It is deceptive: he is not a man for the stove bench
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fromHolger Vonhof
shut down
The “Supreme Mayor” Henning Brandt is retiring
The meeting of the local advisory council 6 this evening in the Sossenheimer Volkshaus is his last; and when tomorrow, on Wednesday, the Lord Mayor, as Head of Department for the West of Frankfurt in the Fendel Pavilion of the Bolongaro Palace, presents his balance sheet for the West of Frankfurt, the last joint appearance with his employer: Henning Brandt, “Mayor” of the West of Frankfurt, will be leaving to retire. You don’t want to believe it, because the man is fit and agile, but: January 21st will be his last day in the office; in April he will be 66 years old.
In 2006 he came to Höchst, which he had previously only known from flying visits. The then Lord Mayor Petra Roth (CDU) had offered him the position of head of administration in the Bolongaropalast, he had three days to think about it. Henning Brandt took off – and has not regretted it to this day. Even if he retires now, he remains connected to Höchst, keeps his apartment, wants to continue to be active in clubs: “I’m so rooted in Höchst that I want to continue where I can or should.”
From the Bundeswehr in the administration
He was born in Negenborn, a municipality in the Holzminden district in Lower Saxony. After twelve years in the armed forces – he was last sergeant major and driving instructor – he passed his technical diploma as a prerequisite for training in the higher non-technical service, and applied to several local authorities in his area – “and also to the city of Frankfurt”. Actually, he didn’t want to go there; clear that it was Frankfurt. “A lucky coincidence,” he says today.
His first job was the Office for Housing, where he spent five years looking for housing for other purposes. There the call of the OB office overtook him: You need someone to be the “face of the city” on site, a carer and solver. That was in December 1995. Henning Brandt had an office with a view of Paulsplatz, but was out and about all over the city, mediating between citizens and civil servants – for eleven years.
In 2006 the boss got in touch again: this time she sent him to Höchst. The local head of administration Dieter Butz retired in May, and because something like this always happens very suddenly, the post was vacant, and Petra Roth expects him to succeed him at the castle festival. That summer was 16 years ago. Before Henning Brandt, there were only two people in this post: Alfons Kaiser resided in the palace for 28 years, Dieter Butz for 11 years.
Henning Brandt is perhaps the only one of the three who has ever broken into his office: That was in the first year, the evening after a castle festival. At that time he was still living in Sprendlingen and had his car parked in the courtyard of the palace. But when he came back to drive home, the caretaker had locked the palace gates. He could get over the car, because the S-Bahn went to Sprendlingen, but: his house key was in the car. He also got in over the palace wall, got the key, got out and took the train home. He still has a big grin on his face when he remembers it.
Henning Brandt is still sporty today, even if daily running and early swimming twice a week fell asleep due to Corona. There is one thing he never misses, and that is his soccer training: He plays “old men” for his club, KSV Urberach. “I lived there once, I’ve stayed loyal to the club.” That is why it has been so difficult all these years to get him to a business appointment on Wednesday evening: at 7 p.m. he has his football boots on and his shin guards on. He used to be a striker, now he plays defensive midfield. But he has – with the city council selection – already kicked in the Waldstadion or the Brit-Arena in Wiesbaden, both times defeating the Hessian state parliament. “It was a great experience to be there on the lawn,” he says. He still maintains the networks he made through football
Socially engaged and restless too
Henning Brandt has three sons, 39, 36 and 21 years old. He likes to spend time with his partner in the house in Vogelsberg, where there is a lot to work on. He is involved, for example, in the Bund für Volksbildung or in the “Bunter Tisch”, and before Corona he was a waiter at the Christmas parties of the association “Leuchtfeuer” for the poor in the “Bear” on Schlossplatz. Because the nun failed again, he donated.
What’s next? First of all, take out of suits: “Two will be enough in the future,” he believes. He will miss the view from his office, currently due to the palace renovation in the Fendel Pavilion – a view far over the Main. He likes to hike in South Tyrol and is interested in a trip to Vietnam, even if he is not that much of a globetrotter. “I can’t make the sofa, I don’t have the peace and quiet,” he says and grins. “But maybe that will come later.”
Actually he would have already left, but because the organization of his successor is dragging on a bit like his predecessor, he has extended it by three months. A decision should be made in March or April. Being will not be easy for the OB, because whoever he sends to Höchst: If he or she does not do it completely wrong, there WILL be a new “Supreme Mayor” – maybe this time a woman.
Holger Vonhof