Karl Olfers (born April 14, 1888, in

Dorum Dorum is a village and a former municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it has been part of the municipality Wurster Nordseeküste. The ''Land of Wursten'', a somewhat autonomous farmers' republ ...

died April 22, 1968, in

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. From 1946 to 1952 and from 1956 to 1966 he was Mayor of

and from 1946 to 1955 and from 1959 to 1963 President of the

Lower Saxony State Parliament The Lower Saxon Landtag () or the Parliament of Lower Saxony is the state diet of the German state of Lower Saxony. It convenes in Hanover and currently consists of 146 members, consisting of four parties. Since 2022 the majority is a coalition o ...

Biography

Early life

Olfers attended elementary school and continuing education schools. Then he learned carpentry. He was a soldier from 1909 to 1911 and took part in the

First World War 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 ...

. From 1925 to 1933 he was the managing director of Bauhütte Cuxhaven, the housing construction company founded in 1922 by the workers' movement. The residential buildings de Bauhütte from the interwar period with the clinker brick facades characterize the cityscape of Cuxhaven. The "Olfer stone currency" was known during the period of inflation, when bricks were used as emergency money in trade. From 1933 to 1944 he worked as an insurance agent after he was removed from office under the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and repeatedly arrested for resistance. In 1944 he was drafted into military service.

Politics

Olfers joined a trade union in 1907 and the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1912. From 1919 he became a city representative, member of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

and from 1924 second mayor of Cuxhaven, as a representative of Max Bleicken (DDP). In 1933 he was a member of the state committee, the supervisory board of the state fishing company and other public companies, before he was removed from office by the Nazi regime and repeatedly arrested for resistance. From 1919 to 1933 Olfers was a member of the

Hamburg Parliament The Hamburg Parliament (german: Hamburgische Bürgerschaft; literally “Hamburgish Citizenry”) is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. As of 2011 there were 121 members in the parli ...

for the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

. Cuxhaven belonged to Hamburg from 1394 to 1937.

West Germany

After the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and the establishment of

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, he participated in the reconstruction of the

in Cuxhaven and the Weser region. He also became city councilor in 1945 and mayor of Cuxhaven in 1946, which he remained until 1952. From 1956 to 1966 he was again Mayor of Cuxhaven.Barbara Simon: Abgeordnete in Niedersachsen 1946–1994. Biographisches Handbuch. Hrsg. vom Präsidenten des Niedersächsischen Landtages. Niedersächsischer Landtag, Hannover 1996, pp. 278–279 In 1946 he was elected to the

Lower Saxony state parliament The Lower Saxon Landtag () or the Parliament of Lower Saxony is the state diet of the German state of Lower Saxony. It convenes in Hanover and currently consists of 146 members, consisting of four parties. Since 2022 the majority is a coalition o ...

, whose president he was from 1946 to 1955 and from 1959 to 1963.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olfers, Karl 1888 births 1968 deaths Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Members of the Landtag of Lower Saxony