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They bid on two letters of congratulations from the city of Duisburg, addressed to the Pianists, composers, writers and music critics Erwin Kroll (1886-1976) for the 75th and 80. Birthday.

Both letters signed by Mayor August Seeling (1906-1998), the second letter also from senior city director Gerhard Bothur (1905-1971).

Each with printed letterhead “City of Duisburg. Godfather city for Königsberg (Pr)." -- Erwin Kroll made a special contribution to music in Königsberg.

1.) printed folding card (20.8 x 10.5 cm), dated Duisburg, 1. February 1961.

2.) A4 letter Duisburg, January 1st February 1966.

With a side note from Erwin Kroll: “But you villains have money for my Königsberg book not donated!" (Referring to Kroll's work: Music city Königsberg. Atlantis, Freiburg i. Br. 1966.)

Written on very strong paper with a small embossed city coat of arms.

Condition:Map with minor creases/compressions; Letter a little wrinkled. bitte note the pictures too!

Internal note: Kroll 9

About August Seeling, Gerhard Bothur and Erwin Kroll (source: wikipedia):

August Seeling (*19. May 1906 in Duisburg; † 14. August 1998 ibid) was mayor of Duisburg for the SPD from 1948 to 1969. He is considered one of the best-known mayors of the Rhineland after the Second World War.

Biography: Seeling had a lasting influence on his hometown of Duisburg in the period after the Second World War as a man of the first hour and set a decisive course for the future of the city. He was born on the 19th. Born in May 1906 in the former old town of Duisburg at Ulrichstrasse 4. During the Nazi era he was persecuted and interned because of his political beliefs and trade union activities. He had been a member of the SPD since 1924 and saw himself as a socialist throughout his life. In 1948 he was elected to the Duisburg City Council for the SPD in the first democratic local elections. On the 9th In November 1948, at the age of 42, he was elected Germany's youngest mayor. He held this office until his departure in 1969; He was the longest-serving mayor in Germany.

Memberships and achievements: In 1949 his significant influence led to the reopening of the Duisburg Theater. In 1956, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein theater community was created together with the city of Düsseldorf. On 2. In May 1950, August Seeling successfully appealed to the Allies in a speech not to endanger the reconstruction of the city by dismantling the August Thyssen hut.

He initiated and oversaw the construction of the Mercator Hall, which was inaugurated in 1962 and demolished in 2005 because it had to make way for a new building complex. In 1964 he founded the Lehmbruck Museum with important works by the great son of the city of Duisburg, Wilhelm Lehmbruck. On his initiative, the town partnerships with Portsmouth and Calais were founded, and he initiated worldwide contacts for the port of Duisburg.

He was also chairman of the cultural committee of the German Association of Cities, chairman of the broadcasting council of West German Broadcasting, a member of the German Commission for UNESCO and of the German National Academic Foundation. He was involved in the German Youth Hostel Association, which was very close to his heart, as well as in the Sauerland Mountain Association and in the German Forest Protection Association, which he led for many years.

Honors

In 1968 he was awarded the Great Cross of Merit and in 1969 the Star of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In 1969 the city council elected him as former mayor.

The Marie Juchacz plaque from the Arbeiterwohlfahrt was awarded to him in 1969.

In 1975 he received a special honor at the Adolf Grimme Prize

In 1976 he received honorary citizenship of the city of Duisburg.

In 1986 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.[1]

Gerhard Bothur (*10. January 1905 in Berlin; † 3. August 1971 in Wiesbaden) was a German politician (SPD) and civil servant.

Life and career: Gerhard Bothur graduated from elementary school in Berlin, then passed his secondary school leaving certificate and attended the higher commercial school. After an office apprenticeship and working student period, he entered the municipal service of the city of Berlin in 1925. After attending the youth welfare seminar in Berlin, he was recognized by the state as a social worker in 1928. Bothur attended the German University of Politics in Berlin, the Berlin Business School and the Berlin Administrative Academy. From 1930 to 1933 he was a senior municipal and social official; he was dismissed from this position in 1933 for political reasons. He then worked as a freelance tax consultant from 1934 to 1939. In 1938 Gerhard Bothur passed the specialist examination for auditing and trusteeship. Gerhard Bothur took part in the Second World War as a soldier and was a prisoner of war in the USA.

Party and associations: From 1919 to 1932 Gerhard Bothur was a member of the Socialist Workers' Youth. Gerhard Bothur had been a member of the SPD since 1922. He was vice president of the German Red Cross in Westphalia-Lippe.

Member of Parliament: From 1927 to 1933, Gerhard Bothur was a citizen's representative for the SPD at the Berlin-Schöneberg district office.

From 1953 to 1954 Gerhard Bothur was a member of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Assembly.

From 1954 to 1957 he was in the 3. Legislative period member of the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament in constituency 145 (Minden-Nord).

Public offices: In December 1945, Gerhard Bothur was appointed full-time district administrator of the Minden district by the British military government, and he held this office until April 1946. From April 1946 to February 1954 he was senior district director of the Minden district. From 1954 to 1957 he was a regional councilor at the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association. From February 1957 to October 1958, Gerhard Bothur was State Secretary in the Finance Ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia under Minister Willi Weyer (FDP). From 1960 until his retirement in 1967, Gerhard Bothur was senior city director of the city of Duisburg.

Erwin Kroll (*3. February 1886 in German Eylau; † 7. March 1976 in Berlin) was a German pianist, composer, writer and music critic. Like his friend Otto Besch, Kroll was an East Prussian composer.

Life: Around 1900 Kroll came to Königsberg i. Pr. and attended the Royal Hufengymnasium with Otto Besch. He studied philology and music at Albertus University. He received his doctorate from ETA Hoffmann, who has always been revered in Königsberg. phil. and went into school service.

In 1919 he turned entirely to music and continued his studies in Munich, which he had begun with Otto Fiebach and Paul Scheinpflug. There he found an important teacher, especially in Hans Pfitzner, to whom he later dedicated a highly acclaimed book. In addition to his studies, Kroll was an accompanist at the Munich State Opera and secretary of the Hans Pfitzner Association for German Music, which Thomas Mann had called for to be founded.

In 1925 Kroll returned to East Prussia and became music critic for the Hartungsche Zeitung, and from 1930 onwards it was its features editor. Since 1934 he worked in Berlin as a critic and music writer. After the Second World War he headed the music department of the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk in Berlin until 1953.

With his book, Kroll has created a monument to the (forgotten) importance of Königsberg as a music city.[3]