Arthur Werner

{{Short description|Former mayor of Berlin}}

{{Infobox Officeholder

|name = Arthur Werner

|image = Fotothek df pk 0000079 061.jpg

|imagesize =

|smallimage =

|caption = Arthur Werner, 1946

|order = Mayor of Berlin

|term_start = 19 May 1945

|term_end = 8 January 1947

|predecessor = Ludwig Steeg (until 2 May 1945)

|successor = Otto Ostrowski

|birth_date = 15 April 1877

|birth_place = Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire

|death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1967|7|27|1877|4|15}}

|death_place = West Berlin

|constituency =

|party = None

|spouse =

|children =

|profession = Engineer

|religion =

|signature =

|footnotes =

}}

Arthur Victor Hugo Werner (15 April 1877, in Berlin – 27 July 1967) was the first Mayor of Berlin after World War II.{{cite web |url=https://www.ifz-muenchen.de/heftarchiv/1989_3.pdf|page=468, 457-497 |date=July 1989 |issn=0042-5702 |title=Renaissance und Zerstörung der kommunalen Selbstverwaltung in der SBZ |author=Dieter Marc Schneider |work=Vierteljahrshefte fuer Zeitgeschichte |publisher=Im Auftrag des Instituts für Zeitgeschichte München herausgegeben |accessdate=31 January 2022}}

In 1907 Werner had graduated as an engineer at the Technical University of Charlottenburg. He ran a private technical college until March 1942 when Nazi authorities forced him to retire on account of what one source identifies as "bureaucratic chicanery". The private college closed and Werner retreated into private life till 1945.{{cite web |url=https://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/de/recherche/kataloge-datenbanken/biographische-datenbanken/arthur-werner |title=Werner, Arthur: 15.4.1877 - 27.7.1967: Oberbürgermeister von Groß-Berlin |work="Wer war wer in der DDR?" |author=Bernd-Rainer Barth |publisher=Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin & Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, Berlin |accessdate=31 January 2022}} On 17 May 1945 he was appointed mayor by the Soviet administration of Berlin under Nikolai Berzarin: his appointment was confirmed by the western Allies after the division of the city into four sectors in July 1945. After the elections of 20 October 1946 Werner resigned in favour of Otto Ostrowski.

He was the oldest former Minister-President of Germany from gaining his office on 17 May 1945 until 28 February 1966 and was succeeded by Wilhelm Kaisen.