Eduard Backert (20 April 1874 – 3 February 1960) was a

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 **Ge ...

trade unionist. Born in Rottmar (now part of

Föritztal Föritztal is a municipality in the Sonneberg district of Thuringia, Germany. It was formed on 6 July 2018 by the merger of the former municipalities Föritz, Judenbach and Neuhaus-Schierschnitz Neuhaus-Schierschnitz is a former municipality i ...

) in the Duchy of

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernestin ...

, Backert trained as a brewery worker, settling in Weida in 1892, where he joined the Central Union of Brewers. He completed military service from 1894 to 1896, then returned to brewing. From 1900, he was an unpaid local union convener, and then in 1904, he was appointed as the full-time union secretary for

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. In 1907, Backert was elected as vice president of the union, and when in 1910 it merged into the Union of Brewery and Mill Workers, he retained the position. In 1914, he succeeded as the union's president, also becoming general secretary of the International Secretariat of Brewery Workers. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was elected to the provisional Reich Economic Council. In 1927, Backert took his union into a merger which formed the Union of Food and Drink Workers, becoming president of the new union. The union was banned by the Nazi government in 1933, and Backert was briefly imprisoned, but he was then permitted to live quietly in Zepernick, where he preserved the union archives throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the war, he became an arbitrator and advised on the formation of the

Food, Beverages and Catering Union The Food, Beverages and Catering Union (german: Gewerkschaft Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten, NGG) is a trade union in Germany. It has a membership of 205,900 and is one of eight industrial affiliates of the German Confederation of Trade Unions. Mem ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Backert, Eduard 1874 births 1960 deaths People from Föritztal People from Saxe-Meiningen Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians German trade union leaders