Ernst Reuter - Early years, Weimar Republic, Post-War Berlin, Family, Honors, Publications, Literature

German politician, born in Apenrade, W Germany. He joined the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) in 1912. After 1918 he built the Kommunistiche Partei Deutschlands (KPD) organization in Berlin, served as its secretary general (1921), was excluded from the party in 1922, and returned to the SPD. He became Oberbürgermeister of Magdeburg (1931–3), a member of the Reichstag (1932–3), and was twice imprisoned in concentration camps (1933–5) after which he became adviser to the government and professor in Turkey (1935–46). In 1947 he was nominated Oberbürgermeister of Berlin, but was prevented from taking up his post by the Soviet veto until 1948. In 1950–3 he was Regierender Bürgermeister of West Berlin.

Ernst Rudolf Johannes Reuter (July 29, 1889–September 29, 1953) was the mayor of West Berlin from 1948 to 1953, during the time of the Cold War.

Early years

Reuter was born in Apenrade, today called Aabenraa, Denmark.

During the First World War, Reuter was wounded and captured by the Russians.

Weimar Republic

Upon his return to Germany, Reuter joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and was named the First Secretary of its Berlin section. Although Reuter was seen as a favorite of Lenin, he was expelled from the party in 1922.

In 1926, he entered services in the government of Berlin and was responsible for transportation.

From 1931 until 1933 Reuter was the mayor of Magdeburg where he fought lack of housing and jobs due to the economic crisis. Between 1935 and 1946 Reuter was exiled in Turkey.

Post-War Berlin

After the end of World War II Reuter returned to Berlin, and was elected in 1946 to the Magistrat (governing body) where he oversaw initially the Transportation Department. In 1947 he was elected Lord Mayor (Oberbürgermeister ) of Berlin but in the deepening crisis of the Cold War, the Soviet government withheld their necessary consent.

Reuter’s name is intrinsically linked to the time of the Cold War in Berlin. During the Soviet-imposed Berlin Blockade (1948/49), the western part of city was sustained by the Berlin airlift that was established by the American Military Governor, Lucius D. Ernst Reuter became their spokesman and leader, a symbolic figure of the “Free Berlin”. In the election that was conducted in the western part of Berlin two months later, his popularity gave the SPD the highest win with 64.5 % ever achieved by any party in a free election in Germany.

When the new Berlin State Constitution became effective for West Berlin, Reuter was re-elected and became on January 18, 1951 what was now called the Governing Mayor (Regierender Bürgermeister) of Berlin.

Under his aegis, the Free University of Berlin was founded, as the traditional place of mayor education, the University of Berlin, was in the Soviet sector and under communist rule. In 1953 Reuter established the "Bürgermeister-Reuter-Stiftung" (Mayor Reuter Foundation) to assist refugees coming to West-Berlin.

A few weeks after the uprising of June 17, 1953, Reuter died suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack in Berlin at the age of 64.

Family

Ernst Reuter was married since 1920, and he and his wife Hanna had two children.

Honors

Ernst-Reuter-Plakette: an honor established by the Berlin Senate in 1954 for persons whose work benefited the city. Ernst-Reuter-Gesellschaft (Ernst Reuter Association): a group of alumni and friends of the Free University of Berlin that was founded in 1954. Former places where Reuter lived received memorial plaques: Hardenbergstraße 35 (Berlin-Charlottenburg), and Bülowstraße 33 ( Berlin-Zehlendorf). Among the many places in Berlin that commemorate Reuter are: a major public square and subway station Ernst-Reuter-Platz (Berlin U-Bahn), a government building a school a youth hostel

Other towns in Germany have streets or schools named after Ernst Reuter.

The "Champion of Liberty" series issued by the United States Postal Service in 1959 honored Reuter with two stamps. Schaut auf diese Stadt und erkennt, dass ihr diese Stadt und dieses Volk nicht preisgeben dürft, nicht preisgeben könnt!" ( People of this world… look upon this city and see that you should not and can not abandon this city and this people) Reuter’s speech from September 9, 1948 (German)

Publications

Ernst Reuter: Rationalisierung der Berliner Verkehrsbedienung. Verkehrstechnik (June 29,1928) 9; Ernst Reuter: Die Gründung der Berliner Verkehrs-A.-G. Verkehrstechnik (December 14, 1928) 9; 50: 917-919

Literature

Willy Brandt, Richard Lowenthal: Ernst Reuter - Ein Leben für die Freiheit (Eine politische Biographie). München: Kindler Verlag, 1957 Klaus Harpprecht: Ernst Reuter - Ein Leben für die Freiheit (Eine Biographie in Bildern und Dokumenten). München: Kindler Verlag, 1957 Ernst Reuter. ISBN 3-88680-527-1 For a more extensive discussion of Reuter's history including his exile in Turkey see TURKEY'S MODERNIZATION: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision by Arnold Reisman.