Manfred Wirsing - Honorary citizen and former head of the city council

The explanatory statement of the underlying motion (DS I (A) 9), which was tabled jointly by all members of the City Council, states, among other things:

"Manfred Wirsing had been a member of the Municipal Assembly since 1972 and had been a parliamentary group leader since October 1976. He was elected Chairman of the City Council by the City Council on April 16, 1985. In this role, he represented the interests of the citizens of Offenbach for 21 years.

As he was no longer available as a candidate in the 2006 municipal elections, his term of office ended on March 31, 2006. During this time, Manfred Wirsing became a political and moral institution, also due to the way in which he understood the high demands of this office and used its possibilities with great integrity. It was important to him to make the tasks of the city council visible to the citizens of Offenbach alongside those of the magistrate, be it in tours, citizens' meetings or at the many official appointments he attended.

Manfred Wirsing liked to compare the function of the municipal council with that of a supervisory board. As Chairman of the Supervisory Board, he performed his supervisory function vis-à-vis the Lord Mayor and the City Council. He also supported the City Council and its committees in this objective. The experienced politician was of the opinion that the city councillors should not get bogged down in small details, but should keep an eye on the big picture.

In his role as Chairman of the City Council, Manfred Wirsing repeatedly succeeded in mediating in difficult situations through his diplomatic skills, his professional expertise and his interpersonal tact in the political arena, reaching a compromise or even persuading people to give in. All political groups and members of the city parliament could always rely on his straightforwardness."