Wilhelm May (chronicler)

Hans Wilhelm May (born June 25, 1940 in Haldensleben ; † August 24, 2010 in Sondershausen ) was a German chronicler and publicist of the district town of Sondershausen in Thuringia . As a graduate engineer, he also worked in Sondershausen in research on the potash industry in the GDR .

Wilhelm May was born on June 25, 1940 in the Saxon-Anhalt town of Haldensleben. The father fell in World War II , so that he lived with his mother and sister in the parsonage of his uncle, the Catholic priest Alfons May, in Salzwedel and from 1948 in Bad Dürrenberg , where he spent his childhood.

After graduating from high school, he studied process engineering in Dresden with a degree in engineering. From 1965 he worked in Sondershausen in the research of the potash industry in the GDR until the end of potash research after reunification and he lost his job.

Since that time, he worked intensively in the archive of the city of Sondershausen and studied its past, until he soon gained the status of a luminary in this field. Until his death, he worked self-sacrificingly and on a voluntary basis in the archive and worked up the history of the city, so that he came across many "hidden discoveries". His journalistic tasks, which he set himself, included contributions to the official gazette Sondershäuser Heimatecho , which amounted to more than 200 articles.

In the book Sondershausen - as it was once upon a time, he worked as an author based on his knowledge. He also wrote an amateur play for the 100th anniversary of the Catholic Elisabeth Church in Sondershausen with the title: Memories of a centenarian. A carillon as seen from the church window .

Wilhelm May died on August 24, 2010 in Sondershausen after suffering from cancer and other various health problems. His funeral took place on September 1st of the same year in Bad Dürrenberg.

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• Thuringian General. Special houses part of August 25, 2010
• Wilhelm May - An obituary. In: Special houses home echo. No. 9, September 24, 2010, p. 13 f.