Hartmut Gründler

Hartmut Gründler ( born January 11, 1930 in Hümme; † 21 November 1977, in Hamburg ) was a German, a committed environmental Tübingen teacher. On November 16, 1977 Gründler doused in Hamburg with petrol, set himself on fire and died five days later in hospital. His self-immolation took place during the SPD federal party congress. She was a protest against the alleged instances of " false information" in the nuclear policy of the then Federal Government, specifically to Asse II, and the refusal of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, about to enter into a dialogue with him.

Professional career

After the mason journeyman's examination in 1952, a chipped studied architecture at the Technical University of Darmstadt and a pedagogy studies in Jugenheim ( 1957-59 ) Gründler worked as a teacher in the Hessian school service. In 1964 he laid after a six-month training course in French from the College Teachers exam. From November 1965 to 1967 on leave for German courses at the Goethe Institute and then as part of the Franco-German youth exchanges, he graduated in Tübingen and Besançon from a study of pedagogy, educational psychology and general linguistics with the completion of a Master of Arts (1969). He began a doctoral thesis on a psycholinguistic topic.

Tübingen years 1970-1977 in the service of environmental protection

Involved early on in matters of environmental protection and policy, Gründler worked from the end of 1970 in the Marxist- Leninist -oriented Tübingen Committee for Environmental Protection ( Kfu ) with. He founded in 1971 the articles of association committed to nonviolence Tübingen Federation for Environment Protection ( BfU ). Because of a lack of willingness to give up his own, inspired by Gandhi's Satyagraha path towards majority voting in the plenary, however, he was there soon excluded and called 1972 the smaller " working group life protection - Nonviolent Action in environmental protection eV" ( AKL) to life. In cooperation with the BfU he criticized the Stuttgart exhibition "Environment 72" sharp. From 1974, he also became involved in the dispute over the funds for city (district Reutlingen) envisaged nuclear power plant. He was pressing hard for a coordinating umbrella organization of various environmental groups a, which was created in late 1975 under the patronage of former German President Gustav Heinemann as German Council of Environmental and Life Protection. On July 25, 1975 Gründler presented at Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback unsuccessfully filed a lawsuit against Research Minister Matthöfer " genocide " one.

From 1975 he took part responsible part in a total of 20 complaints against nuclear projects. In February 1977, he lodged a constitutional complaint for limitation of his petition law. In his estate, no evidence for a response of the Federal Constitutional Court found in his lifetime.

Gründlers kind of visibility

Convinced that his fellow citizens would act to protect the environment if they were only well enough informed and addressed in their responsibility, Gründler operating an extensive public relations. He relied particularly on leaflets, which he mainly distributed in the university city of Tübingen and has been distributed. According to the principle " Everyone knows that everyone knows " he built also a communication network, whose peculiarity was that he, each adding his numerous writings and appeals, which he addressed to public persons and decision makers the addressee distribution.

Gründlers " experiment with truth "

Influenced by Gandhi, he tried to force through hunger strikes ( among others in Wyhl, Tübingen, Kassel ) and numerous open letters to members of parliament, ministers, journalists and so a change in energy policy. His first " conflict partner " said Federal Research Minister Hans Matthöfer, went into the allotted by him in July 1975 " civil dialogue nuclear energy " to the call for discussion, however, known in the end in June 1976 letter to the long -term implementation of the nuclear program. From the summer of 1976, according to Gründler turned to the Basic Law of the guidelines of the policy makers, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. He called for a clarification of the public in June 1976 in Bonn hearings ( Research Committee on 2 June and Home Affairs Committee on June 9 ) in his eyes open have become apparent contradictions to previously valid Environment Programme on 29 September 1971. Registrar replied never in person. Not materialize - Gründlers recently, in November 1977 because of the planned indefinite hunger strike was due to external difficulties - especially because of the withdrawal of a promise given for a caravan.

Self-immolation

On November 16, 1977 ( Day of Atonement ) Gründler doused in Hamburg with petrol, set himself on fire and died five days later in hospital. His self-immolation took place during the SPD federal party congress. She was a protest against the " continued government official misinformation " in energy policy, especially with regard to the final disposal. Organs of the press and politicians, including the chancellor, he informed in advance in writing, enclosing his political testament. This was from November 14, 1977, two days before his self-immolation, and was entitled " Please pass on ... please communicate quickly a publicist from the press, radio, television! Also at ... Member of Parliament! - Self-immolation of a life protector - Appeal against nuclear lie ... ".

On a double sided A5 leaflet he wrote it - speaking of himself in the third person - among other things:

" Gründler calls his action a fact, not of despair, but the resistance and determination. He wants there to oppose the constraint of profiteering, the Fool's catch, the surprise attack here, the inertia and cowardice a constraint of conscience. "

In the directed directly to the Chancellor "Appendix" to this appeal, he continued to write:

"I choose the last and most extreme form of protest and use [to be completed: planned for three weeks instead of the " granite " ] lighthouse but at least still the sand castle into a fire sign, [ ... ] "

Reactions and impact

The mass media barely reported on the backgrounds. Wolfgang Hädecke criticized in his biographical writing " The scandal Gründler " in this respect especially the mirror and the star. Generally complains Hädecke a " glaring disparity between the barren, rapidly decaying reporting and poor commentary with many distortions in the case Gründler on one side and the mighty indignation after the self-immolation of Palach and particularly of Brüsewitz on the other side. "

Gründler was after a scheduled parade was prohibited with the hearse by various federal German sites of his work by Hamburg authorities buried on 30 November 1977, the Tübingen Mountain Cemetery, attended by approximately 1000 mourners from home and abroad.

In the subsequent, including through the participation of the " Rems rebels" Helmut Palmer, tumultuous ending memorial service in the main auditorium of the University took place on the podium some representatives previously fractious environmental flows to each other, which later partially worked together at the GREEN: So spoke next to the futurologist Robert Jungk and Member of Parliament Herta Däubler -Gmelin (SPD ), which attempted to explain the Party result, prominent representatives of the Association of citizens ' Initiatives for Environmental protection ( BBU), the world Federation for the Protection of Life ( WSL), the Federal Government for the protection of life ( BfL ), the Action Community of Independent German (AUD ), the five- percent block and the Tübingen federal environmental Protection ( BfU ), so that the Swabian daily paper headlined: Marches now the "Green front"?

In his still existing working group life protection numerous documents from Gründlers creative period as well as from the subsequent period have been archived. The collection is, as the basis of an extended biography, continually developed and enhanced by eyewitness statements. This material is for the time being cared for by Wilfried Hüfler from Reutlingen.