Herman Witte

Herman Witte
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; 18 August 1909; Harlingen, Netherlands
Died	30 May 1973 (aged 63); Eindhoven, Netherlands
Cause of death	Brain tumor
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; ;

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.

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
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

References

External links

Media related to Herman Witte at Wikimedia Commons

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

Political offices

Preceded by

Henk Lijnkamp

Mayor of Bergen op Zoom
1945–1952

Succeeded by

Leonard Peters

Preceded by

Joris in 't Veld

Minister of Reconstruction
and Housing
1952–1956

Succeeded by

Himself
as Minister of Housing
and Construction

Preceded by

Himself
as Minister of Reconstruction
and Housing

Minister of Housing
and Construction
1956–1959

Succeeded by

Jan van Aartsen

Preceded by

Jacob Algera

Minister of Transport and
Water Management
Ad interim
1958

Preceded by

Charles van Rooy

Mayor of Eindhoven
1959–1966
1967–1973

Succeeded by

Jan van Stuijvenberg
Ad interim

Preceded by

Jan van Stuijvenberg
Ad interim

Succeeded by

Jaap van der Lee

Preceded by

Pieter Bogaers

Minister of Housing
and Spatial Planning
1966–1967

Succeeded by

Wim Schut

v t e Zijlstra cabinet (1966–1967)
Preceded: Cals cabinet Succeed: De Jong cabinet
Prime Minister	Jelle Zijlstra (General Affairs and Finance)
Deputy Prime Ministers	Jan de Quay (Transport and Water Management) Barend Biesheuvel (Agriculture and Fisheries and Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs)
Ministers	Koos Verdam (Interior) Joseph Luns (Foreign Affairs) Teun Struycken (Justice) Joop Bakker (Economic Affairs) Piet de Jong (Defence) Gerard Veldkamp (Social Affairs and Health) Isaäc Arend Diepenhorst (Education and Sciences) Herman Witte (Housing and Spatial Planning) Marga Klompé (Culture, Recreation and Social Work)
Minister without portfolio	Theo Bot (Aid to Developing Countries)
State Secretaries	Leo de Block (Foreign Affairs and Transport and Water Management) Louis van Son (Economic Affairs) Gerard Peijnenburg (Defence) Adri van Es (Defence) Heije Schaper (Defence) José de Meijer (Social Affairs and Health) Louis Bartels (Social Affairs and Health) Hans Grosheide (Education and Sciences)

v t e Second Beel cabinet (1958–1959)
Preceded: Third Drees cabinet Succeed: De Quay cabinet
Prime Minister	Louis Beel (General Affairs and Social Affairs and Health)
Deputy Prime Minister	Teun Struycken (Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations and Justice)
Ministers	Joseph Luns (Foreign Affairs) Jelle Zijlstra (Finance and Economic Affairs) Kees Staf (War and Navy and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies) Jo Cals (Education, Arts and Sciences) Jan van Aartsen (Transport and Water Management) Herman Witte (Housing and Construction) Marga Klompé (Social Work) Gerard Helders (Colonial Affairs)
State Secretaries	Norbert Schmelzer (Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations) Gerard Veldkamp (Economic Affairs) Harry Moorman (Navy) René Höppener (Education, Arts and Sciences)

v t e Third Drees cabinet (1956–1958)
Preceded: Second Drees cabinet Succeed: Second Beel cabinet
Prime Minister	Willem Drees (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Minister	Teun Struycken (Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations)
Ministers	Ko Suurhoff (Interior) (Ad interim) Joseph Luns (Foreign Affairs) Henk Hofstra (Finance) Ivo Samkalden (Justice) Jelle Zijlstra (Economic Affairs) Kees Staf (War and Navy) Ko Suurhoff (Social Affairs and Health) Jo Cals (Education, Arts and Sciences) Jacob Algera (Transport and Water Management) (1956–1958) Herman Witte (Transport and Water Management) (Ad interim) Jan van Aartsen (Transport and Water Management) (1958) Sicco Mansholt (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies) (1956–1958) Kees Staf (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies) (Ad interim) Anne Vondeling (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies) (1958) Herman Witte (Housing and Construction) Marga Klompé (Social Work) Kees Staf (Colonial Affairs) (Ad interim) Gerard Helders (Colonial Affairs)
State Secretaries	Norbert Schmelzer (Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations) Ernst van der Beugel (Foreign Affairs) Gerard Veldkamp (Economic Affairs) Ferdinand Kranenburg (War) (1956–1958) Meine van Veen (War) (1958) Harry Moorman (Navy) Aat van Rhijn (Social Affairs and Health) Anna de Waal (Education, Arts and Sciences) (1956–1957) René Höppener (Education, Arts and Sciences) (1956–1957)

v t e Second Drees cabinet (1952–1956)
Preceded: First Drees cabinet Succeed: Third Drees cabinet
Prime Minister	Willem Drees (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Minister	Louis Beel (Interior) (1952–1956)
Ministers	Julius Christiaan van Oven (Interior) (Ad interim) Johan Beyen (Foreign Affairs) Jo van de Kieft (Finance) Leen Donker (Justice) (1952–1956) (†) Louis Beel (Justice) (Ad interim) Julius Christiaan van Oven (Justice) (from 1956) Jelle Zijlstra (Economic Affairs) Kees Staf (War and the Navy) Ko Suurhoff (Social Affairs and Health) Jo Cals (Education, Arts and Sciences) Jacob Algera (Transport and Water Management) Sicco Mansholt (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies) Herman Witte (Reconstruction and Housing) Louis Beel (Social Work) (Ad interim) Frans-Jozef van Thiel (Social Work) Willem Kernkamp (Colonial Affairs) (1952–1956) (†) Kees Staf (Colonial Affairs) (1956–1957) (Ad interim)
Ministers without portfolio	A. C. de Bruijn (Economic Policy) Joseph Luns (United Nations Affairs and Colonial Policy)
State Secretaries	Wim van den Berge (Finance) Gerard Veldkamp (Economic Affairs) Ferdinand Kranenburg (War) Harry Moorman (Navy) Aat van Rhijn (Social Affairs and Health) Piet Muntendam (Social Affairs and Health) (1952–1953) Anna de Waal (Education, Arts and Sciences)

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
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

v t e Ministers of transport and water management of the Netherlands
Ministry of Transport and Water Management
Lely De Marez Oyens Kraus Veegens Kraus Bevers Talma Regout Lely König Van Swaay Bongaerts Van der Vegte Reymer Kalff Colijn Van Lidth de Jeude Van Buuren Van Lidth de Jeude Albarda Wijffels Tromp S. Van Schaik Vos J. Van Schaik Spitzen Wemmers Algera Witte Van Aartsen Korthals Van Aartsen Suurhoff Bogaers Suurhoff De Quay Bakker Drees Jr. Udink Westerterp Tuijnman Zeevalking Kroes Maij-Weggen Andriessen Jorritsma Netelenbos De Boer Peijs Eurlings

v t e Ministers of housing and spatial planning of the Netherlands
Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning
Ringers Vos Neher 't Veld Witte Van Aartsen Bogaers Witte Schut Udink Gruijters Beelaerts van Blokland Tuijnman Van Dam Nypels Winsemius Nijpels Alders De Boer Pronk Kamp Dekker Peijs Winsemius Cramer Huizinga Keijzer Boekholt-O'Sullivan