-9
• Notes on the market economy, compiled from speeches and lectures from 1975 - 1986 , ed. by Hans Eberhard Koch, 1986, 2nd edition, Labhard, Konstanz 1987
• Constants for economy and society , ed. by Jolanda Rothfuß and Hans-Eberhard Koch, 3 vols., Labhard, Konstanz 1988–1998, ISBN 3-926937-03-3 , ISBN 3-926937-12-2 , ISBN 3-926937-43-2
• Together with Richard Bräu, Eberhard Demm, Hans G. Nutzinger (Eds.): Alfred Weber Complete Edition . Metropolis Verlag, Marburg 1997–2003, 10 volumes

Web links

• Literature by and about Walter Witzenmann in the catalog of the German National Library
• http://www.norbertkoehler.com/witzenmann_walter.htm
• http://www.pforzheim.de/rathaus/aktuelles-presse/mediensammlung/pforzheim-gedenken-dr-walter-witzenmann.html

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ruth Johanna Maria Witzenmann Wolber , Franco Debenedetti, 2012-03-28.
2. ^ Walter Witzenmann Prize . In: Heidelberg Academy of Sciences K. d. Retrieved May 3, 2018.