Ernst Reuter
Ernst Reuter
The social democrat who became the voice of divided Berlin
“People of the world, look upon this city! You cannot, you must not, forsake us!”
Ernst Reuter was a German politician whose path from social democracy through communism and back reflected the upheavals of twentieth-century Europe. After Nazi persecution and exile in Turkey, he returned to Berlin and joined municipal administration to a practical social-democratic politics. During the Berlin Blockade, he gave West Berliners’ resolve an international voice and helped make the divided city a symbol of freedom and self-government. His career also reveals the tensions of a generation that moved from revolutionary radicalism toward democratic local government.
Career timeline
- 1912Joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany
- 1918–1919First chairman of the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
- 1921First secretary of the Berlin district of the Communist Party of Germany
- 1926–1931Berlin city councillor for transport
- 1931–1933Mayor of Magdeburg
- 1935–1946Lecturer in urban planning at Ankara University and adviser to the Turkish government
- 1947Elected mayor of Berlin, without Soviet consent
- 1948–1953Mayor of West Berlin, Governing Mayor from 1951