The German Reform Party (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Deutsche Reformpartei'' or DRP) was a

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

political party active in the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. It had

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

as its ideological basis. The initial German Reform Party was established in 1880 by Alexander Pinkert, a

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

-based antisemite, as a strongly antisemitic and

palingenetic Palingenesis (; also palingenesia) is a concept of reincarnation, rebirth or re-creation, used in various contexts in philosophy, theology, politics, and biology. Its meaning stems from Koine Greek, Greek , meaning 'again', and , meaning 'birth'. ...

party, advocating the elimination of the Jews and the rebirth of Germany. However this initiative only lasted until 1891. The later version of the DRP was established in either 1889 or 1890 by

Otto Böckel Otto Böckel (2 July 1859, Frankfurt am Main – 17 September 1923, Michendorf) was a German populist politician who became one of the first to successfully exploit anti-Semitism as a political issue in the country. Path to politics A native of t ...

and

Oswald Zimmermann Oswald Franz Alexander Zimmermann (5 February 1859, Neumarkt – 5 October 1910, Dresden) was a German anti-Semitic politician and journalist. One of the leading representatives of political anti-Semitism in the German Empire, he was elected a ...

, who had been involved in the original party, under the name Antisemitic People's Party.Richard S. Levy, ''Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution'', ABC-CLIO, 2005, p. 22 It was based in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

in Saxony. The ''Deutscher Antisemitenbund'', an initiative of Wilhelm Pickenbach, was also included as part of the newly formed party. The new party's main aim was the repeal of Jewish emancipation. The party contested the

1890 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 20 February 1890.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p762 The Centre Party regained its position as the largest party in the Reichstag by winning 107 of the ...

, winning four seats in the Reichstag.Davis, ''Colonialism, Antisemitism, and Germans of Jewish Descent in Imperial Germany'', p. 33 It increased its total to eleven in

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

. The party officially adopted the name of the DRP to fight the latter election. In 1894, the DRP merged with the similarly antisemitic German Social Party to form the

German Social Reform Party The German Social Reform Party (german: Deutschsoziale Reformpartei or DSRP) was a German Empire antisemitic political party active from 1894 to 1900. It was a merger between the German Reform Party (DRP) and the German Social Party (DSP). For ...

. The drive for the merger of the two parties had been led by Zimmermann and was unsuccessfully opposed by Böckel. Robert Melson, ''Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust'', University of Chicago Press, 1996, p. 118 Having lost his seat in 1903, Böckel faded from politics after the merger. Following the dissolution of the merged party in 1900 Zimmermann returned to using the DRP moniker and continued to sit in the Reichstag until 1910.

Walther Killy Walther Killy (26 August 191728 December 1995) was a German literary scholar who specialised in poetry, especially that of Friedrich Hölderlin and Georg Trakl. He taught at the Free University of Berlin, the Georg-August-Universität Göttinge ...

(ed.), ''Dictionary of German Biography: Thibaut - Zycha, Volume 10'', Walter de Gruyter, 2006, p. 705 In March 1914, the DRP merged again with the German Social Party to form the

German Völkisch Party German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

(DvP).

References

{{Authority control Antisemitism in Germany Christian political parties in Germany Defunct political parties in Germany Far-right political parties in Germany German nationalist political parties Political parties established in 1889 Political parties of the German Empire Protestant political parties