Ernst Scholz (3 May 1874 – 26 June 1932) was a lawyer as well a politician in the Weimar Republic. He was chairman of the

German People's Party The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...

(DVP) proceeding the death of

Gustav Stresemann Gustav Ernst Stresemann (; 10 May 1878 – 3 October 1929) was a German statesman who served as chancellor in 1923 (for 102 days) and as foreign minister from 1923 to 1929, during the Weimar Republic. His most notable achievement was the reconci ...

and a member of the Reichstag from 1921 to 1930.

Early life and career

Born to a judicial council in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, Scholz graduated grammar school and pursued law as a career. He began his studies at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

and became a member of the

Corps Suevia Freiburg thumbnail, Today's view on the Corps House from the Lessingstraße. thumbnail, Drawing of the Corps House 1910 thumbnail, The fraternity's crest is part of the building's front relief. The Corps Suevia Freiburg is one of the oldest German Studen ...

, later moving to the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

. Finally, in 1895, Scholz graduated from

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, thus completing his academic career and earning him a Doctorate in law. In 1899, Scholz became a civil Assessor and in 1900, he became the First Secretary of the General Cooperative Association (Allgemeinen Genossenschaftsverbands) in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

. He also travelled to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

in 1901 as a municipal assistant. Scholz was a veteran of the

First World War 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 ...

, enlisting in the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

in 1914, getting wounded that same year and earning the position of major before retiring. Scholz wrote about German mortgage law and the municipal taxation system in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

as well as authoring a legal book for

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

s. From 1922 to 1929 he chaired the ''Professional Association of Senior Municipal Officials in Germany''. He began his political career in 1919, joining the

(DVP), a party he remained in until his death. After the sudden death of long-time

DVP DVP may refer to: * ''decessit vita patris'', "died in the lifetime of his father", term used by genealogists to denote a child who pre-deceased his or her father and did not live long enough to inherit the father's title or estate. * Delivery versu ...

leader,

, Scholz took over as president. However, he resigned in 1930 due to health reasons, being replaced by Eduard Dingeldey, who would remain leader until the party's dissolution in 1933. Also active in many municipal governments, Scholz was the assistant minister and

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

in both his birthplace of

(from 1902 to 1909) and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

(from 1902 to 1912). From 1912 to 1913 he was the lord mayor of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

and from 1913 to 1914 and 1917–1920 he was the lord mayor of

, being the last person to hold that position in the city, as it was later incorporated in the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. As a member of the "Lord Mayor Group" (OB-Fraktion), Scholz was a member of the

Prussian House of Lords The Prussian House of Lords (german: Preußisches Herrenhaus) in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Repres ...

from 1912 to 1918. On June 25, 1920, Scholz assumed the position of

Reich Minister of Economics ''Reich'' (; ) is a German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emperor") and ' (lit ...

in the

Fehrenbach cabinet The Fehrenbach cabinet (German: ''Kabinett Fehrenbach'') was the fourth democratically elected ''Reichsregierung'' of the German Reich. It was named after ''Reichskanzler'' (chancellor) Constantin Fehrenbach and took office on 25 June 1920 wh ...

until May 10, 1921. Scholz was then elected to the Reichstag in the

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 ...

constituency (constituency 1) on March 7, 1921, where he remained until 1930. He retired from the Reichstag in 1930, presumably due to health reasons; this signalled the end of his political career and his life, he died at 58 the capital,

Awards and honours

Honorary Degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

(Dr. -Ing. e. H.) in engineering * Scholzplatz in Berlin-Charlottenburg (1931) dedicated to him (''Scholz''-platz)Scholzplatz.
In: ''Straßennamenlexikon des Luisenstädtischen Bildungsvereins'' (beim Kaupert)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scholz, Ernst German People's Party politicians Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Weimar Republic politicians 1874 births 1932 deaths