Karl Arnold

Karl Arnold (March 21, 1901 - June 29, 1958) was a German politician. He was acting president of Germany in 1949.

Youth and early political activities

Arnold was born in Herrlishfen in Wrttemberg. He was trained as shoemaker and later (1920/21) studied at the Soziale Hochschule Leohaus, Munich. From 1920 onwards, Arnold worked as functionary of the movement of Christian workers. In 1924, he became secretary of the Christian workers union for the Dsseldorf region. He was elected in the town council of Dsseldorf for the Zentrum party in 1929. In 1928, he married Liesel Joeres.

Nazi era

In 1933, Arnold was co-owner of a sanitary installation shop in Dsseldorf. The nazi Gestapo observed and hunted him in the following years because of his political activities. In 1944, he was brought to jail by the Gestapo.

German reconstruction after World War II

After World War II, Arnold became politically active again. In 1945, he was co-founder of the local Christian-Democratic Party in Dsseldorf, which became part of the CDU later in 1945. Also in 1945, the Dsseldorf chapter of the united workers union was founded, presided by Arnold. On January 29, 1946, Arnold was named mayor of Dsseldorf and later elected in the first free elections (October 26, 1946). In December, 1946, Arnold became deputy minister president of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. From 1947 to 1950, he was the minister president with a coalition of CDU, Zentrum party, SPD and (shortly) the communist party. On September 7, 1949 he was elected as the first president of the federal Bundesrat, becoming acting President of Germany until Theodor Heuss was elected later in 1949. From 1950 to 1956, Arnold was elected minister president for North Rhine-Westphalia twice again, governing with the help of conservative parties and the Free Democrats. Important acts of his government were the foundation of the North Rhine-Westphalian broadcasting system (today: Westdeutscher Rundfunk) and the German system of workers union influence in steel and coal industries. On February 20, 1956 FDP switched coalition affiliation to the SPD, ending the Arnold government in North Rhine-Westphalia. Arnold became a leading member of the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia and in Germany. In 1957, he was elected in the German Bundestag (with a 72 % majority in his election district). He was member of the Bundestag until June 29, 1958, when he died of heart disfunction.

External link

Preceded by:
Karl Dnitz
(Reich President)>
align="center" width="40%"|Acting President
1949
align="center" width="30%"|Succeeded by:
Theodor Heuss
(Federal President)
Arnold, Karl Arnold, Karl

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
little red riding hood
rubik's revenge
congressional budget and impoundment control act of 1974
lloyd bentsen
roman currency
list of spanish autonomous communities by population
list of spanish autonomous communities by area
henry herbert
bangor city f.c.
edward herbert
ozark highlands trail
manchu family name
buffalo national river
list of aragonese comarcas
lurgan
cuma
newi cefn druids f.c.
padraig flynn
james dooge
julia de burgos
list of andromeda episodes
theatrical constraints
roman herzog
walter scheel
heinrich lbke
theodor heuss
toms deirg
the years of rice and salt
panzerfaust
stochastic context free grammar
los tres
concepcin
bull shoals lake
current (water)
current
kyushu institute of design
the american spectator
kyushu university
medieval life
tar sands
tina weymouth
empress dowager
political sociology
battle of pea ridge