Gustav Böhrnsen (24 January 1914 – 21 June 1998) was a German politician 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 Form ...

(SPD), who served as chairman of the SPD group in the Parliament of Bremen (the ''Bürgerschaft'') from 1968 to 1971. He was elected to the Parliament of Bremen in 1955 and served as deputy chair of his party group (1966–1968), before being elected chair. He was originally a member of the SPD, but in the 1930s, he became a member of the

Socialist Workers' Party of Germany The Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (, SAPD) was a centrist Marxist political party in Germany. It was formed as a left-wing party with around 20,000 members which split off from the SPD in the autumn of 1931. In 1931, the remnants of the ...

, the

Young Communist League of Germany The Young Communist League of Germany (, abbreviated KJVD) was a political youth organization in Germany. History The KJVD was formed in 1920 from the Free Socialist Youth () of the Communist Party of Germany, A prior youth wing had been formed ...

and the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

. During the Nazi era, he was active in the anti-Nazi resistance, and was imprisoned from 1936 to 1939 as a political prisoner. In 1942, he was conscripted into the 999th Light Afrika Division, a

penal military unit A penal military unit, also known as a penal formation, disciplinary unit, or just penal unit (usually named for their formation and size, such as ''penal battalion'' for battalions, ''penal regiment'' for regiments, ''penal company'' for companie ...

. He was taken

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

by the Americans in 1943 and

repatriated Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...

in 1946. After the war, he became a member of the SPD again and became active in the

IG Metall IG Metall (; IGM; German: , "Industrial Union of Metalworkers'") is the dominant metalworkers' union in Germany, making it the country's largest union as well as Europe's largest industrial union. Analysts of German labor relations consider i ...

union. He was elected chair of the

works council A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of re ...

AG Weser Aktien-Gesellschaft "Weser" (abbreviated A.G. "Weser") was one of the major Germany, German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1872 it was finally closed in 1983. All together, A.G. „Weser" built about 1,4 ...

, his employer, in 1951, and served in this capacity until 1979. The election of Böhrnsen, a social democrat, to this position, meant the communists were finally ousted from influence in the works council.Inge Marßolek, René Ott, Peter Brandt, ''Bremen im Dritten Reich – Anpassung, Widerstand, Verfolgung''. Schünemann, 1986,

Family

He is the father of SPD politician

Jens Böhrnsen Jens Böhrnsen (born 12 June 1949) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD who served as President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen from 2005 to 2015. From 1 November 2009 until 31 October 2010 he was President of t ...

, who like his father, obtained the position as mayor of Bremen.

Honours

A street in Bremen-Gröpelingen is named in his honour.

References

1914 births 1998 deaths Politicians from Bremen (city) German Protestants Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Socialist Workers' Party of Germany politicians Communist Party of Germany politicians {{Germany-SPD-politician-stub, date=March 2015 Works councillors German trade unionists German Army personnel of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States