Honorary citizen Reissmüller: after 49 years of Nazi past!
Honorary citizen Reissmüller: after 49 years of Nazi past!
Ingolstadt, Deutschland - The city of Ingolstadt posthumously dismissed Wilhelm Reissmüller's honorary citizenship after the reappraisal of his National Socialist past came into focus. This happened 49 years after his appointment as an honorary citizen and 32 years after his death. The city council's decision fell with a vote against and marked a turning point in dealing with Reissmüller's controversial role during the Nazi era. Gerhard Reichert, who has dealt with this topic since the 1970s, criticized the ignoring of his past by the city for a long time and asked why Reissmüller was not held accountable earlier.
Reissmüller, born on December 19, 1911 in Süßen, was published in 1949 editor of Donaukurier , one of the most available daily newspapers in Bavaria. Previously, from 1936 to 1945 he had headed the fortunes of the National Socialist Hetzblatt Donaubote . The publisher was founded by Ludwig Liebl, whose daughter Reissmüller married in 1937. Despite his significant role in the NSDAP and other National Socialist organizations, Reissmüller played his entanglement throughout his life and was legally against critics who pointed out his past, including Reichert.
processing of the past
New research, which were commissioned in 2022 by Süddeutsche.de that Reissmüller actively worked with the NS regime. Among other things, he was a member of the Nazi Student Association, the SA and even the SS. His promotional acts from the 1930s, which includes over 30 leaves, also highlights its nearby connection to the regime. Susanne Wanninger, head of the archive of the University of Munich, said that the file was "definitely not standard files" and stated symbolically for the ongoing shyness to clarify the past.
Last year, a research work was ordered, which deals intensively with the Nazi era in Ingolstadt and Reissmüller's role. The city council emphasized that Reissmüller's post -war benefits would never justify his actions in the service of the National Socialist state. Against this background, the decision was made to the dismissal of his honorary citizenship.influential publisher and its methods
Reissmüller used his media power to rush against groups persecuted by the Nazis. In the period after the war, he had difficulty getting his publisher back because the American authorities monitored press content. Nevertheless, until his death in 1993, he claimed that he had no relationship to National Socialism. This only changed when the research of journalist Thomas Schuler brought a different truth to light: Reissmüller not only benefited from the Nazi regime, but was also an active part of it.
The discretion of honorary citizenship and the ongoing discussion about Reissmüller's legacy also highlight the handling of the National Socialist past in Germany. They illustrate the need for a critical examination of the local fees and their history.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Ort | Ingolstadt, Deutschland |
| Quellen | |