Carl Wilhelm Kaisen (22 May 1887 – 19 December 1979) was a German politician from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who served as the 2nd

President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, which is one of the states of Germany, is governed by the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. The Senate is chaired by the President of the Senate, who is the head of government of the city-state. The P ...

from 1945 to 1965. In 1958/59 he served as the 10th

President of the Bundesrat In Germany, the President of the Bundesrat or President of the Federal Council (German: ''Bundesratspräsident'') is the chairperson (speaker) of the Bundesrat (Federal Council). The president is elected by the Bundesrat for a term of one year ...

. He became a symbolic figure of the German reconstruction in Bremen after 1945.

Biography

Kaisen was born in the German city of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, and spent his youth there. His family's poverty did not allow him to visit a higher school or even receive a high school education. In 1905 he became a member of the SPD. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he moved to his wife's home city of Bremen. Influenced by his family, he got the SPD into the parliament of Bremen (Bürgerschaft). From 1919 to 1928 he was a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the SPD newspaper '. From 1920 to 1928 he was member of the Bürgerschaft. In 1928, Kaisen became the SPD Senator of Social Services in the

Senate of Bremen The Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (German: Senat der Freien Hansestadt Bremen) is the government of the German city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Various senate-like institutions have existed in Bremen since medieval times. Th ...

. In March 1933, he was pressured to resign by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

. Kaisen was not involved in politics during the

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

era. He spent his time with agricultural work in the suburb of Bremen-Borgfeld. On 1 August 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 The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

. He was re-elected by the people of Bremen during the first free elections after the war. In July 1965, after nearly twenty years in office, he resigned as mayor. Kaisen was very popular with the general public, but less so within the SPD itself. His support for the decision to position Germany within

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

led to a break with SPD chairman

Kurt Schumacher Curt Ernst Carl Schumacher, better known as Kurt Schumacher (13 October 1895 – 20 August 1952), was a German politician who became chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1946 and the first Leader of the Opposition in the Wes ...

. Kaisen died in Bremen on 19 December 1979.

Honours

Although not well known in the rest of Germany, Wilhelm Kaisen is held in high regard in Bremen and

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

. A number of things were named in his honor: * Wilhelm Kaisen High School in the Neustadt district * ''Wilhelm Kaisen'', a rescue cruiser of the Maritime Search and Rescue Service (in service from 1978 to 2012) * Wilhelm Kaisen Bridge, the great

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

bridge in the center of the city * A container terminal in

(since 1971) There are also several streets and squares in both cities named after Kaisen and his wife. Two statues and a bust of him can be found in Bremen.

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., * Hans Koschnick, Hg.: ''Zuversicht und Beständigkeit. Wilhelm Kaisen''. Eine Dokumentation. Bremen 1977. .

External links

Curriculum vitae of Wilhelm Kaisen on the website of the Wilhelm-Kaisen-School in Bremen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaisen, Wilhelm Government ministers of Germany Presidents of the German Bundesrat Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen 1887 births 1979 deaths Mayors of Bremen

Biography

Honours

Literature

See also

External links