Mayoral elections 1927 - a historical digression
An excursion into the history of Radebeul today shows us just how turbulent things were in local politics in the past. Analogous observations to today are quite intentional.
Robert Werner, mayor of Radebeul for many years from 1893 to 1927, went into well-deserved retirement. For 34 long years, he had played a decisive role in shaping the fortunes of Radebeul and now the town council was faced with the all-important question: "Who will be Robert Werner's successor? Who should become mayor of our city?"
The rumour mill was also churning in those days until the citizens were able to learn from the Radebeul daily newspaper on 19 May 1927 that " 84 applications had been received by the town hall in response to the advertisement for the local mayoral position." It is interesting to note that 29 applicants came from outside Saxony and the applicants came from different professions. There were 27 applicants from the legal profession, 7 from economics, 34 municipal officials, 12 from various technical professions, 21 mayors from Saxon towns and municipalities and 15 mayors from the German Reich (mainly northern Germany) as well as 4 candidates from Radebeul - all in all a colourful mix.
In contrast to today, the town councillors elected the mayor back then. Of all the candidates, only 10 were shortlisted. The outcome of this election was therefore primarily a question of the party composition of the Radebeul town councillors. According to the election results of the 1926 town councillor election, 3170 votes out of a total of 7426 were cast in favour of election proposal 1 (Bürgerliche Liste), closely followed by the SPD with 2948 votes. (KPD: 544 votes / Deutschvölkische Freiheitsbewegung: 272 votes / Liste Ullmann: 492 votes). And with that, the die was basically cast: a right-wing and a left-wing parliamentary group were formed, each of which put forward a candidate for mayor. The right-wing faction proposed Dr Max Weigel from Annaberg. The left-wing faction agreed on the candidate Count Emil von Wedel from Großenhain.
On 15 June 1927, Dr Max Weigel, the candidate of the right-wing faction, won the election as mayor of Radebeul for the following six years by 12 votes to 11 - and no Radebeul resident (unless he was a city councillor) was directly involved in the election process. Things are much better today. Today, the mayor is elected directly by every resident of our town who is entitled to vote. Unfortunately, the mayoral election of 1927 was far from over.
Historical newspaper article from the Radebeuler Tageblatt of 16 June 1927 on the mayoral election
Two weeks after the election, various newspapers carried some surprising headlines such as "Bürgerliche Bankruptcy in Radebeul - Dr Weigel renounces mayoral office", "Dr Weigel does not come"... and the like. The reasons for resigning from office can be found in archive documents in the Radebeul town archives. The "race for the post of mayor" finally went into the second round. However, the position was not advertised again.
The second attempt was made on 21 September 1927, with the right-wing faction this time nominating a candidate from its own ranks: Karl Richard Knauthe (born 30 April 1878 in Geising), who had been working in Radebeul's administration since 1909 as a professional municipal elder and head of the welfare, youth and police department. His opponent was once again Count von Wedel. Karl Richard Knauthe was elected mayor for 6 years by 12 votes to 23, and once again no Radebeul citizen was able to influence the election.
The events briefly outlined were 79 years ago. Much has changed since then, including the opportunities for free elections for the office of mayor of our home town. Every Radebeul resident over the age of 18 can decide for themselves who should lead and steer the fortunes of Radebeul. This right, which was not a matter of course in the past, should not be taken out of our hands. Paul Brüll (head of the town council in 1927, 1st town archivist of Radebeul 1958 - 1975) greeted the newly elected mayor Richard Knauthe in September 1927 at the first meeting of Radebeul's town councillors with the following significant words:
"May your work in the service of our town be quite successful. Above all, may you succeed in maintaining Radebeul's independence for as long as possible; on the other hand, I ask you to take the wishes and suggestions of the town councillors into account as far as possible, even if personal and legal disputes over competences stand in the way.
Successful work is only conceivable with the best possible understanding between the city and the city councillors."
This has not changed to this day.
Incidentally, Richard Knauthe was mayor until 1933. Then his trail disappears. So far we have not been able to find out where he moved to after his term of office. Research into this is currently still being carried out in the town archives.
Annette Karnatz City Archivist