Hermann Pünder
Encyclopedia
Hermann Josef Pünder was a German politician in the German Centre Party
and the Christian Democratic Union
. His older brother was the lawyer Werner Pünder.
After attending school in Bad Münstereifel
, Pünder studied Law in Freiburg im Breisgau, Berlin
and London
. He finished his studies in 1911 with a Dr. jur. In 1919 he became a senior official in the Reich Ministry of Finance, and was then the state secretary from 1926 to 1932 in the Reich Chancellery
under the Chancellors
Hans Luther
(Centre Party), Wilhelm Marx
(Centre Party), Hermann Müller
(SPD) and Heinrich Brüning
(Centre Party).
In his spare time he also taught at the Deutsche Hochschule für Politik
in Berlin, partly at the same time as the later President of Germany
Theodor Heuss
. After the assassination attempt against Hitler on 20 July 1944, Pünder was arrested by the Gestapo
, and deported for participating in the conspiracy against Hitler to the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau
. He belonged to a group of relatively prominent prisoners of the security services of the Third Reich, who were transported all across Germany and were freed in South Tyrol
at the end of the war by the Wehrmacht
officer Wichard von Alvensleben
.
From 1947 to 1973, Pünder was the chairman of the Zentral-Dombauverein zu Köln von 1842
. He was married to Magda, née Statz. After his death in Fulda, he was buried in the Melaten-Friedhof in Cologne
.
(CDU) in Westphalia
. From 15 October to 30 November 1945, Pünder was the First Chairman of the CDP (later the CDU) in Münster
.
of North Rhine-Westphalia
, having already previously belonged to the appointed Landtag. In 1949 and 1953 was elected to the German Bundestag by the constituency "Köln II", and remained a member until 1957.
From 1949 to 1953 he was chairman of the Bundestag committee on Marshall Plan
matters and from 20 March 1952 until the end of the first legislative session, he was the chairman of the committee on local government affairs.
From 16 July 1952 to 1 July 1956 he was also a member of the European Parliament
. For a time he was also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
, where in 1957 he led the committee for budget matters and intergovernmental work programs.
, Pünder was named the successor of the dismissed Rudolf Amelunxen as Regierungspräsident of Münster, but already on 1 July 1933, he was placed in temporary retirement by the National Socialists. In 1933 he was also for a brief time the acting Oberpräsident of the Province of Westphalia
. In 1934 Pünder was definitively dismissed from government service.
On 28 November 1945, he was appointed Lord Mayor of Cologne
by the British military government, an office which he held until 1948. In 1947 he was made Director of the Economic Council of the Bizone
.
. In 1967 the same university named him an honorary senator. Streets are named after Pünder in Bad Münstereifel, Cologne, Munich and Hamm. He was an honorary member of the Studentenverbindung
A. V. Rheinstein Köln, which is in the Cartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen
, and of the Studentenverbindungen Katholischer Studentenverein Askania-Burgundia Berlin
and Urach Freiburg, in the Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine
.
Centre Party (Germany)
The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...
and the Christian Democratic Union
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
. His older brother was the lawyer Werner Pünder.
After attending school in Bad Münstereifel
Bad Münstereifel
Bad Münstereifel is a historical spa town in the district of Euskirchen, Germany, with about 19,000 inhabitants, situated in the far south of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia...
, Pünder studied Law in Freiburg im Breisgau, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He finished his studies in 1911 with a Dr. jur. In 1919 he became a senior official in the Reich Ministry of Finance, and was then the state secretary from 1926 to 1932 in the Reich Chancellery
Reich Chancellery
The Reich Chancellery was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany in the period of the German Reich from 1871 to 1945...
under the Chancellors
Chancellor of Germany
The Chancellor of Germany is, under the German 1949 constitution, the head of government of Germany...
Hans Luther
Hans Luther
Hans Luther was a German politician and Chancellor of Germany.-Biography:Born in Berlin, Luther started in politics in 1907 by becoming the town councillor in Magdeburg. He continued on becoming secretary of the German Städtetag in 1913 and then mayor of Essen in 1918...
(Centre Party), Wilhelm Marx
Wilhelm Marx
Wilhelm Marx was a German lawyer, Catholic politician and a member of the Centre Party. He was Chancellor of the German Reich twice, from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1926 to 1928, and also served briefly as minister president of Prussia in 1925, during the Weimar Republic.-Life:Born in Cologne to...
(Centre Party), Hermann Müller
Hermann Müller (politician)
' , born in Mannheim, was a German Social Democratic politician who served as Foreign Minister , and twice as Chancellor of Germany under the Weimar Republic...
(SPD) and Heinrich Brüning
Heinrich Brüning
Heinrich Brüning was Chancellor of Germany from 1930 to 1932, during the Weimar Republic. He was the longest serving Chancellor of the Weimar Republic, and remains a controversial figure in German politics....
(Centre Party).
In his spare time he also taught at the Deutsche Hochschule für Politik
Deutsche Hochschule für Politik
The Deutsche Hochschule für Politik , or German Academy for Politics, was a private academy in Berlin, founded in October 1920. It was integrated into the Faculty for Foreign Studies of the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in 1940, was re-founded in 1948 and turned into the Otto-Suhr-Institut of the...
in Berlin, partly at the same time as the later President of Germany
President of Germany
The President of the Federal Republic of Germany is the country's head of state. His official title in German is Bundespräsident . Germany has a parliamentary system of government and so the position of President is largely ceremonial...
