August Kirch

Passions

Vocation

German social-democratic politician, who exercised various functions within the organizations of the labour movement. He was senator of the independent city of Altona/Elbe (1918-1933) and district chief of Altona (1945-1954). As a senator in the Weimer Republic he was responsible for culture and education under Bernhard Schnackenburg and Max Brauer. Kirch also worked in a number of social and honorary positions, such as on the board of the Altona Children's Hospital. Due to a long-running campaign by the NSDAP (Nazi Party) in the Hamburger Tageblatt newspaper, he was dismissed from office on 1 March 1933 and soon afterwards sentenced to one and a half years in prison. In August 1944, probably in connection with the mass arrests after the attempted assassination of Hitler on 20 July, he was imprisoned again for 14 days. In 1945, after the liberation of Germany, the British occupation reinstated him as a local official, and he served in this position until 1954 under the title District Chief. The focus of his administrative work was the reconstruction of the heavily war-damaged city, especially the old town of Altona, in which 60% of the housing stock had been destroyed by bombs. August Kirch died on 16 November 1959 in Hamburg-Altona, aged 79. Link to Wikipedia biography (German)