- Wilhelm Kaisen
Carl Wilhelm Kaisen (*
May 22 ,1887 inHamburg ; †December 19 ,1979 inBremen ) was a German politician from theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Between 1945 and 1965 he was mayor of the city of Bremen.Kaisen spent his youth in the German city of Hamburg. The poverty of his family didn’t allow him to visit a higher school or even receive a high school education. After the
First World War he moved to his wife’s home city Bremen. Influenced by his family he managed to get the SPD into the parliament of Bremen (Bürgerschaft). In 1928 Kaisen became Senator of Social Services.Kaisen wasn’t involved in politics during the
Nazism but spent his time with agriculture in the suburb of Bremen-Borgfeld.August 1, 1945 the US military government made Kaisen mayor of Bremen. Supported by the Liberals as well as the Communists he tried to re-establish the political and economical structures of the
Weimar Republic . He was re-elected by the people of Bremen during the first free elections after the war.Kaisen was very popular but less liked within the SPD itself. The decision to position Germany within the
NATO led to a break with the president of the SPDKurt Schumacher .A cruiser as well as a bridge was given his name. In 1971 a container terminal in
Bremerhaven received the name of Wilhelm Kaisen as well.On December 19, 1979 Kaisen died in Bremen.
He was the oldest former Minister-President of Germany from
January 4 1978 toJune 9 1980 preceded byArthur Werner and succeeded byHans Ehard . If you only count the Ministers-President of theFRG (after formation) he was it sinceJanuary 5 1970 preseded byChristian Stock .Literature
* Karl-Ludwig Sommer: "Wilhelm Kaisen. Eine politische Biographie." Hrsg. von der Wilhelm-und-Helene-Kaisen-Stiftung Bremen, Verlag J. H. W. Dietz Nachf., Bonn 2000, 541 S., geb., ISBN 3801202933
External links
* [http://www.wilhelm-kaisen-schule.de/wks/schule/namensgeber.php Curriculum vitae of Wilhelm Kaisen on the webside of the Wilhelm-Kaisen-School in Bremen]
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