Ursula Kraus (2 August 1930 – 2 August 2021) was a German politician. She was a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD). Between 1984 until 1996, Kraus was Mayor of

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

Career

Born in Neunkirchen,

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

, she left a gymnasium with the Mittlere Reife in 1949, and completed a commercial apprenticeship in 1951. She worked as industrial clerk (''Industriekauffrau'') until 1980, last as head of the internal sales group of a print shop.''Alt-Oberbürgermeisterin Ursula Kraus vollendet das 90. Lebensjahr''

, 2 August 2020 Kraus was a member of the Printing and Paper Union from 1949, and also of the Arbeiterwohlfahrt. She joined the

in 1956, working on the boards first of the local group, then from 1972 of an association concerned with labour (''Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Arbeitnehmerfragen'') in the district from 1972. She was on the board of the district (''Bezirksvorstand'') from 1975 to 1984, and on the state-wide board (''Landesvorstand'') from 1979. Kraus was a member of the state parliament, the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, elected in 1980. The same year, she became president of the association of social democratic women in

(''Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialdemokratische Frauen Wuppertal''). She was from 1984 a member of the Wuppertal city government (''Rat der Stadt''). On 15 October 1984, she was elected as the first female mayor of Wuppertal, with all 37 votes from both parties, succeeding Gottfried Gurland. On 27 August 1988, she also became chairwoman of the supervisory board of the . She did not run for the NRW parliament in 1990, in order to focus on her duties as mayor. During her tenure, the Stadthalle was reopened after extensive restoration, and also the

Von der Heydt-Museum The Von der Heydt Museum is a museum in Wuppertal, Germany. The Von der Heydt Museum includes works by artists from the 17th century to the present time. History The museum is housed in the former city hall of Elberfeld, which in 1902 became a ...

. When she retired in 1996, she remained active in many groups, including the association for a new synagogue.

Personal life

Her father, , was a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

. Kraus died in Wuppertal on her 91st birthday on 2 August 2021.Trauer um Alt-Oberbürgermeisterin Ursula Kraus
(in German) spdrat.de 2 August 2021

Awards

On 4 June 1993, Kraus received the

Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Verdienstorden des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen) is a civil order of merit, of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia was founded on 11 March 1 ...

for her services to Wuppertal and her social activities. In 2002, she was awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

. She was an honorary citizen of Wuppertal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraus, Ursula 1930 births 2021 deaths Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia Politicians from North Rhine-Westphalia Mayors of places in North Rhine-Westphalia Politicians from Saarland 20th-century German politicians 20th-century German women politicians