Ferdinand Friedensburg
Mayor of Berlin (interim)
In office 14 August 1948 – 1 December 1948
Preceded by	Louise Schroeder
Succeeded by	Louise Schroeder
Member of theBundestag
In office 1 February 1952 – 17 October 1965
Personal details
Born	(1886-11-17)17 November 1886 Schweidnitz,Province of Silesia,Kingdom of Prussia,German Empire
Died	11 March 1972(1972-03-11) (aged 85) West Berlin
Political party	DDP CDU

Ferdinand Friedensburg (17 November 1886 inSchweidnitz (present-day Świdnica) – 11 March 1972) was theinterim Mayor of Berlin due to the illness of mayorLouise Schroeder during theBerlin Blockade in 1948.

The son of a judge graduated in 1914 at theBerlin College of Mines(Bergakademie). Homebound from theUnited States at the outbreak ofWorld War I he was arrested byBritish Forces Gibraltar. On an attempt at flight Friedensburg was severely injured, resulting in a long-term stay in hospital. Not able-bodied for military service, he served at the German embassy inBern until the end of the war.

Back to Berlin he joined theGerman Democratic Party (DDP) in 1920 and in 1921 became district administrator(Landrat) atRosenberg,Marienwerder (todaySusz,Poland). In 1925 Friedensburg was appointed vice president of the Berlinstate police agency and in 1927 becameregion president of the PrussianRegierungsbezirk Kassel. As a supporter of theWeimar Coalition'sReichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Goldparamilitary group his times in office were marked by fierce conflicts with the rising forces of theCommunists and theNazi Party. By September 1933 he was dismissed from state service.

In June 1945 Friedensburg was among the founders of theChristian Democratic Union in Berlin. After the elections of October 1946, he became a deputy mayor of the city council underOtto Ostrowski and remained in that office when Louise Schroeder succeeded Ostrowski on 8 May 1947.

Friedensburg continued to hold great power in theSoviet occupation zone as chairman of theeastern sector of the CDU and the German Central Fuel Industry Administration. Although he had good relations with theSoviet Military Administration in Germany, he was despised byWalter Ulbricht and the rulingSocialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). When Ulbricht andGustav Sobottka began plotting to oust him and accused him to theNKVD of maintaining contacts with former Nazis, he fled toWest Berlin.^[1]

After theSoviet blockade of the western sectors had begun on 24 June 1948, Schroeder fell seriously ill and had to proceed toHamburg for medical treatment. Friedensburg as her deputy from 14 August acted as mayor until, on 30 November, theSocialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) backed by the Soviet authorities proclaimed a separate city council ofEast Berlin underFriedrich Ebert Jr. and hindered Friedensburg from entering his office inMitte. Though Schroeder officially reassumed office the next day, the elections called for 5 December could only be held inWest Berlin and resulted inErnst Reuter becoming mayor of West Berlin.

Friedensburg continued his political career as a member of theBundestag (1952–1965) and of theEuropean Parliament (1958–1965).

• Marc Zirlewagen (2006). "Ferdinand Friedensburg". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.).Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 26. Nordhausen: Bautz. cols. 313–321.ISBN 3-88309-354-8.
• Newspaper clippings about Ferdinand Friedensburg in the20th Century Press Archives of theZBW

• 1886 births
• 1972 deaths
• People from Świdnica
• Politicians from the Province of Silesia
• German Democratic Party politicians
• Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians
• Mayors of Berlin
• Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Members of the Bundestag for Berlin
• Members of the Bundestag 1961–1965
• Members of the Bundestag 1957–1961
• Members of the Bundestag 1953–1957
• Members of the Bundestag 1949–1953

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• CS1 German-language sources (de)