Herman Bernard Jan Witte (18 August 1909 – 30 May 1973) was a Dutch politician of the defunct
Catholic People's Party
The Catholic People's Party (, KVP) was a Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands, Catholic Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as ...
(KVP) now merged into the
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands.
Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...
(CDA) party and civil engineer.
Biography
Witte applied at the
Delft Institute of Technology in June 1927
majoring
An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...
in
civil engineering
Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...
and obtaining a
Bachelor of Engineering
A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution.
In the United Kingdom, a Ba ...
degree before graduating with a
Master of Engineering
A Master of Engineering (abbreviated MEng, ME, M.E. or M.Eng.) is a Professional degree, professional master's degree in the field of engineering.
International variations
Australia
In Australia, the Master of Engineering degree is a research ...
degree in July 1933. Witte worked as a civil servant for the
Ministry of Water Management as a civil engineer at
Rijkswaterstaat
Rijkswaterstaat, founded in 1798 as the ''Bureau voor den Waterstaat'' and formerly translated to Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, is a Directorate-General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Ministry ...
from July 1933 until August 1939 and as a civil servant for municipality of
Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the Brabantian dialect, local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southwestern Netherlands. It is located in the Province ...
as director of Public Works from August 1939 until June 1940. Witte also served in the
military reserve force
A military reserve force is a military organization whose members (reservists) have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional ma ...
of the
Royal Netherlands Army
The Royal Netherlands Army (, KL) is the Ground warfare, land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised making the Dutch standing a ...
and was
mobilized
Mobilization (alternatively spelled as mobilisation) is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the ...
on in April 1940 before
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
invaded
An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression.
Generally, invasions have objectives of co ...
the Netherlands. Witte was captured following the
Battle of Zeeland and was detained from May 1940 until August 1940. During the
German occupation
German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...
Witte was associated with members of the
Dutch resistance
The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...
. Following the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Queen Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest-reigning monarch in Dutch history, as ...
Witte was appointed as acting
Mayor of Bergen op Zoom, taking office on 1 May 1945. One year later on 1 May 1946 he was made permanent Mayor. After the
election of 1952 Witte was appointed as
Minister of Reconstruction and Housing in the
Cabinet Drees II, taking office on 2 September 1952. After the
election of 1956 Witte continued in the post as the newly renamed
Minister of Housing and Construction in the
Cabinet Drees III, taking office on 13 October 1956. Witte served as acting
Minister of Transport and Water Management from 10 October 1958 until 1 November 1958 following the resignation of
Jacob Algera.
The Cabinet Drees III fell on 11 December 1958 and continued to serve in a
demissionary
A demissionary cabinet () is a type of caretaker government, caretaker cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet or provisional government in the politics of the Netherlands, Netherlands.
Overview
The Dutch demissionary cabinet continues the current g ...
capacity until it was replaced by the
caretaker
Caretaker may refer to:
Occupations
* Janitor (chiefly in the United States), a person who cleans and maintains buildings such as hospitals and schools
* Property caretaker, a person who cares for a property
* Caregiver or carer (UK), a person wh ...
Cabinet Beel II with Witte continuing as Minister of Housing and Construction, taking office on 22 December 1958. Witte was elected as a
Member of the House of Representatives after the
election of 1959, taking office on 20 March 1959. Following the
cabinet formation of 1959 Witte was not giving a cabinet post in the new
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
, the Cabinet Beel II was replaced by the
Cabinet De Quay on 19 May 1959 and he continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a
frontbencher
In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then know ...
. In September 1959 Witte was nominated as
Mayor of Eindhoven
This is a list of mayors of Eindhoven since 1920. In 2022, five surrounding municipalities merged into the municipality of Eindhoven, thus creating the municipality in its current shape.
{, class = "wikitable sortable"
, -
! Start
! End
! Mayor
! ...
, he resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives the day he was installed as Mayor, taking office on 16 October 1959. On 14 October 1966 the
Cabinet Cals fell and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the
caretaker
Caretaker may refer to:
Occupations
* Janitor (chiefly in the United States), a person who cleans and maintains buildings such as hospitals and schools
* Property caretaker, a person who cares for a property
* Caregiver or carer (UK), a person wh ...
Cabinet Zijlstra with Witte taking a leave of absence as Mayor and was again appointed as
Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning, taking office on 22 November 1966. Witte who had previously announced that he was only willing to serve in the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra didn't stand for the
election of 1967, the Cabinet Zijlstra was replaced by the
Cabinet De Jong on 5 April 1967 and he returned as Mayor of Eindhoven the same day, serving from 5 April 1967 until 30 May 1973.
Decorations
References
External links
*
Ir. H.B.J. (Herman) WitteParlement & Politiek
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witte, Herman
1909 births
1973 deaths
Catholic People's Party politicians
Commanders of the Order of Leopold II
Delft University of Technology alumni
Deaths from brain cancer in the Netherlands
Dutch academic administrators
Dutch civil engineers
Dutch corporate directors
Dutch nonprofit directors
Dutch nonprofit executives
Dutch people of World War II
Dutch prisoners of war in World War II
Dutch Roman Catholics
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau
Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Mayors of Bergen op Zoom
Mayors of Eindhoven
Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands)
Ministers of housing and spatial planning of the Netherlands
Ministers of transport and water management of the Netherlands
Municipal councillors in Friesland
People from Harlingen, Netherlands
Royal Netherlands Army officers
Royal Netherlands Army personnel of World War II
World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
20th-century Dutch civil servants
20th-century Dutch educators
20th-century Dutch engineers