Chemnitz City Council decides to award honorary citizenship to Dr Peter Seifert
The long-serving Lord Mayor of Chemnitz, Dr Peter Seifert, has been awarded honorary citizenship in recognition of his work and services to the city of Chemnitz. This was decided today by the Chemnitz City Council. Mayor Barbara Ludwig and the parliamentary group chairmen in Chemnitz City Council Tino Fritzsche (CDU/FDP), Susanne Schaper (Linke), Detlef Müller (SPD) and Thomas Lehmann (Bündnis 90/Grüne) had proposed this honour on the occasion of Dr Peter Seifert's 75th birthday on 27 July 2016. The award ceremony is to take place in the autumn.
The joint statement of the proposers on the honour:
Dr Peter Seifert, as Lord Mayor after reunification, set the right course together with the City Council in a decisive phase for our city. With wisdom, foresight and his proverbial tenacity, he has moved the city forward and driven its development. In doing so, he has won over the citizens and earned their trust. Thanks to his clarity and persuasiveness, Dr Seifert has also earned the respect of the city council across party lines. Dr Peter Seifert has shown courage, decisiveness and passion for his city. Nevertheless, he is always pragmatic in the best sense of the word, a fighter for the cause who can be convinced by the best idea and the best arguments. The fact that Chemnitz is once again a modern industrial city today is just as much to his credit as the fact that Chemnitz once again has a city centre. Dr Peter Seifert has left his mark on the city. Dr Seifert used his office to shape the city. He successfully managed the transformation process after reunification and the upheavals it brought to Chemnitz.
Vita:
Dr Peter Seifert was born on 27 July 1941 in Zwickau. He studied and gained his doctorate at the Technical University of Karl-Marx-Stadt. His professional stations included the Robotron combine and the Zwönitz measuring instrument factory.
Dr Peter Seifert joined the SPD at the time of reunification in December 1989. In 1990, he was elected to the Chemnitz City Council as chairman of the SPD parliamentary group and first mayor. Prior to this, he had already briefly been a member of the city council as a representative of the opposition movements and parties during the reunification period. In 1993, Dr Peter Seifert was elected Lord Mayor of Chemnitz by the Chemnitz City Council in accordance with the still valid GDR municipal constitution and was confirmed in office for the first time by the citizens with over 73 per cent of the vote in spring 1994 in accordance with the new Saxon municipal code.
In 2001, he was re-elected as Lord Mayor of the city with almost 70 per cent of the vote. After 13 years in office, Dr Peter Seifert left office on 31 July 2006 for health reasons. Even in retirement, Dr Peter Seifert is still active in various offices and functions for his city. He is President of the LAC Chemnitz and Chairman of the University Council and the Society of Friends of Chemnitz University of Technology.
In May 2011, Dr Peter Seifert was awarded the Saxon Constitutional Medal for his services to the city of Chemnitz, and in October 2012 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class.