Reuter, Ernst |
| MAYOR (GERMANY) |
|
BORN 29 Jul 1889, Apenrade (Denmark) - DIED 29 Sep 1953, Berlin CAUSE OF DEATH heart attack GRAVE LOCATION Berlin: Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf, Potsdamer Chaussee 75-77 (Feld 038/ 485 (old: Abt. VI-W-18/19) (Ehrengrab)) |
|
Ernst Reuter became a member of the Sozialdemokratischen Partei in 1912. During the First World War he was captured by the Russians. After a period as prisoner of war in Russia he was a follower of the teachings of Lenin for a short time. In 1931 he was elected mayor of Magdeburg and in 1932 he became a member of the German parliament, the Reichstag. When the nazis came to power he was arrested, but he was released from a concentration camp with the help of English friends. He left Germany for the Netherlands and after a while in England he emigrated to Turkey. In 1946 he returned to Germany and in 1947 he was elected mayor (Oberbürgermeister) of Berlin. The Russians vetoed his election in 1948. On September 9th, 1948, during the blockade of Berlin by the Russians, he held a famous speech in which he asked the world not to give up the city of Berlin. From 1950 until 1953 he was 'reigning mayor' (Regierender Bürgermeister) of West Berlin. |
| Images |
 The grave of Ernst Reuter at the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf, Berlin. Picture by androom (24 Aug 2006) |
Sources • Baedeker Berlin, Baedeker Verlag, Stuttgart, 1994 • Mende, Hans-Jürgen, Lexicon Berliner Grabstätten, Haude & Spener, 2006 |
