Walther Schreiber

In 1953, after Ernst Reuter’s unexpected death and the break-up of the governing coalition, CDU politician Walther Schreiber became Reuter’s successor as Governing Mayor of Berlin. Schreiber’s political career began in the Weimar Republic; from 1919 he sat in the Prussian parliament for the German Democratic Party, and in 1925 he joined Otto Braun’s government as Minister for Trade. After 1945, he was among the founders of the CDU in Berlin and in the Soviet-occupied zone, and held the office of Governing Mayor from October 1953 until January 1955.

Today, little is known about this figure – most people merely associate his name with a square in Berlin and a U-Bahn station with the same name. Within the context of the research project, a comprehensive collection of material was compiled. A publication is planned for 2024.