Wilhelm Weber (politician, 1879)

Wilhelm Weber (born January 6, 1879 in Hamburg ; † July 12, 1961 in Hanover ) was a social democratic politician and Lord Mayor of Hanover from 1946 to 1956 .

Life

Weber, the son of a master upholsterer, lost his parents at the age of two and grew up in an orphanage. In 1893 he began an apprenticeship as a baker in Wittingen, which he completed in 1897. In 1902 he moved to Hanover and one year later became chairman of the local administration of the bakery trade. In 1903 he also joined the SPD . From 1906 he was union secretary of the Hanoverian bakers' association. He was a soldier during the First World War and was wounded in 1917. In 1918 he became a member of the soldiers' council in Hanover. From 1919 Weber was a member of the Citizens Board, from 1929 its spokesman. From 1925 to 1930 he was a member of the Reich Banner .

During the National Socialist era, he was arrested in 1936 and sentenced to one year in prison. 1940–1945 he worked in the tax and investigation service of the regional finance bureau. After the failed Hitler assassination attempt on July 20, 1944 , he was arrested again and spent several weeks in Neuengamme concentration camp .

After the end of the war he was secretary and later country manager of the IG food-enjoyment-restaurants . In January 1946 he was elected deputy mayor as a member of the city council of Hanover and finally elected mayor in October 1946. He held this office until 1956. Weber played a key role in the reconstruction of Hanover.

Honors

He received numerous awards for his achievements: in 1953 he was made an honorary senator of the University of Veterinary Medicine and the Technical University , in 1954 he received the Federal Cross of Merit , and in 1956 he was made an honorary citizen of the city of Hanover.

See also

• List of honorary citizens of Hanover

literature

• German Biographical Encyclopedia . Volume 10, p. 362.
• Andreas Röpcke : Who's Who in Lower Saxony. In: Lower Saxony Yearbook for State History. Volume 55 (1983), pp. 307f.
• Klaus Mlynek : WEBER, (2) Wilhelm. In: Dirk Böttcher , Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein, Hugo Thielen : Hannoversches Biographisches Lexikon . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2002, ISBN 3-87706-706-9 , p. 377.
• Klaus Mlynek: Weber, (2) Wilhelm. In: Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein (eds.) U. a .: City Lexicon Hanover . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2009, ISBN 978-3-89993-662-9 , p. 659.