Herbert Weichmann

Infobox Politician
name = Herbert Weichmann

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office = First Mayor of Hamburg
term_start = 1965
term_end = 1971
predecessor = Paul Nevermann
successor = Peter Schulz
office2 = President of the Bundesrat
term_start2 = 1968
term_end2 = 1969
president2 = Heinrich Lübke Gustav Heinemann
chancellor2 = Kurt Georg Kiesinger Willy Brandt
predecessor2 = Klaus Schütz
successor2 = Franz-Josef Röder
birth_date = 23 February 1896
birth_place = Landsberg
nationality = German
death_date = 9 October 1983, age 87
death_place = Hamburg
party = Social Democratic Party of Germany
relations =
residence =
alma_mater = University of Wroclaw (then Breslau)
spouse = Elsbet, nee Griesinger (1928) (b. 1910, d. 1988)
religion = Jewish


footnotes =

Herbert Weichmann (23 February 1896 – 9 October 1983) was a German lawyer and politician (Social Democratic Party SPD) and First Mayor of Hamburg (1965–1971). In his position as mayor of Hamburg, he served as President of the Bundesrat (1968–1969).

Life

Weichmann was born in Landsberg, Upper Silesia, then part of the German Reich, to a Jewish [Citation |first=Marita |last=Kraus |url=http://bucerius.haifa.ac.il/abstracts-migration.doc |title=Towards a History of Jewish Remigration |journal=Migration and Remigration: Jews in Germany after 1945 |publisher=Bucerius Institute for Research of Contemporary German History and Society, University of Haifa |accessdate=2008-10-03 ] family of physicians. In 1914 he began to study medicine, but volunteered at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. After the war Weichmann studied law at the University of Wroclaw (then Breslau) and graduated (Dr. iur.) in 1922. In 1928 he married Elsbet Greisinger and was appointed as liaison officer to Prime Minister of Prussia Otto Braun. After the takeover of power (1933) by the Nazi Party Weichmann fled first to Czechoslovakia, then to France—with a short term of imprisonment (1939–1940)—Spain, Portugal and later the United States. In 1948 he returned to Germany at the invitation of the mayor of Hamburg, Max Brauer, and started his political career there. In 1956 he became a member of the faculty of the University of Hamburg.cite encyclopedia |last=Tilgner |first=Daniel |title=Weichmann, Herbert |encyclopedia=Hamburg Lexikon |pages=pp. 522–523 |publisher=Ellert&Richter |date=2005 |edition=3 |isbn=3831901791 de icon] Weichmann died in Hamburg and is buried at Ohlsdorf Cemetery. [cite web |url=http://www.friedhof-hamburg.de/ohlsdorf/prominente/index.htm |title=Grabstätten bekannter Persönlichkeiten |accessdate=2008-08-09 de icon] Weichmann's son lives in Canada.cite web |url=http://www.weichmann-stiftung.de/ |title=Willkommen bei der Herbert und Elsbeth Weichmann-Stiftung |accessdate=2008-10-02 de icon]

Political career

Weichmann started his political career on a soldiers' council (German: "Soldatenrat") in 1918. In 1920 he became a member of the SPD. From 1948 until 1957 he was President of the Hamburg Court of Auditors. In 1957 he was appointed as Senator of Finance, a position he held until his election as First Mayor of Hamburg on 16 June 1965. Weichmann resigned in 1971. He was considered a potential candidate to be the next President of Germany, but he did not put himself forward.

Honours

In 1964 Weichmann was appointed as an honorary professor at the University of Hamburg. He was awarded Honorary Citizenship of Hamburg in 1971. [Citation |publisher=State Chancellery |url=http://www.hamburg.de/ehrenbuerger/ |title=Hamburgische Ehrenbürger |accessdate=2008-08-13 de icon] In 1989 the non-profit organization "Herbert und Elsbeth Weichmann-Stiftung" was founded; its goal is to remember and commemorate the activities of the democratic opposition in exile against Hitler, and to promote academic works about political exile. In Uhlenhorst quarter a street was named "Herbert-Weichmann-Straße". In 2007 the "Herbert Weichmann medallion" was granted for the first time by the city of Hamburg, [citation |first=Franziska |last=Coesfeld |url=http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2007/06/11/753355.html |title=Die Jüdische Gemeinde ist wieder zu Hause |publisher=Hamburger Abendblatt |date=2007-06-11 |accessdate=2008-10-03 de icon] honoring "those—both Jewish and non-Jewish—who have contributed to Jewish life in Germany". [cite web |url=http://www.expatica.com/de/articles/news/jewish-centre-returns-to-pre-war-hamburg-home--40715.html |title=Jewish centre returns to pre-war Hamburg home |publisher=Expatica Communications |date=2007-06-11 |accessdate=2008-10-03 ]

Works

*"Der Gesellschaft und dem Staat verpflichtet: einfache und schwierige Wahrheiten." (1980) Hamburg: A. Knaus. ISBN 3-8135-1443-9 de icon
*"Miterlebtes: Berichte aus 5 Jahrzehnten hamburg. Geschichte." (1979) Hamburg: Christians. ISBN 3-7672-0667-6 de icon
*"Gefährdete Freiheit: Aufruf zur streitbaren Demokratie." (1974) Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe. ISBN 3-455-08120-7 de icon

Literature

*Bahnsen, Uwe. (2001) "Die Weichmanns in Hamburg: ein Glücksfall für Deutschland." Hamburg: Christians. ISBN 3-7672-1360-5 de icon

References

External links

*
* [http://www.weichmann-stiftung.de/ Herbert und Elsbeth Weichmann-Stiftung]