Otto Landsberg (4 December 1869 – 9 December 1957) was a German jurist, politician and diplomat. He was a member of the revolutionary

Council of the People's Deputies The Council of the People's Deputies (, sometimes translated as Council of People's Representatives or Council of People's Commissars) was the name given to the government of the November Revolution in Germany from November 1918 until February 19 ...

that took power during the

German Revolution of 1918–19 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 **Ge ...

and then served as Minister of Justice in the first democratically elected government of Germany in 1919. In that capacity, he also was a member of the German delegation that went to Versailles to receive the Allies'

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

Early life

Landsberg was born on 4 December 1869 in Rybnick in the

Province of Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...

, to a Jewish family. His father was a medical doctor. After passing the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

in 1887 in Ostrowo, he moved to

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 ...

to study law. In 1895, having passed the First (1890) and Second State Examination (1895), he opened a lawyer's office in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

and made a name for himself as a trial lawyer.

Political career

Having joined the

SPD 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 t ...

in 1890, Landsberg was a member of the Magdeburg city council from 1903 to 1909. After failing to get elected for

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with its capital at Sondershausen. History Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a county until 1697. In that year, it became a principality, which ...

in 1907, in 1912, Landsberg succeeded in becoming the Reichstag delegate for

. Since there were no elections during

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 held the seat until 1918. In May 1912, as a freshman, he refused to leave the chamber with the rest of the SPD for the ''Kaiserhoch'' (a cheer for the Emperor) but stood up for it, ignoring party tradition. Landsberg's numerous Reichstag speeches subsequently showed him to be an excellent speaker. During World War I, he supported the policies of the majority of the SPD parliamentary group, opposing

Karl Liebknecht Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German socialist and anti-militarist. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) beginning in 1900, he was one of its deputies in the Reichstag from ...

and

Hugo Haase Hugo Haase (29 September 1863 – 7 November 1919) was a German socialist politician, jurist and pacifist. With Friedrich Ebert, he co-chaired of the Council of the People's Deputies after the German Revolution of 1918–19. Early life Hugo Haa ...

. After they had left the party fraction in 1916, Landsberg became even more prominent since he was one of only a few jurists remaining. Of a nationalistic bent, he approved of the war loans and argued in favour of the territorial integrity of the Reich, including Alsace-Lorraine, but he opposed German annexion of additional territory. He repeatedly demanded domestic reforms, including "democratisation" and changes to the election laws of Prussia and the Reich. On 23 October 1918, Landsberg became a member of the ''Fraktionsvorstand'' (leadership of the SPD Reichstag parliamentary group) and became a delegate to the ''Interfraktioneller Ausschuß'' where he argued for

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

female suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and the democratisation of the Prussian bureaucracy. From 10 November 1918 to 13 February 1919, he was one of three (later five) SPD members of the

, being responsible for the press, arts and literature. Together with

Friedrich Ebert Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 187128 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the first President of Germany (1919–1945), president of Germany from 1919 until his death in office in 1925. Eber ...

Landsberg fought for

parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

and a national assembly, opposing a

Soviet system The political system of the Soviet Union took place in a federal single-party soviet socialist republic framework which was characterized by the superior role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only party permitted by the C ...

and left-wing uprisings. He strongly supported

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...

remaining a part of the Reich. On 19 January 1919, Landsberg was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

to the

Weimar National Assembly The Weimar National Assembly (German: ), officially the German National Constitutional Assembly (), was the popularly elected constitutional convention and de facto parliament of Germany from 6 February 1919 to 21 May 1920. As part of its ...

for Magdeburg and Anhalt. On 11 February, Landsberg succeeded Paul von Krause as Secretary of State of the ''Reichsjustizamt'' and on 13 February became Minister of Justice in the government of Philipp Scheidemann. Landsberg was a member of the German delegation that went to Versailles to receive the Allies' demands in the form of the

. He opposed signing the Treaty and resigned over the issue, with the other ministers of the cabinet, on 20 June 1919. He refused to participate in the vote on the Treaty in the National Assembly. His abilities and experience made Landsberg become first ''Geschäftsträger'' (

Chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

) and then ''Gesandter'' (ambassador) of Germany in Belgium. However, he was not very successful in that role, which effectively ended in early 1923, when the

Occupation of the Ruhr The Occupation of the Ruhr (german: link=no, Ruhrbesetzung) was a period of military occupation of the Ruhr region of Germany by France and Belgium between 11 January 1923 and 25 August 1925. France and Belgium occupied the heavily industria ...

by French and Belgian troops caused his recall to Berlin. In 1924, he again began practicing law there. He was counsel for his friend Friedrich Ebert in the ''Reichspräsidentenprozeß'' (defamation suit brought by president Ebert) at Magdeburg and in the so-called ''Dolchstoßprozeß'' (see ''

Dolchstoßlegende The stab-in-the-back myth (, , ) was an antisemitic conspiracy theory that was widely believed and promulgated in Germany after 1918. It maintained that the Imperial German Army did not lose World War I on the battlefield, but was instead b ...

'' ) at Munich of 1925 he was a witness rebutting the charges against the Social Democrats. He was a member of the Reichstag from 1924 to 1933. In that role, he opposed an amnesty for those convicted of

Feme murders The Feme ('fā-mə) murders (German: ) were a series of politically motivated murders in Weimar Germany from 1919 to 1923 that were committed by elements of the German far right against political opponents they considered treasonous. The practice ...

, expressed regret about the state of political discourse and criticised the bias that made many judges treat right-wing defendants more leniently than left-wing ones.

Later life and death

In 1933, Landsberg emigrated first to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, later to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Friends concealed him during the Nazi occupation of that country. He remained in the Netherlands after the end of the Nazi regime in 1945 and died on 9 December 1957 in

Baarn Baarn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, near Hilversum in the province of Utrecht. The municipality of Baarn The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche. The town of Baarn Ba ...

References

External links

Biography/Deutsches Historisches Museum (German)

Otto Landsberg Collection
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 figu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landsberg, Otto 1869 births 1957 deaths People from Rybnik People from the Province of Silesia Jewish German politicians Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Members of the Council of the People's Deputies Justice ministers of Germany Members of the 13th Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the Weimar National Assembly Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Ambassadors of Germany to Belgium Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the Netherlands