Adolf Köster (8 March 1883 – 18 February 1930) was a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

(SPD) and diplomat. He served as

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

(1920) and

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

(1921–1922).

Background

Adolf Köster was born on 8 March 1883 in

Verden an der Aller Verden an der Aller (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Veern''), also called Verden (Aller) or simply Verden, is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the river Aller. It is the district town of the district of Verden in Lower Saxony and an independent mun ...

in the

Province of Hanover The Province of Hanover () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1866 to 1946. During the Austro-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position, alo ...

, Prussia. He grew up in

Kappeln Kappeln () is a town in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the north bank of the Schlei, approx. northeast of Schleswig, and southeast of Flensburg. For the eastern Angeln and the northern S ...

. In 1906, he became a member of the

(SPD). In 1907, he was awarded a Dr. phil. and in 1912

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellen ...

history of literature The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment or education to the reader, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pie ...

. He taught at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

for SPD newspapers like ''

Vorwärts ( ; "Forward") is a newspaper published by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Founded in 1876, it was the central organ of the SPD for many decades. Following the party's Halle Congress (1891), it was published daily as the success ...

'' as well as for the ''

Berliner Tageblatt The ''Berliner Tageblatt'' or ''BT'' was a German language newspaper published in Berlin from 1872 to 1939. Along with the '' Frankfurter Zeitung'', it became one of the most important liberal German newspapers of its time. History The ''Berli ...

''.

Political career

Following the November Revolution in 1918, he started to work as a ''Referent'' at the ''

Reichskanzlei The Reich Chancellery () was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared since 1875, was the fo ...

''. In 1919, he worked for the Prussian ''Staatskommissar'' in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

, where he had grown up. He was ''Abstimmungskommissar'', and in that function worked successfully for German interests in the plebiscites. He served as

Foreign Minister of Germany The federal minister for foreign affairs () is the head of the Federal Foreign Office and a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The current office holder is Johann Wadephul. Since 1966, the minister for foreign affairs has often also simultaneousl ...

from 10 April to 21 June 1920 in the first cabinet of Hermann Müller based on SPD, the Zentrum and the liberal

German Democratic Party The German Democratic Party (, DDP) was a liberal political party in the Weimar Republic, considered centrist or centre-left. Along with the right-liberal German People's Party (, DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 19 ...

(DDP). In the second cabinet of

Joseph Wirth Karl Joseph Wirth (; 6 September 1879 – 3 January 1956) was a German politician of the Centre Party (Germany), Catholic Centre Party who was Chancellor of Germany#First German Republic (Weimar Republic, 1919–1933), chancellor of Germany fr ...

(Zentrum, SPD, DDP), he served as Minister of the Interior of Germany from 26 October 1921 to 14 November 1922. Köster was also a member of the Reichstag from 1920 to 1924.

Diplomatic career

After serving as Envoy to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

from 1923 to 1928, he was appointed in 1928 as Envoy to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. He died in Belgrade in 1930.

Publications

*''Fort mit der Dolchstoßlegende! Warum wir 1918 nicht weiterkämpfen konnten.'' Berlin: Verlag für Politik und Wissenschaft, 1922. *''Mit den Bulgaren. Kiegsberichte aus Serbien und Mazedonien.'' Verlag Albert Langen, München, 1916. * ''Wandernde Erde. Kriegsberichte aus dem Westen.'' Verlag Albert Langen, München, 1917.

Literature

* Hiden, John: ''Adolf Köster und Paul Schiemann in

. Deutsche Ostpolitik nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg''. in: Norbert Angermann et al.: Ostseeprovinzen, Baltische Staaten und das Nationale. LIT Verlag, Münster 2005, * ''Biographisches Lexikon des Sozialismus Band I'' Verlag J.H.W. Dietz Nachf., Hannover 1960, p. 164-165

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koster, Adolf 1883 births 1930 deaths People from Verden an der Aller Politicians from the Province of Hanover Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Ministers for foreign affairs of Germany Interior ministers of Germany Academic staff of the Technical University of Munich Ambassadors of Germany to Serbia