Georg Heinrich Ritter (Chevalier) von Vollmar auf Veldheim (March 7, 1850 – June 30, 1922) was a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within a ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Biography

Vollmar was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, and educated in a school attached to a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery at

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

In 1865 entered the Bavarian army as a lieutenant in a cavalry regiment. He served in the campaign of 1866, and then entered the

Papal Guard The Pontifical Swiss Guard (also Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard; la, Pontificia Cohors Helvetica; it, Guardia Svizzera Pontificia; german: Päpstliche Schweizergarde; french: Garde suisse pontificale; rm, Guardia svizra papala) is ...

as a volunteer. In 1869 he returned to Germany, and during the Franco-Prussian War served in the army railway department. He was severely wounded at

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

and pensioned. Permanently crippled by his wounds, Vollmar devoted himself to political and social studies. In 1872, he was converted to the principles of

social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

, and involved himself with great energy into political agitation. In 1877, he became editor of the party organ at

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, and under the Socialist Law was repeatedly condemned to various terms of imprisonment, and was also expelled from that city. From 1879 to 1882 Vollmar lived at Zurich, then the headquarters of social democracy, when, besides attending the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

, he took part in editing the ''Social Demokrat''. In 1881 he was elected member of the Reichstag, serving until 1887, and then again from 1890 to 1918. From 1883 to 1889 was a member of the Saxon diet (german: Sächsischer Landtag). After 1885 he resided in Bavaria, and it was to him that was chiefly due the great success of the socialists in the older Bavarian provinces. Vollmar identified himself with the more moderate and opportunist section of the Socialist party, decisively dissociating himself from the doctrine of a sudden and violent overthrow of society, and urging his associates to co-operate in bringing about a gradual development towards the socialistic state. In an article 'On State Socialism' in ''

Die Neue Zeit ''Die Neue Zeit'' (German: "The New Times") was a German socialist theoretical journal of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) that was published from 1883 to 1923. Its headquarters was in Stuttgart, Germany. History and profile Founded ...

'' he argued for an alliance with bourgeois 'State Socialism' reformers, which was vigorously responded to by

Karl Kautsky Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian philosopher, journalist, and Marxist theorist. Kautsky was one of the most authoritative promulgators of orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels in ...

, the editor of that periodical. He showed himself ready to make concessions to the principle of private ownership in the case of the small landowners, or peasants. He refused to identify social democracy with the views as to religion and the family advocated by

August Bebel Ferdinand August Bebel (22 February 1840 – 13 August 1913) was a German socialist politician, writer, and orator. He is best remembered as one of the founders of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP) in 1869, which in 1875 mer ...

, and successfully resisted attempts made in 1891 to expel him from the party in consequence of his opinions. He became a member of the Bavarian diet (german: Bayerischer Landtag) in 1893. Vollmar died at the country seat of Soiensaß in the settlement of

Urfeld am Walchensee Urfeld am Walchensee is a village in the municipality of Kochel am See in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, Germany. It lies on the northwest shore of Lake Walchensee.Gudelius, Jost: ''Die Jachenau''. Jachenau 2008, , S. 139 Fam ...

in 1922.Rudolf Maerker and Peter Krause
''Sozialismus ist das Ziel: Dokumente u. Zeugnisse aus d. Geschichte d. Sozialdemokratie 1863-1933''
Verlag Politisches Archiv, 1973, p. 239.

Works

In addition to a couple of books on the preservation of forests, he wrote: * ''The Isolated Socialist State'' (german: Der isolierte soziale Staat; Zürich, 1880) * ''On the next tasks of Social Democracy'' (german: Ueber die nächsten Aufgaben der Socialdemokratie; 1891) * ''On state socialism'' (german: Ueber Staatssocialismus; 1892)

Notes

References

* Archive o
Georg von Vollmar Papers
at the

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figur ...