Engineer, Chairman of the Management Board of Wiesbadener Stadtwerke AG

Born: August 25, 1878 in Kirberg (am Taunus)
Died: November 18, 1949 in Wiesbaden

Christian Bücher was the nephew of the renowned Leipzig economist Prof. Karl Bücher (1847–1930) and older brother of Hermann Bücher (1882–1951), who was chairman of the board at AEG for many years. Until the age of 17, Christian Bücher received private tuition from the Dean of Kirberg and pastor Arnold Vogel, son of the distinguished Nassau historian Christian Daniel Vogel.

In 1899, Bücher began studying engineering at the Rheinisches Technikum Bingen, graduating in 1902. He then completed a year of training at the Fresenius Chemical Laboratory. In 1902, he joined the waterworks administration of the city of Wiesbaden and soon earned a reputation as an outstanding expert in the expansion of the Schierstein waterworks. The Schierstein waterworks was of great importance for the supply of drinking water to Wiesbaden because it was foreseeable that the water supply from the Taunus tunnels would not be sufficient to supply the city. It was therefore necessary to turn Rhine water into clean water. Bücher solved the problem with flying colors. With his appointment as head of the waterworks in 1922, Bücher's internal rise began.

In the years that followed, Christian Bücher became a recognized expert in the field of municipal utilities in the Rhine-Main region. He was instrumental in the founding of Kraftwerke Mainz-Wiesbaden AG (KMW) for the joint production of electricity and gas. This was preceded by the conversion of Wiesbaden's municipal utilities into a stock corporation. Bücher became director and general director of both companies in 1930 and 1931, respectively.

On May 1, 1937, Christian Bücher joined the NSDAP. He was also a member of the National Socialist People's Welfare Organization, the NS-Bund Deutscher Technik, the Reich Air Defense Association, and the Reich Association of German Hunters. Between 1933 and 1939, Bücher donated several hundred Reichsmarks to the NS-Opferring. The NS-Opferring was an institution organized at the Gau level that served to collect donations and other contributions for the NSDAP. Party membership was not required.

Due to staff shortages, the Wiesbaden employment office assigned forced laborers to the municipal utilities to ensure the supply of electricity and water. In 1943, at least 35 prisoners of war were forced to work at the Wiesbaden municipal utilities. Among other things, forced laborers had to repair damaged water, gas, and electricity lines. In addition to the prisoners of war, there is evidence of at least five French civilian workers. They were employed by the municipal utilities as bus drivers, motor vehicle mechanics, and locksmiths.

Shortly after the end of the war, Bücher wrote a report on the situation in the city of Wiesbaden shortly before its capture by US troops on March 28, 1945. This report gave rise to a narrative that attempts to place Bücher in a context of resistance and that deserves even more detailed historical analysis.

In the report, the director of the waterworks describes his efforts to prevent the destruction of the water and power lines and the shutdown of the waterworks ordered by NSDAP mayor Felix Piékarski.

Together with Karl Stempelmann, who later became director of the municipal utilities, Bücher claims to have contacted Wiesbaden Wehrmacht area commander Colonel Wilhelm Zierenberg on March 27, 1945, and persuaded him to prohibit the destruction of the water, gas, and electricity works. This ban was intended to prevent acts of sabotage and attempts at destruction and to achieve a surrender of the city to the US Army without a fight.

Since the commander in Wiesbaden had authority, Bücher acted in agreement with the last German leadership of the city. There is no evidence of resistance in the strict sense, especially since the Nazi leadership had already handed over control of the city to the Wehrmacht. The acts of sabotage mentioned in the report cannot be proven.

Christian Bücher oversaw the reconstruction of destroyed utility facilities and pursued plans to build reservoirs for drinking water production in the upper Rheingau region. On March 31, 1948, he retired after 45 years of service.

Christian Bücher died on November 18, 1949, in Wiesbaden and was buried in the Wiesbaden South Cemetery. The ESWE event hall on Weidenbornstraße was named after him in 1990.

Because of his articulation of National Socialist ideology in a speech to the waterworks staff, his membership in various Nazi organizations, his overall responsibility as chairman of the board of Wiesbadener Stadtwerke AG for the use of prisoners of war, and his associated participation in the deliberate harming of other persons between 1933 and 1945, the Historical Commission appointed by resolution of the city council in 2020 recommended the renaming of traffic areas, buildings, and facilities named after individuals in the state capital of Wiesbaden. The Schierstein Local Advisory Council followed the recommendation at its meeting on March 13, 2024, and renamed Christian-Bücher-Straße to Hafenstraße.

[This text was written by Klaus Kopp for the 2017 printed version of the Wiesbaden City Encyclopedia and revised and supplemented by Dr. Katherine Lukat in 2024].