Ernst Reuter
German mayor of West Berlin (1889–1953)
Ernst Rudolf Johannes Reuter (29 July 1889 – 29 September 1953) was a German politician who was the mayor of West Berlin from 1948 to 1953, during the Cold War. He played a significant role in unifying the divided sectors of Berlin and publicly and politically took a stand against the Soviet Union.
Early years
Reuter was born in Apenrade (Aabenraa), Province of Schleswig-Holstein (now in Denmark). He spent his childhood days in Leer where a public square is named after him. Reuter attended the universities of Münster and Marburg where he completed his studies in 1912 and passed the examinations as a teacher. Moreover, he was member in a fraternity called "SBV Frankonia Marburg". The same year he became a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
Reuter opposed Kaiser Wilhelm II's regime at the start of the First World War. After being drafted, Reuter was sent to the Eastern front where he was wounded and captured by the Russians. During the 1917 October Revolution Reuter joined the Bolsheviks and organized his fellow prisoners into a soviet.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ernst Reuter” is german mayor of West Berlin (1889–1953). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Ernst, Reuter and German, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “german mayor of West Berlin (1889–1953)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q213561. VIAF identifies the subject as 40170952. The Library of Congress control number is n88049377. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1889, 1953, 1948 and 1912.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ernst Reuter”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ernst Reuter primary sources, Ernst Reuter archive and Ernst research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ernst Reuter”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ernst Reuter” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.