Herman Witte

For the bishop, see Herman Witte (bishop).

Herman Bernard Jan Witte (18 August 1909 – 30 May 1973) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and civil engineer.

Herman Witte
Herman Witte in 1966
Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning
In office 22 November 1966 – 5 April 1967
Prime Minister	Jelle Zijlstra
Preceded by	Pieter Bogaers
Succeeded by	Wim Schut
Mayor of Eindhoven
In office 5 April 1967 – 30 May 1973
Preceded by	Jan van Stuijvenberg (Ad interim)
Succeeded by	Jaap van der Lee
In office 16 October 1959 – 22 November 1966
Preceded by	Charles van Rooy
Succeeded by	Jan van Stuijvenberg (Ad interim)
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 20 March 1959 – 16 October 1959
Parliamentary group	Catholic People's Party
Minister of Transport and Water Management
In office 10 October 1958 – 1 November 1958 Ad interim
Prime Minister	Willem Drees
Preceded by	Jacob Algera
Succeeded by	Jan van Aartsen
Minister of Housing and Construction
In office 13 October 1956 – 19 May 1959
Prime Minister	Willem Drees (1956–1958) Louis Beel (1958–1959)
Preceded by	Himself as Minister of Reconstruction and Housing
Succeeded by	Jan van Aartsen
Minister of Reconstruction and Housing
In office 2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956
Prime Minister	Willem Drees
Preceded by	Joris in 't Veld
Succeeded by	Himself as Minister of Housing and Construction
Mayor of Bergen op Zoom
In office 1 May 1945 – 2 September 1952
Preceded by	Henk Lijnkamp
Succeeded by	Leonard Peters
Personal details
Born	Herman Bernard Jan Witte (1909-08-18)18 August 1909 Harlingen, Netherlands
Died	30 May 1973(1973-05-30) (aged 63) Eindhoven, Netherlands
Cause of death	Brain tumor
Political party	Catholic People's Party (from 1945)
Other political affiliations	Roman Catholic State Party (until 1945)
Spouse	Angelina Wüst ​ (m. 1939)​
Children	4 sons and 2 daughters
Alma mater	Delft Institute of Technology (Bachelor of Engineering, Master of Engineering)
Occupation	Politician · Civil servant · Civil engineer · Corporate director · Nonprofit director · Academic administrator
Military service
Allegiance	Netherlands
Branch/service	Royal Netherlands Army
Years of service	1933–1939 (Reserve) 1939–1940 (Active duty)
Rank	Second lieutenant
Unit	National Reserve Corps
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Netherlands Battle of Zeeland Battle of France

Biography

Witte applied at the Delft Institute of Technology in June 1927 majoring in civil engineering and obtaining a Bachelor of Engineering degree before graduating with a Master of Engineering degree in July 1933. Witte worked as a civil servant for the Ministry of Water Management as a civil engineer at Rijkswaterstaat from July 1933 until August 1939 and as a civil servant for municipality of Bergen op Zoom as director of Public Works from August 1939 until June 1940. Witte also served in the military reserve force of the Royal Netherlands Army and was mobilized on in April 1940 before Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands. Witte was captured following the Battle of Zeeland and was detained from May 1940 until August 1940. During the German occupation Witte was associated with members of the Dutch resistance. Following the end of World War II Queen Wilhelmina Witte was appointed as acting Mayor of Bergen op Zoom, taking office on 1 May 1945. One year later on 1 May 1946 he was made permanent Mayor. After the election of 1952 Witte was appointed as Minister of Reconstruction and Housing in the Cabinet Drees II, taking office on 2 September 1952. After the election of 1956 Witte continued in the post as the newly renamed Minister of Housing and Construction in the Cabinet Drees III, taking office on 13 October 1956. Witte served as acting Minister of Transport and Water Management from 10 October 1958 until 1 November 1958 following the resignation of Jacob Algera.

The Cabinet Drees III fell on 11 December 1958 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Beel II with Witte continuing as Minister of Housing and Construction, taking office on 22 December 1958. Witte was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1959, taking office on 20 March 1959. Following the cabinet formation of 1959 Witte was not giving a cabinet post in the new cabinet, the Cabinet Beel II was replaced by the Cabinet De Quay on 19 May 1959 and he continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a frontbencher. In September 1959 Witte was nominated as Mayor of Eindhoven, he resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives the day he was installed as Mayor, taking office on 16 October 1959. On 14 October 1966 the Cabinet Cals fell and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra with Witte taking a leave of absence as Mayor and was again appointed as Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning, taking office on 22 November 1966. Witte who had previously announced that he was only willing to serve in the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra didn't stand for the election of 1967, the Cabinet Zijlstra was replaced by the Cabinet De Jong on 5 April 1967 and he returned as Mayor of Eindhoven the same day, serving from 5 April 1967 until 30 May 1973.

Decorations

Honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre	Holy See	4 October 1954
	Commander of the Order of Leopold II	Belgium	30 September 1955
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	27 April 1967	Elevated from Grand Officer (9 June 1959)
	Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion	Netherlands	30 May 1973

External links

Media related to Herman Witte at Wikimedia Commons

• (in Dutch) Ir. H.B.J. (Herman) Witte Parlement & Politiek