Wilhelm Holzmeier
Johann Anton Wilhelm Holzmeier (born December 3, 1864 in Bremen ; † April 2, 1917 there ) was a German teacher, editor and Bremen politician ( SPD ).
biography
Family, education and work
Holzmeier was the son of a blacksmith and file cutter . He grew up in the Bremen district of Gröpelingen and attended elementary school, from 1871 to 1879 a private school and from 1879 to 1884 the Bremen teachers' college . First he worked as a private teacher, then from 1888 to 1892 as an assistant teacher and from 1892 to 1910 as a primary school teacher in Walle . Because of his decisive political commitment to reforms in the Bremen school system , he was temporarily suspended from service in 1906 and 1907. During the Bremen school dispute (1905–1907) the teachers Holzmeier, Fritz Gansberg and Wilhelm Scharrelmann demanded the abolition of state religious instruction with the argument that religion was a private matter. A reprimand and a fine were the result. In 1910 Holzmeier was finally dismissed.
From 1910 to 1917 he was therefore editor of the SPD newspaper Bremer Bürgerzeitung and then briefly worked for the statistical office in Bremen until he committed suicide.
politics
Holzmeier became a member of the trade union and in 1904 the SPD.
He was a leading representative of the social democratically oriented teaching body. In the early years of the 20th century he belonged to a group of teachers from Bremen who rejected authoritarian educational methods and the nationalist goals of the school authorities and who advocated school reforms. From 1905 he worked for the Bremen teachers' newspaper Roland . In April 1906, the progressive elementary school teachers won the majority on the board of the Bremen teachers' association. Hans Lüdeking, Wilhelm Holzmeier and Johann Knief were elected to the board, among others. His political commitment led to his dismissal in 1910. The teachers who met at Holzmeier that same evening agreed to continue the fight. They sent a telegram composed by Knief to August Bebel , the chairman of the Social Democratic Party: "The Social Democratic teachers who had gathered on the occasion of Comrade Holzmeier's dismissal offer the leader of the proletariat their warmest congratulations on his 70th birthday ..." The telegram led to new reprisals against the progressive teachers. The Social Democratic Association, under the direction of Wilhelm Pieck, organized mass rallies and demonstrations in support of the Social Democratic teachers. 12,000 people took part in the marches on March 14, 1910. At Pieck's speech to the citizens, the President cut him off; the protesting spectators in the stands were pushed out by the police.
Holzmeier was a member of the Bremen citizenship from 1911 until his death in 1917 .
Honors
- The Wilhelm-Holzmeier-Strasse in Bremen- Obervieland , district Kattenturm, was named after him.
swell
- Biography of Wilhelm Holzmeier . In: Wilhelm H. Schröder : Social Democratic Parliamentarians in the German Reich and Landtag 1876–1933 (BIOSOP)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Holzmeier, Wilhelm |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Holzmeier, Johann Anton Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German teacher, editor and politician (SPD) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 3, 1864 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bremen |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 2, 1917 |
| Place of death | Bremen |