Jacob Walcher (May 7, 1887 – March 27, 1970) was a German

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician and trade unionist.

Biography

Walcher was born in 1887 in the rural

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

to a family of poor religious Protestant farmers and learned the profession of metal working. He became a member of the

German Metal Workers' Union The German Metal Workers' Union (german: Deutscher Metallarbeiter-Verband, abbreviated DMV) was a German industrial union for metalworkers formed in 1891 and dissolved after the Nazis' accession to power in 1933. History German metalworkers st ...

and of 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 ...

(SPD). 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 joined the newly founded

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...

. Walcher split from this party and become a leading member of the illegal

Socialist Workers' Party of Germany The Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, SAPD) was a centrist Marxist political party in Germany. It was formed as a left-wing party with around 20,000 members which split off from the SPD in ...

after 1933. In the

German Democratic Republic 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 ...

he was a member of the ruling

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

(SED) and was the victim of a purge in 1952.Ernst Stock, et.al.: Jacob Walcher. Gewerkschafter und Revolutionär zwischen Berlin, Paris und New York. Berlin 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walcher, Jacob 1887 births 1970 deaths People from Biberach (district) People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Communist Party of Germany politicians Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) politicians Socialist Workers' Party of Germany politicians Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold German newspaper editors