Gustav Trunk (24 July 1871 in Waldprechtsweier - 23 April 1936 in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

) was a three-time President of Baden. He was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

by occupation and was a member of the

German Centre Party The Centre Party (german: Zentrum), officially the German Centre Party (german: link=no, Deutsche Zentrumspartei) and also known in English as the Catholic Centre Party, is a Catholic political party in Germany, influential in the German Empire ...

. In 1897, Gustav Trunk married Emma Eppel in

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

. He studied law in

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 ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, graduating in 1900. Heavily influenced by his model,

Franz Xavier Lenders Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

, Trunk joined the Centre Party.

Early political career and first term (1920-21)

He served on the city council of

from 1911 until 1919. Upon the creation of the

Republic of Baden The Republic of Baden (german: Republik Baden) was a German state that existed during the time of the Weimar Republic, formed after the abolition of the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1918. It is now part of the modern German state of Baden-Württemberg ...

, he was appointed Minister for Food, a position in which he served until 1919, when he became Minister for Justice. On 14 August 1920 the Centre party defeated the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

in the Baden elections and Trunk became State President, succeeding the centre-leftist

Anton Geiss Anton Geiss, German spelling Anton Geiß (11 August 1858 in Rettenbach – 3 March 1944 in Schriesheim) was a German politician in the Republic of Baden. He was a member of the SPD. He served on Baden's local legislature, the Landtag A La ...

. By 1921, however, the left wing regained much of its popularity, and Trunk's party was defeated by the left-wing liberal

German Democratic Party The German Democratic Party (, or DDP) was a center-left liberal party in the Weimar Republic. Along with the German People's Party (, or DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the ...

External links

Rulers of Baden
1871 births 1936 deaths {{Germany-Centre-politician-stub