Josef Friedrich Matthes (10 February 1886 – 9 October 1943) was head of the short lived Rhenish Republic.

Biography

He was born on 10 February 1886 in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

. He moved to Switzerland in 1909 and worked as an editor in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

. By 1918, he was editor of the Social Democratic Party of Germany's newspaper in

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the Aschaffenburg (district), district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative sea ...

. In 1921 he was convicted of libel and sentenced to 6 months in prison after accusing the major of hoarding food. He fled to Wiesbaden, then under French occupation, where he worked as editor of the magazine "The Torch" (''Die Fackel''). In early 1923, he was co-founder of the "Rheinischer Unabhängigkeitsbund", which sought independence for the Rhineland. In October 1923, he and his supporters seized the city of Koblenz in a putsch, founding the Rhenish Republic with Matthes as its leader. The power of the new government relied essentially on the French occupiers and the "Rhineland-protection forces". A massive wave of looting by the peacekeepers led to resistance in the population. By November riots led to killings in clashes between the security forces and opponents of the separatists. The strength of the resistance proved too much for the government and the "Republic" collapsed. Matthes fled to France. By 1930, he was working as a journalist in Paris. After the Fall of France in 1940, he was arrested. In the following year, he was extradited to Germany and deported to the Dachau concentration camp. He died there on 9 October 1943.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthes, Josef Friedrich 1886 births 1943 deaths German people who died in Dachau concentration camp Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Heads of state of former countries Heads of state of states with limited recognition Politicians who died in Nazi concentration camps German civilians killed in World War II Politicians from Würzburg Rhenish nationalism