1838–1903
○ Natural causes
German social democrat who helped prepare the founding of the SDAP and in practice led its Brunswick party committee
Born in 1838 at Alsfeld into a Jewish merchant family, he studied philosophy and natural science at Giessen and became a teacher at the Samson School in Wolfenbüttel. A National Liberal, he was won over by a speech of Wilhelm Bracke in 1867 and joined the General German Workers’ Association; opposing Schweitzer’s leadership, he helped prepare the Eisenach congress of 1869 and left a strong mark on the programme of the Social Democratic Workers’ Party. He was the de facto chairman of its Brunswick party committee and a delegate to the International’s Basel congress that year. In 1870 the committee at first backed what it saw as a defensive war, but after Sedan it issued a manifesto for an immediate honourable peace; in September all its members were arrested and taken in chains to the fortress of Lötzen. Released in 1871, he left politics and ran a boarding school.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1864Teacher at the Samson School, Wolfenbüttel
- 1867Joined the General German Workers’ Association
- 1869–1871De facto head of the SDAP committee in Brunswick
- 1869Delegate to the Basel congress of the International
- 1870–1871Held in the fortress of Lötzen