Theodor Heuss
Theodor Heuss
Theodor Heuss was a liberal German politician who served as the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II from 1949 to 1959...
. After the assassination attempt against Hitler on 20 July 1944, Pünder was arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
, and deported for participating in the conspiracy against Hitler to the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau
Dachau
Dachau is a town in Upper Bavaria, in the southern part of Germany. It is a major district town—a Große Kreisstadt—of the administrative region of Upper Bavaria, about 20 km north-west of Munich. It is now a popular residential area for people working in Munich with roughly 40,000 inhabitants...
. He belonged to a group of relatively prominent prisoners of the security services of the Third Reich, who were transported all across Germany and were freed in South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
at the end of the war by the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
officer Wichard von Alvensleben
Wichard von Alvensleben
Wichard von Alvensleben was a German agriculturist, Wehrmacht Officer, and Knight of the Order of Saint John. Alvensleben was the commander of Wehrmacht troops stationed in April 1945 at Bozen, whence he led his troops to liberate the prisoners being held by the SS at Tyrol.-Early Life:Alvensleben...
.
From 1947 to 1973, Pünder was the chairman of the Zentral-Dombauverein zu Köln von 1842
Zentral-Dombauverein zu Köln von 1842
The Zentral-Dombau-Verein zu Köln von 1842 , abbreviated ZDV, is one of the oldest and once largest NGO's and civic associations of Germany, Europe, and indeed the world...
. He was married to Magda, née Statz. After his death in Fulda, he was buried in the Melaten-Friedhof in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
.
Party
Durin the Weimar Republic, Pünder was a member of the Centre Party. In 1945, he was one of the founders of the Christian Democratic UnionChristian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
(CDU) in Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
. From 15 October to 30 November 1945, Pünder was the First Chairman of the CDP (later the CDU) in Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
.
Parliament
In 1947, Pünder was elected to the LandtagLandtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
of North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
, having already previously belonged to the appointed Landtag. In 1949 and 1953 was elected to the German Bundestag by the constituency "Köln II", and remained a member until 1957.
From 1949 to 1953 he was chairman of the Bundestag committee on Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
matters and from 20 March 1952 until the end of the first legislative session, he was the chairman of the committee on local government affairs.
From 16 July 1952 to 1 July 1956 he was also a member of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. For a time he was also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
, where in 1957 he led the committee for budget matters and intergovernmental work programs.
Public offices
On 1 April 1932, after the PreußenschlagPreußenschlag
In 1932, the Preußenschlag, or "Prussian coup", was one of the major steps towards the end of the German inter-war democracy, which would later greatly facilitate the "Gleichschaltung" of Germany after Adolf Hitler's rise to power...
, Pünder was named the successor of the dismissed Rudolf Amelunxen as Regierungspräsident of Münster, but already on 1 July 1933, he was placed in temporary retirement by the National Socialists. In 1933 he was also for a brief time the acting Oberpräsident of the Province of Westphalia
Province of Westphalia
The Province of Westphalia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Kingdom of Westphalia, which was a client state of the First French Empire from 1807 to 1813...
. In 1934 Pünder was definitively dismissed from government service.
On 28 November 1945, he was appointed Lord Mayor of Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
by the British military government, an office which he held until 1948. In 1947 he was made Director of the Economic Council of the Bizone
Bizone
The Bizone, or Bizonia was the combination of the American and the British occupation zones in 1947 during the occupation of Germany after World War II. With the addition of the French occupation zone in March 1948, the entity became the Trizone...
.
Honours
In 1953 Pünder was awarded the "Great Cross of Merit with Star and shoulder ribbon" (Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband) of the Federal Republic of Germany. In the same year he received an honorary doctorate from the University of CologneUniversity of Cologne
The University of Cologne is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44,000 students, one of the largest universities in Germany. The university is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, an association of Germany's leading research universities...
. In 1967 the same university named him an honorary senator. Streets are named after Pünder in Bad Münstereifel, Cologne, Munich and Hamm. He was an honorary member of the Studentenverbindung
Studentenverbindung
A Studentenverbindung is a student corporation in a German-speaking country somewhat comparable to fraternities in the US or Canada, but mostly older and going back to other kinds of...
A. V. Rheinstein Köln, which is in the Cartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen
Cartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen
The Cartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen or Cartellverband is a German umbrella organization of Catholic male student fraternities .-Foundation:...
, and of the Studentenverbindungen Katholischer Studentenverein Askania-Burgundia Berlin
Katholischer Studentenverein Askania-Burgundia Berlin
The Roman Catholic fraternity Askania-Burgundia is the founding fraternity of the Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine . It is a Catholic Studentenverbindung. The headquarters of Askania-Burgundia are located in Berlin, Germany. Based on the Roman Catholic faith,...
and Urach Freiburg, in the Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine
Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine
The Kartellverband katholischer deutscher Studentenvereine) is a German academic corporate association with ninety member corporations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
.