The former Presidents of the ZDV

Heinrich v. Wittgenstein
1st President: March 16th,1842 until May 11th, 1843
born April 20th, 1797, died March 29th, 1869

Heinrich von Wittgenstein, chairman of the supervisory board of Cöln-Mindener Railway, was very committed and involved doing a lot for his hometown Cologne, which shows in four presidential offices in total: He was the first president of Cologne carnival’s celebratory committee registered society of 1823, of “Armenverwaltung”, an administration to relieve the poor, the first president of Cathedral-building society and in 1848 he became government president of Cologne.

Josef Rolshausen
2nd President: May 11th, 1843 until September 25th, 1848
(days of birth and death are unknown)

The figure Two was not exactly a lucky number for the Royal Prussian Superior Councillor of Cologne: The ZDV’s second president war twice second choice only: Both times the re-elected president, Heinrich von Wittgenstein, had declined the poll due to work overload (see above: four presidential offices!).

Ferdinand Esser
3rd President: September 5th, 1848 until March 5th, 1871
(days of birth and death are unknown)

Privy King’s Counsel and barrister at Royal Land court in Cologne he remained whole 23 years president of ZDV to the death.

Johann Baptist Haass
4th President: August 28th, 1871 until May 31st, 1875
born March 1st, 1790, ?died December 15th, 1876

King’s Counsel Haass was the only president in the history of Central-Cathedral-building-Society, who was deposed from office by crucial vote. He had taken sides in a fight between Church and State – unfortunately there is no lore, what it was about – and had aligned himself with the archbishop.
Such a partisanship had always been avoided by the Central-Cathedral-building society.

Alexander F.W. Bachem
5th President: May 31st, 1875 until February 11th, 1878
born January 8th, 1806, died February 11th, 1878

Before he became ZDV’s fifth elected president, Bachem was Chief Burgomaster of Cologne.

Oswald Schmitz
6th President: June 26th, 1878 until November 9th, 1892
born November 15th, 1833, died November 10th, 1892

ZDV’s sixth president was merchant and Royal Spanish consul and remained in office to the death.

Robert Esser
7th President: November 18th, 1892 until April 15th, 1917
born April 15th, 1833, died May 11th, 1920

Privy King’s Counsel and son of the 3rd president Ferdinand Esser, he is an early and wonderful example of the ZDV’s family nature: Since his father was president of the society, the son became already a member when he was still a child. He remained wedded to the ZDV all his life: first as member, then 40 years on the board and finally president for 25 years til the day he died.l

Friedrich Carl Heimann
8th President: April 15th, 1917 until November 10th, 1921
born February 14th, 1850, died November 8th, 1921

Student at the Royal Architectural Academy in Berlin he later went in for a career in his hometown Cologne:  At first head of the municipal planning and building control office in Cologne (1880), then Royal Architectural Council (1898), finally Privy Architectural Council and first city conservator in Cologne (1913).

Josef Frenken
9th President: November 1921 until September 10th, 1943
born September 27th, 1854, died September 9th, 1943

When Frenken came into presidential office of the Central-Cathedral-building-society, he already had had a distinguished political career: Until 1899 Council at the Provincial High Court and Court of Appeal, he became director at the Prussian Ministry of Justice in 1913. Between 1918 and 1922 he was president at the Provincial High Court and Court of Appeal in Cologne. During his term as ZDV’s president Frenken administered the offices imperial justice secretary and minister of occupied territories for a short time in 1925.

Hermann Pünder
10th President: March 28th, 1947 until October 23rd, 1973
born April 1st, 1888, died October 3rd , 1976

The first president of ZDV after the Second World War had been head of the imperial chancery between 1926 and 1932 and state secretary. 1932 and 1933 he held the office government president. Being Chief Burgomaster of Cologne (1945 to 1948) ZDV’s management board elected him president of the society. During his term as ZDV-president lasting 26 years, Pünder also accepted the office superior director of the economic board of Bizone between 1949 and 1957.

Joseph Hecking
11th President: November 23rd, 1973 until December 31st, 1985
born July 17th, 1900, died December 13th, 1989

Barrister in Cologne he was secretary general of the Central-Cathedral-building-Society at first and thus he became involved before his presidential term and had striven successfully for the society’s advancement.

Karl-Heinz Lang
12th President: January 1st, 1986 until December 31st, 2004
born July 27th, 1928, died November 25th, 2007

A professional path like a storybook career of his time: After he had served his apprenticeship at the Commerzbank AG Cologne, Karl-Heinz Lang continued in the same institute and worked his way to the top, until he became bank director in 1976. Since 1984 Karl-Heinz Lang was member of the management board of the Central-Cathedral-building-Society and only a year later his colleagues chose him for president of the society. Therewith the committed native of Cologne took over another of his many honorary offices, like: commercial judge, judge for labour legislation of the state, in committees of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Cologne and as vice president in the executive committee of Cologne’s Men Choral Society (KMGV). After the ballot for his successor Michael H.G. Hoffmann ZDV appointed the previous president the society’s first president emeritus in 2005.

The acting President: 

Michael H. G. Hoffmann